ASA Adjudication on British Sky Broadcasting Ltd

Ad

Two regional press ads for Sky TV.

a. One ad, a four-page wrap around, stated "Don't worry that your terrestrial TV signal is being switched off We've got it covered." The inside of the wrap around was headlined "Switch to digital with Sky now". Text stated "As you are probably aware, the town of Whitehaven has been chosen to lead the UK's switch to digital TV. From October 2007 if you have not gone digital, you will not be able to watch TV. What you may not be aware of is that until switchover, Sky TV will be the only way to get digital TV in your region. But why wait until next October when there are lots of good reasons to get Sky now?"

b. Another ad was headlined "Want to be ready when your terrestrial TV signal is switched off? Sky TV is the only way to go digital right now." Text stated "As you are probably aware, the town of Whitehaven has been chosen to lead the UK's switch to digital TV. From October 2007 if you have not gone digital, you will not be able to watch TV. What you may not be aware of is that until switchover, Sky TV will be the only way to get digital TV in your region. But why wait until next October when there are lots of good reasons to get Sky now?"

Issue

The complainant, who pointed out that terrestrial TV signals were to be transferred from analogue to digital, objected that the ads misleadingly implied that terrestrial TV services were to be switched off.

CAP Code

Response

British Sky Broadcasting Ltd (Sky) said they had decided to conduct a specific marketing campaign in Whitehaven after consultations with Digital UK, the independent organisation entrusted by the government to lead the digital switchover taking place between 2007 and 2010. They maintained that Digital UK was keen for Sky to support the digital switchover campaign and that their marketing was intended to catch the eye of consumers in the Whitehaven area to educate them about the options available. They said people in Whitehaven were currently unable to receive digital terrestrial signals (i.e. Freeview) or cable services, leaving digital satellite as the only option for those wanting to take advantage of such services prior to October 2007, when Freeview would become available.

Sky pointed out that the ads featured the claim "What you may not be aware of is that until digital switchover, Sky TV will be the only way to get digital TV in your region." They maintained that that claim adequately communicated to readers the options open to them in the run up to and following digital switchover. They believed that the claim echoed the advice on Digital UKs website, which stated "Those who havent switched can go digital now by subscribing to Sky Digital or choosing Freesat from Sky for a one-off payment. Alternatively, they can wait until switchover when Freeview becomes available." On that basis, Sky believed they had made only factual statements, which were not misleading.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the complex technical nature of the digital switchover and considered that it was likely to be confusing to many consumers. We noted Sky had created the campaign in association with Digital UK which we understood was an independent organisation tasked with providing impartial information and raising awareness of the digital switchover among consumers. We also noted Digital UK described the process as The UKs old television broadcast signal (known as "analogue") is being switched off and replaced with a "digital" signal. Any TV set or video recorder thats not converted to digital when the switchover takes place will no longer receive TV programmes." We considered, however, that the headlines were inaccurate because they stated that terrestrial TV was to be switched off, when in fact consumers would still be able to obtain terrestrial services on the Freeview platform. We considered that, although the ad correctly stated that Sky was the only way to obtain digital in the run up to the switchover, by its omission of the options open to them after switchover, some readers were likely to infer that terrestrial TV would not be available to them after switchover unless they subscribed to Sky. We concluded that the ads were likely to mislead.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

We told Sky to make clear in future ads that Freeview would be available to people in Whitehaven at the time of switchover.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)