PEMRA’s (non)regulation : I want my TV back

I want one thing from you PEMRA – take more than just a “strict notice” of advertisements beyond the maximum allowable time. I get it, advertisements are necessary for revenue, but it’s not bearable when a channel shows ads for more than half an hour, every hour of the day and when there is a sponsor of the headline, an ad before the headline, a sponsor of the detailed news and a bunch of ads before the news starts. It’s way too fricking annoying.

As it so happens, and known to many already, we have legislations for things many people don’t imagine are covered by law in this country. And many of these legislations are pretty good as well.

Advertisement time and content both are regulated in the country and Article 15(3) of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Rules, 2009 reads

During a regular programme a continuous break for advertising shall not exceed three minutes and duration between two such successive breaks shall not be less than fifteen minutes.

This translates to a maximum of four breaks per hour totalling 12 minutes of advertisements per hour. Seems a reasonable amount but anyone, and everyone, who has watched television in Pakistan knows that there are more than four ad breaks on every channel and none of them seems to be of three minutes.

Some two (or three) years ago, PEMRA had responded to a private complaint in The News about this violation of maximum allowable ad time and stated that they had outsourced ad monitoring to a third party and that they would respond to any violations if they were notified of them. Things seemed to have improved a bit and PEMRA in it’s 59th Authority Meeting “took notice” of the issue – without fines or anything – and released the following information:-

According to a press release issued by PEMRA it says that monitoring of 28 days transmission of fifteen privatesatellite TV reveals that channels are blatantly violating Authority’s cap for advertisement. For instance, during 28 days of Oct-Nov, private satellite TV channels were allowed advertisement for 112 hours, whereas, channelsrelayed advertisement as follows: (Geo News: 171 hrs., Geo Entertainment: 226 hrs., Geo Super: 196 hrs., Aaj: 114 hrs., Apna News: 126 hrs., Dunya TV: 149 hrs., Express News: 199 hrs., HUM TV: 218 hrs., Indus Vision: 214 hrs., KTN: 196 hrs., TV One: 163 hrs. and ARY Digital: 195 hrs. ARY News: 124 hrs.)

Now, if you are wondering, 12 minutes per hour translates to a maximum of 134.4 hours of advertisements in 28 days (the 112 in cited in the above press release seems erroneous to me, but maybe I’m wrong, although that would strengthen the case for fines even more). Geo then violated the maximum advertisement time by as much as 68% or 101% depending on 134/112 hrs), yes more than 1.5 times (or twice) the maximum allowable advertisement time. This is 20 minutes per hour of ads, 8 more than allowed. I also most certainly believe that this data was measured when there was no cricket series going around, for if there was one, Geo Super would have had 1,196 hours of ads and not 196. They’ve got exclusive rights to the WC, they have asked PTV to not dare to broadcast the matches as well and now we’ll be stuck with watching 3 balls an over.

I am no advertisement or marketing man but I know my basic economics. If you increase supply while demand remains constant, equilibrium price will fall. That is something I feel is inherently wrong with our channels. They have increased the supply of ads by an unimaginable amount and they are willing to provide even more ad time. Logically, they can’t mint more profit if they increase the supply by a substantial factor. Maybe they have reached the optimal point, and I’m wrong (does not mean it’s legal though) since I’m unaware of their charts or financials on this, but it certainly feels like they’ve increased ad time beyond optimal when there is a jingle for a celco playing and the screen cuts from the left and bottom for a 15 minute time break to emerge as well. Two ads at the same time on the same channel. That’s insane. Moreover, I understand that there is reason in not raising ad prices by a lot (by reducing supply) since most companies won’t be able to afford advertisement. But isn’t 98 percent of the ad content already limited to:-

• New package from your celco
• Cellphone
• Tea
• Creamer/Milk for Tea
• Pepsi/Coca Cola
• Beauty Products and associated things (Fairness Cream/Lotion/Shampoo/Soap)
• Molty Foam
• and ACs in the summers

I seem to have (maybe a false) idea that these companies will be able to pay for ads even if the price were to go up by, say 30 percent. Do enlighten me in the comments.

Coming back to the topic at hand. Why you think PEMRA might not be doing it’s job and imposing fines on the channel, besides lethargy and plain impotence? Well maybe because Article 9(7) of the Broadcasting Regulations, 2002 reads

The licensee shall pay to the Authority 2% of the gross revenue receipts for airing or broadcasting the advertisements on his system.

And article 9(8) of the Cable TV Regulations, 2002

The licensee shall pay to the Authority 5% of the gross revenue receipts for airing or distributing the advertisements on his cable television system

Well, when you are getting a share of the ad revenue in order to remain functional outside tax payer money, you allow the channels to go beyond the legal limits and increase your salaries maybe? Why check the cable operator showing 90 minutes of ads in an hour? I’m not saying this happened, and certainly official lethargy is a much more logically acceptable answer, but this can be one reason as well.

And I’m not finished. Article 33(13) of the Broadcasting Regulations, 2002 reads

The duration of the advertising break shall be of reasonable duration and there must be regular programme of reasonable duration between successive advertisement breaks

Now pray tell me how does a series of ads after the headlines and followed by another few, broken only be the newscaster saying “hamaray saath rahiye”(please stay with us) not qualify as a violation of the aforementioned rule? Is it too much to ask that I get to hear detailed news without having to bear two successive ad breaks?

PEMRA seems to have grown a spine, and taken a lesson in rationality, and fined Samaa and Waqt TV recently (although contradicted by Nawa-e-Waqt). Now only if they can fine all television channels for violating the rules of advertisements. I won’t mind 12 minutes of ads every hour and I want to have a better TV experience. Please help me, and millions of others, gain back their sanity. Block-the-channel happy PEMRA of the olden days seems to have never found it necessary to fine all these channels for flouting regulations for almost every day of the year, for the past many years. I want my TV back.

One more thing Article 4 of the “Advertisement” sub section reads

No advertisement which is likely to be seen by children in large numbers should urge children directly to purchase goods of a particular brand or ask their parents to do so.

How about this:-

and the nearly thrity minute [propaganda] ad by Tetra Pak running almost two or three times a day on Cartoon Network and other TV channels aimed at children? Isn’t that a violation of the aforementioned regulation? Besides, it’s downright unethical to target children with propaganda, not that I think ad men/women or corporate suits have ever had or will ever have any sense of ethics or morality.

(Tetra Pak earlier had to change parts of this ad after the CCP termed some of it’s claims as false and malicious in nature  - This all besides the fact that packaged milk companies are facing litigation for violating quality standards and adding Melamine and Urea – reporting on which has been negligible since the companies obtained a media gag order)

PS : Article 33(12) of the Broadcasting Regulations, 2002 reads “The advertisements must not be very noisy”. I certainly feel all of them are.

Update : This news from June 2009 states that PEMRA hired a firm “Trase” to monitor the ad times. Chairman PEMRA, Malik Mushtaq “also claimed that not a single channel has ever paid 5% of their revenues to Pemra or the government, as stipulated”. Poor you. Now only if you could impose fines for violation of notified regulations.