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Clearcast
Clearcast is a non-governmental organisation which pre-approves most British television advertising. It is originated on 1 January 2008, and took over the responsibilities of the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre. Clearcast is now owned by four UK commercial broadcasters: ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery
Clearcast approval is applied both to scripts and to the final commercials. Clearcast has to check that commercials comply with the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) code (rules) that applies to television advertising. They also clear video on demand adverts for the major broadcasters against the non-broadcast (CAP) code (rules). These include both good taste and decency criteria, and also a variety of technical and even medical constraints (advertisements may not, for example, contain flashing which would set off attacks of photosensitive epilepsy).
The current Chairman of Clearcast is Mark White. Samantha Smith has been announced as Managing Director replacing Chris Mundy in April 2020.
Advertising agencies submit pre-production scripts to Clearcast before any significant expense is incurred in the production of a TV commercial. The process of script submissions is to reduce the risk of agencies spending a significant outlay on a TV commercial which is later rejected because it is unacceptable. Once submitted, the agency's allocated copy group executive will give initial comments on the script, detailing broadcast timing restrictions, advice on appropriate use of specific shots or imagery and requesting substantiation. Substantiation must be submitted where a claim is made in a broadcast commercial. An agency will then adapt the script (because it does not comply with broadcast standards or contains a claim which cannot be corroborated) and submit relevant substantiation documents to the Clearcast executive.
A process of second-reading then takes place, whereby the executive may request further information or approve the script.
Once a script submission is accepted, an agency will produce a final (or 'clocked') TV commercial, which also needs to be submitted for approval to Clearcast. The agency must then submit the 'clocked' ad digitally via FTP using the digital copy clearance system (CopyCentral).
Once received and ingested into the Clearcast system, the ad is first checked for 'supers', a process which measures the height (in television lines) of required legal text ('the small print') to ensure it complies. The legal text height is 16 TV lines, measured on a flat-topped, lower case letter; anything less than this will be rejected. Legal text is also timed to ensure it is legible to the viewer.
Some ads fail at this point, and the agency is forced to modify the legal text in order to ensure it complies in terms of line height and duration on screen. After this stage, the ad is subjected to a Harding test (also known as a flash test), which ensures it will not cause sufferers of photosensitive epilepsy to have seizures.
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Clearcast
Clearcast is a non-governmental organisation which pre-approves most British television advertising. It is originated on 1 January 2008, and took over the responsibilities of the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre. Clearcast is now owned by four UK commercial broadcasters: ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery
Clearcast approval is applied both to scripts and to the final commercials. Clearcast has to check that commercials comply with the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) code (rules) that applies to television advertising. They also clear video on demand adverts for the major broadcasters against the non-broadcast (CAP) code (rules). These include both good taste and decency criteria, and also a variety of technical and even medical constraints (advertisements may not, for example, contain flashing which would set off attacks of photosensitive epilepsy).
The current Chairman of Clearcast is Mark White. Samantha Smith has been announced as Managing Director replacing Chris Mundy in April 2020.
Advertising agencies submit pre-production scripts to Clearcast before any significant expense is incurred in the production of a TV commercial. The process of script submissions is to reduce the risk of agencies spending a significant outlay on a TV commercial which is later rejected because it is unacceptable. Once submitted, the agency's allocated copy group executive will give initial comments on the script, detailing broadcast timing restrictions, advice on appropriate use of specific shots or imagery and requesting substantiation. Substantiation must be submitted where a claim is made in a broadcast commercial. An agency will then adapt the script (because it does not comply with broadcast standards or contains a claim which cannot be corroborated) and submit relevant substantiation documents to the Clearcast executive.
A process of second-reading then takes place, whereby the executive may request further information or approve the script.
Once a script submission is accepted, an agency will produce a final (or 'clocked') TV commercial, which also needs to be submitted for approval to Clearcast. The agency must then submit the 'clocked' ad digitally via FTP using the digital copy clearance system (CopyCentral).
Once received and ingested into the Clearcast system, the ad is first checked for 'supers', a process which measures the height (in television lines) of required legal text ('the small print') to ensure it complies. The legal text height is 16 TV lines, measured on a flat-topped, lower case letter; anything less than this will be rejected. Legal text is also timed to ensure it is legible to the viewer.
Some ads fail at this point, and the agency is forced to modify the legal text in order to ensure it complies in terms of line height and duration on screen. After this stage, the ad is subjected to a Harding test (also known as a flash test), which ensures it will not cause sufferers of photosensitive epilepsy to have seizures.