Why is Airtime Clearance Necessary?

Prior to going to air, all Radio and Television advertisements airing on RTÉ must first be cleared for broadcast by our internal Copy Clearance Committee who consider both the verbal and visual content of the commercial along with its suitability for broadcast and it’s compliance with all existing Legal and Industry Codes for advertising as well as RTÉ’s own internal guidelines. Please note Clearcast or RACC Clearance does not cover RTÉ Radio or Television stations.

When are the Clearance Meetings held?

The Copy Clearance Committee meet to review Clearance submissions each Tuesday and Thursday morning at 9 a.m. Please note failure to comply with our Clearance meeting deadlines may result in airtime being pushed back and any lost airtime fully charged.

Final approval can only be given to the finished commercial and all final commercials are subject to RTÉ’s Terms and Conditions of Trade. Compliance with all broadcast codes and relevant regulatory authority mandatories is also required. For the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland Codes of Standards please visit the respective websites:
https://www.bai.ie/en/
https://www.asai.ie/

Special Note on Alcohol Advertising and Retailers

With effect from February 1st 2012 any supermarket advertiser whose copy receives a Full Alcohol restriction from RTÉ copy clearance, will automatically lose 5 points of discount from their deal discount.

Advertisements are considered Full Alcohol unless a majority of the products being promoted are non-alcohol. For example, a retail advertisement which includes offers on three products can only be regarded as a part -alcohol advertisement if two of the products are non alcoholic. A four product promotion would require that three of the products are non alcoholic in order to avoid additional time and station restrictions applicable to branded alcohol advertising.

It is important to note that in addition to the number of different products being promoted if there is excessive emphasis on the alcohol element or a disproportionate amount of alcohol featuring within the advertisement then full alcohol restrictions would apply.