Ofcom's post-Carter era should continue withmore of same

Ian Darby, ian.darby@haynet.com, Campaign 02-Jun-06

Views of industry regulators are usually neutral if not outright negative. On most issues they're damned if they take action and damned if they don't. And if they happen to be subsequently proved right, critics will cite the saying: "Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day."

The media industry may be right to adopt a neutral or even vaguely
cynical view of its regulator, Ofcom. But attaining even this level of
approval is something of an achievement given the size of the task

facing the chief executive, Stephen Carter, when Ofcom officially

launched in December 2003.

Carter, who announced last week his decision to step down from the post
in the autumn, faced a barrage of negative publicity over Ofcom's swanky
riverside offices and large pay packets for senior staff and a
logistical nightmare in attempting to connect the stray wires of five
regulatory bodies into one socket. The negativity was also translated in
part to the media industry because, of course, its senior players would
be funding a first-year rise in operating costs of 27 per cent at the
new body.

Carter's leadership of Ofcom has generally been positive for the ad
industry, not just because he is a former senior adman (although this
undoubtedly gave him some insight and empathy) but also because
philosophically he has favoured a "light touch" approach to regulation.
Some may argue that this touch was overly light in overseeing the
aftermath of the ITV merger and subsequently reducing its licence
burden, while also loosening its public-service shackles. Yet, this
ignores the introduction of Contract Rights Renewal, which has had far
more impact on ITV than many predicted and, assuming Ofcom knew what it
was doing, was a rather heavy price for ITV to pay for the merger.
Ofcom's decision not to conduct a review of the TV trading system also
potentially played against ITV.

In general, Ofcom's governance of advertising issues has been consistent
and on issues such as junk-food advertising, Carter and his team have
generally favoured self-regulation and batted off hysterical calls for
advertising bans. Carter's own preference, a review of product placement
rules may not yet have been delivered, but changes to sponsorship
guidelines have been welcomed.

There are some big questions still facing Ofcom, particularly
surrounding its future governance of ITV, but the Carter regime has set
a good precedent for the next. Whoever takes over, and the hot money is
on his deputy, Ed Richards, then we could do worse than wish for more of
the same. As for Carter, while a return to the ad agency world is not on
the cards, a big media industry chief executive role would seem one
possible option, given the high profile he has enjoyed while running
Ofcom.