Spotted on: The BBC
French viewers have for the first time watched prime-time television without advert breaks, as President Nicolas Sarkozy’s media reforms got under way.
Advertising is now banned on French public television between 8pm to 6am. All advertising will be phased out by 2011.
It is part of Mr Sarkozy’s move to shake up public broadcasting which he claims will improve the quality of programming as the channels no longer have to attract large audiences in order to secure advertising revenue.
I think outdoor advertising and digital media space vendors are going to have a really good year absorbing all the “lost” dollars from the television medium.