Aaj Tak rapped by Ofcom for scrolling ad banner

Aaj Tak has been rapped by Ofcom for scrolling an ad banner of a property exhibition it partnered up with last year.

During monitoring of COSTA compliance, between 23:00 and 00:00 on 4 November 2014, Ofcom viewed approximately ten minutes 46 seconds of advertising during the commercial breaks on Aaj Tak.

In addition, during the 23:00 news bulletin the following scrolling text ran across the bottom of the screen in a continuous loop: ���Indiabulls property show London 8th & 9th November at the Cumberland Hotel, Oxford Street, W17 7DL, Free Entry, Showcasing Properties from all over India.�۝ The word ���Commercial�۝ appeared next to this scrolling text. This scrolling text ran for approximately three minutes 30 seconds in addition to the advertising during commercial breaks. Therefore, there were approximately 14 minutes of advertising in the 23:00 clock hour.

Aaj Tak explained that it was the media partner of the Indiabulls Property Show, and that the person who scheduled the scrolling text was unaware that this was an event promotion. The scrolling text was therefore treated as a ���paid commercial ticker rather than as promotional�۝.

Ofcom noted Aaj Tak’s comments that it considered the scrolling text to be an event promotion rather than advertising. However, we considered that the scrolling text, promoting an event showcasing properties for commercial sale, met the above definition of television advertising. Because in the 23:00 clock hour the scrolling text appeared on screen for
approximately three minutes 30 seconds, in addition to the ten minutes and 46 seconds of advertising during commercial breaks, the amount of advertising in this clock hour exceeded 12 minutes, in breach of Rule 4 of COSTA.