TVB files writ against ‘advertising’ warning
Broadcaster says freedom of expression was intruded on with sanction over product placement
Two episodes of Scoop aired by TVB’s Jade channel on April 16 and May 18 last year are said to have made references to myTV SUPER, then a paid-for over-the-top service offered by a TVB subsidiary.
Seven public complaints were filed to the Communications Authority, which later decided TVB had breached codes of practice by including an unjustified product placement and in-programme reference which mingled programming with advertising.
The station counter-argued that there was a lack of expressed guidance for the station on the issue, and suggested the authority’s findings had “failed to consider the broadcasting authority’s intention to create a more conducive business environment for the broadcasting industry”.
But that did not change the authority’s ultimate decision to sanction TVB by way of a warning on November 22 last year, which the station is now seeking to quash.
The judicial review against the authority’s decision is the second challenge mounted against it inside six months regarding indirect advertisements and product placements, following a similar lawsuit over eating fried chicken sponsored by advertisers in one show, the case for which has yet to have a date set for a hearing.