Who We Are

They’re our owners, or ‘shareholder broadcasters’, and it’s a condition of their broadcast licenses that ads on their channels don’t mislead, cause harm or offend. Instead of checking every ad themselves, we do it on their behalf.

They’re written by committees within the Advertising industry: BCAP & CAP.

We check ads for TV channels owned by ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, as well as their (Video on Demand) TV apps and some other subscribed channels. We don’t check other advertising content (for example, YouTube, Netflix, cinema, radio, social media, billboards, etc).

The clearance of an ad follows a three -stage process where multiple team members will discuss and assess the written script, filmed versions, technical settings and evidence which supports any claims. The ad’s creators can also share their thoughts and challenge decisions.

Our owners want ads on their channels, so its our goal to make this happen. If an ad doesn’t pass the rules, we’ll work with the creators to try to get it approved, by asking for edits to be made, or for more evidence to support the claims within it.

These are advisory notes to help the TV channels show it appropriately (for example, after 9pm or not around children’s TV) but its ultimately up to the channel to decide.

As well as checking ads, we run a number of optional services which help people at various points along their journey of getting their ad on TV, such as training on the rules, help with concepts, delivery to the channels, and subtitling. We charge for these services, unlike when we check ads, which is paid for by our owners.

We’re not the regulator – that’s the ASA, on behalf of Ofcom. We do ‘pre-clearance’ (checking ads before they’ve been on TV) and “banning” can only be done after an ad has been on TV and received complaints. The public and competitor brands have the right to complain about ads and they can do this to the ASA, who’ll investigate if they think a rule has been broken (we provide them with the rationale for our approval) and they rule whether to “ban” or not. On average only 0.1% of the ads we approve every year get banned.

Although our main purpose is to protect our owner’s broadcaster licenses, checking ads before they’re shown on TV reduces the risk of viewers at home being misled, harmed or offended by an ad. This also protects the reputation of the creators and brands, by reducing the risk of their ad being banned.

The work we do is one of the reasons that TV ads are seen as prestigious for a brand and why claims in TV ads are generally trusted by the public. We’re not well known publicly, but we play a crucial role in our industry for broadcasters, brands and viewers at home.