Brussels, 29 January 2009 – Today commercial broadcasters from all over Europe
have shown their commitment to taking action for a healthier lifestyle. When submitting its Brochure entitled “A Healthy Audience” to the European Commission, the Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT) has shown that the commercial television industry can play a role in improving the health of European citizens. In its Brochure, the ACT has laid down the results of monitoring programmes related to a healthier lifestyle in eight European markets during a period of 12 months. The markets include Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. With the overview the ACT responds to a commitment of the European Commission’s “Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health”, which the ACT is a member of.
Ross Biggam, Director General ACT, said: “Commercial broadcasters have
recognised the increasing interest of European citizens in health and diet issues and have come up with a wide range of interesting programmes on healthy eating all over Europe. We are very positive about the outcome of this exercise as it shows our
engagement for a healthier audience and demonstrates that the power of television can be a positive tool for those wishing to communicate messages on healthy eating and lifestyle”.
The Brochure lays down detailed information about when and by whom the programmes are watched and contains information about the audience share, target group, length and number of episodes as well as the transmission day and time. When analysing the results, the overall performance of the programmes and feedback by viewers is very positive. With audience shares of up to 36% and millions of viewers tuning in to watch the programmes, it becomes clear that television is a medium which has the strength to attract wide audiences and reach masses even on rather sensitive issues such as obesity and healthy living. In this context it is also worth noting that some programmes like “Lazy Town”, “The Biggest Loser” or “You are what you eat” have proven to be so successful that they are shown in several European markets. The Brochure also demonstrates the increase in international programme formats over the last ten years, when successful formats are adapted to the local needs and shown as localised versions in several European countries.
Els Hendrix, Chair of the ACT Advertising Working Group & Head of European
Affairs ProSiebenSat.1 Group, commented: “Commercial television has a great
strength by being able to portray complex issues in an accessible, entertaining manner.
The ratings for these programmes show that our entertainment-led approach on obesity and healthy food is successful and helps a wide range of people to address this sensitive issue more positively and even with fun”.
About the ACT:
The Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT) is a trade association representing the interests of the commercial broadcasting sector in Europe. The ACT has twenty eight member companies active in 34 European countries operating more than 400 free-to-air and pay-tv channels and distributing several hundred channels and new services. For further information, please see: www.acte.be
Press contact:
Ross Biggam Utta Tuttlies
Director General Head of Communications
Phone: +32-2-738 76 13 Phone: +32-2-738 76 18
GSM: +32-477-407 733 GSM: +32-495 – 24 64 67
E-mail: rb@acte.be E-mail: ut@acte.be