Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2021 to Question 80988, for what reason advertising on online services and broadcast services is regulated differently with regard to length of adverts.

For television, the restrictions on the amount and scheduling of advertising are set out in Ofcom’s Code on the Scheduling of Television Advertising (COSTA). No such restrictions apply to commercial radio stations.

COSTA places no limits on the amount of advertising an on-demand programme service can show. Regulation designed for broadcast services has not always been directly transposed to apply to online services. This reflects the more complex, non-linear nature of online advertising. The regulation of online advertising is currently under review.