ITV plc, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, came about via the merger of Carlton and Granada in 2003. Back then the two companies accounted for more than half of total advertising revenues in the UK, which led the Competition Commission to become concerned that the newly-merged ITV could have ‘significant influence over the ability of advertisers and media buyers to negotiate contracts freely and fairly’. Because of this, the Competition Commission decided that a remedy was needed to protect the market – the Contracts Rights Renewal (CRR) system.
Originally the rules were intended to protect the rest of the market from ITV by ensuring that TV spend was distributed fairly, but in 2017 the rules are hampering the progress of addressable TV in the UK, according to Luke Duffy, VP of Sales for A+E Networks, as the trading requirements require agencies to also spend on ITV and Channel 4 if they are going to spend on Sky AdSmart:
