The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a website advert for internet streaming and broadband provider NOW TV (aka – NOW Broadband), which is a sibling of Sky UK, after it was found to have failed to clearly set out that their basic TV plans (subscriptions) included ads (unless you paid extra for the ‘Boost’ upgrade).
The original complaint centred around an advert on the NOW TV website, which was seen on 29th March 2024 (relatively recent by ASA standards) and featured an offer on the Entertainment TV Plan, which reduced it to £6.99 per month for the first six months (normally £9.99).
Related T&Cs were listed below the advert in a drop-down section, in small text, stating “… Cinema and Boost members only. After your 7-day free trial […] Boost auto-renews at £6 a month, unless cancelled. You can cancel anytime. Ad-free excludes live channels and trailers promoting NOW content. Boost features available on selected content and devices only. See here for more details”.
However, one person complained that the ad was “misleading” because it did not make clear that, without the ‘Boost’ upgrade, all NOW TV membership plans included ads. But Sky countered by acknowledging that the ad did not state that the on-demand content available as part of NOW’s membership plans would feature advertising, before adding that they “considered that the presence of ads was not a main characteristic of the service and therefore that it was not material information“. The ASA disagreed.
ASA Ruling REF: A24-1240257 Sky UK Ltd
The next section of the webpage included information about the types of content included in the Entertainment, Cinema, and Sports membership plans, but did not state that those membership plans included ads. Website visitors could click on a membership plan and follow through to complete a purchase without being presented with clear information that those plans included ads unless they subscribed to the Boost upgrade.
Finally, at the bottom of the home page, under the question “What do I get with NOW Boost?” drop-down in the “Frequently asked questions” section, information clearly explained that the Boost upgrade was ad-free.
We noted that neither the home page nor webpages about the different basic membership plans clearly set out that those plans included ads. Additionally, information that clearly set out that the Boost upgrade was the service which enabled ad-free viewing was either two clicks away from the main body text which described membership plans, or one click away and at the bottom of a long webpage.
We concluded that the ad omitted the material information that the basic Entertainment, Cinema and Sports plans included ads, and did not make sufficiently clear that to have ad-free viewing, consumers must pay an additional cost for the Boost upgrade.
The ad therefore breached the Code. The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.4.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 and 3.10 (Qualification).
The ASA ordered NOW TV to stop showing the advert in its current form and to “ensure that future ads did not omit material information, such as the inclusion of ads with basic streaming membership plans.”