Since 1974, non broadcast
advertising had been regulated by the Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA), funded by the asbof levy. This system
had worked well, and a succession of Governmental and
other independent investigations has reported favourably
on its operations. During the same period, television
and radio advertising had been regulated by statutory
bodies.
As part of a review of broadcast regulation
undertaken by the newly formed Ofcom, the Advertising
Industry sought to bring broadcast advertising regulation
within the ASA. This was because:
-
the convergence of media was increasingly
making the boundaries between broadcast and non-broadcast
media blurred,
-
the public was confused by the
various bodies involved in advertising regulation,
and with the ASA as the best known it would help
consumers to understand and deal with the system,
-
self-regulatory systems can respond
more quickly than statutory ones, and are cheaper
to operate,
-
the advertising industry was willing
to fund these changes.
Following a White Paper, and public consultation,
in July 2004, Parliament approved the delegation by
Ofcom of the regulation of broadcast advertising to
a new legal entity, The Advertising Standards Authority
(Broadcast) Ltd (ASAB).
Whilst this is a separate company from The Advertising
Standards Authority Ltd, which regulates non broadcast
advertising, from a public standpoint, and operationally,
there would be just one organisation, The Advertising
Standards Authority (ASA), regulating all advertising.
This extension of the work of the ASA
would be funded by a levy on broadcast advertising raised
by a newly formed company, The Broadcast Advertising
Standards Board of Finance (basbof), a mirror company
to the long-standing asbof. Basbof has been collecting
the broadcast levy since August 2004. ASAB took over
their regulatory role from November 1st 2004.
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