Doubts grow over ad rate reforms

Ofcom yesterday began implementing the Competition Commission's proposals for the sale of ITV advertising slots against a backdrop of increasing concern in the industry about the effectiveness of the new system.

One senior media buyer put at zero Ofcom's chances of having a new system in place by the November 7 deadline, while another described the job as a "guaranteed hospital pass" for the new media regulator.

Less than 24 hours after trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt cleared the merger of Carlton and Granada, Ofcom executives began interviewing media buyers to establish how the complex scheme, designed to ensure a merged ITV does not abuse its dominant market position, could work.

Media buyers have described the new system, which allows advertisers to roll over the terms of their existing contracts with ITV for the next three years, as "full of loopholes". Zenith Optimedia, the UK's largest media buyer, said advertisers' concerns had been ignored in favour of creating a single ITV.

Agencies are also concerned that it will be impossible to implement the new system, called contract rights renewal, in time for the next round of annual advertising negotiations, in November.