Grade vows 'son of CRR' will protect advertisers

by Jeremy Lee, Marketing 25-Sep-07, 08:30

LONDON - ITV executive chairman Michael Grade has sought to reassure advertisers that any change to Contract Rights Renewal will continue to offer them protection, while rewarding the broadcaster for a strong performance.

In his first interview since joining ITV in January, Grade struck a conciliatory note. Following an announcement by the Office of Fair Trading earlier this month that it was reviewing the CRR procedure, he admitted that ITV had, in the past, treated advertisers with arrogance, but said any so-called 'son of CRR' proposed by ITV will assuage advertisers' fears that those days will return.

'Advertisers have long memories. They won't forget the bad habits of ITV - arrogance, rampant inflation... let's find a mechanism that gives advertisers comfort that we won't misbehave,' he said.

Grade also called for a lighter regulatory touch on ad restrictions. 'Just taking a political swipe at advertising because politicians feel powerless to do anything... utterly misunderstands the purpose of advertising. It has got to stop'. He issued a rallying call to advertisers and broadcasters to 'get their act together' to lobby against further restrictions.

Click here to read Michael Grade's Q&A