The protection of minors and the legality of television advertising, priority issues for the president of the CNMC

José María Marín Quemada defends in 'Dialogues in the CAA' the proportionality and deterrent function of sanctions against television stations.

The president of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), José María Marín Quemada, highlighted yesterday as priorities of the national regulator in the audiovisual field the protection of the rights of the most vulnerable television viewers, such as minors, as well as the legality of the advertising content broadcast by the media. Marín Quemada made these observations during his conference in the Dialogues cycle at the Audiovisual Council of Andalusia (CAA), where he also confirmed that the body he presides will monitor compliance with pluralism and informative impartiality on Spanish Television.

The CNMC "must protect the rights of viewers against the intentions of television stations, especially in the case of minors," stressed Marín Quemada, who stated that television can harm the development of a minor, whose protection "is a legal mandate without nuances for the CNMC."

In the year and a half of the CNMC's existence, he explained, the withdrawal of six series not suitable for minors in protected hours has been achieved and 15 files have been filed against several national television stations for various infractions related to this matter and violations in the broadcast of advertising. Marín Quemada also announced that the CNMC works with free-to-air commercial television stations to standardize age rating criteria for content.

A work that they will extend to pay television and that they also want to extend to Internet content: “We want to achieve an effective parental control system and create a catalog of Internet products that leads us to a white list of Internet content,” said Marín Quemada in his conference, held this morning at the Audiovisual Council of Andalusia.
The president of the CNMC also claimed the “classic” function of regulatory bodies in defense of the rights of television viewers regarding advertising. “The CNMC tries to balance the interests of companies with the protection of consumers against abuses, and combine this balance with the interests of advertisers themselves, so that the rules are respected,” he said.

In this sense, it was considered very important to verify that the advertising content complies with the law and opted for self-regulation and co-regulation systems by operators. A matter on which, he said, the CNMC is working.

In his conference, Marín Quemada reviewed the audiovisual panorama of the moment, where, he recalled, the telecommunications companies, which until now offer us telephone and internet connection services, are already beginning to offer audiovisual content through television. “And that is done by three or four operators that remain in Spain after the merger processes,” he highlighted.

The president of the CNMC emphasized the relevance of these groups that, according to the regulator's data, registered a turnover of more than 32,000 million euros in 2014, which represents 3% of the GDP: "For objective qualitative and quantitative reasons, we are in the presence of an activity that is more than important," said Marín Quemada.

Marín Quemada defended the work of regulatory bodies against “those who think that permissiveness is necessary to achieve growth.” "Believe me, it is a mistake. Concentration, which is what is behind that idea, what generates helplessness," he stressed.

During question time, he defended the philosophy of the sanctions imposed by the CNMC on television operators: “that they are proportional to the damages caused or benefits obtained and are dissuasive.” “Since the CNMC has been in operation, we have been imposing sanctions and we are going to continue doing so,” said its president, who considered the rejection of them by television stations to be natural, although he highlighted the unquestionable legal security for television operators.

Another of the issues on which he spoke during the debate revolved around his role as monitor of compliance with TVE's public service. Marín Quemada confirmed that this is one of the work forecasts for the coming months of the CNMC, which will monitor compliance in addition to pluralism and impartiality on TVE.