Sýn says proposed RÚV ad cap will not curb sales

Sýn has warned that a proposed cap on advertising revenue for Iceland’s public broadcaster, RÚV, could lead it to sell more advertising at lower prices, putting further pressure on private media. The company made the criticism in a submission on proposed changes to RÚV’s funding, reported by Morgunblaðið (mbl.is).

The bill would set the cap at 2.8 billion Icelandic krónur and reduce RÚV’s state funding by one króna for every króna its advertising revenue exceeds that limit. Sýn argues that this could encourage the broadcaster to cut prices rather than reduce the volume of advertising it sells, allowing it to increase advertising minutes and placements without exceeding the cap.

Sýn also says RÚV’s advertising revenue has never reached 2.8 billion krónur. Because the proposed cap would rise annually in line with inflation, the company argues that it is unlikely to constrain the broadcaster’s advertising income in coming years.

Páll Ásgrímsson, Sýn’s chief legal officer, told Morgunblaðið that a cap based on RÚV’s share of the advertising market would be more effective. He proposed limiting the broadcaster’s advertising revenue to 10 per cent of turnover in Iceland’s competitive television and radio advertising market. He cited an 8.6 per cent benchmark in a comparison with European public service media and said a 10 per cent limit would tie RÚV’s activities to the size of the market.

Sýn also criticised RÚV for refusing to provide the Ministry of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education with a report by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which the company says the bill’s explanatory material appears to rely on. The ministry confirmed on October 8 that it did not have the report, according to Sýn, which said this raised questions about the bill’s preparation.

In its submission, Sýn said an independent study of RÚV’s advertising sales, based on Gallup data, found 133 instances in which the broadcaster exceeded the statutory limit of eight minutes of commercial messages per hour during prime time. The study covered the period from early 2020 to September 27, 2026. Sýn said the findings showed that oversight of RÚV’s advertising activity was inadequate and called for independent monitoring.

Sýn said it commissioned the study after the Media Commission confirmed it had not opened an investigation on its own initiative into RÚV’s advertising activity between 2022 and 2025.