Ofcom to change rules on ITV, Channel4 and Five ads

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Ofcom said the rules, introduced in 2003 to prevent the big three terrestrial broadcasters from exploiting their dominance, "may no longer be appropriate" because of the big increase in the number of rival digital channels.

ITV, C4 and Five face restrictions on how they sell so-called "bundles" of airtime across their portfolios, which include digital channels such as ITV2 and ITV3, E4 and More4, and Fiver and Five USA.

The regulations also force the broadcasters to sell all available advertising minutes per hour so that they cannot withhold some slots to force up the price.

But Ofcom said "increasingly fragmented TV audiences" have "enabled media buyers to purchase airtime across an extensive range of channels".