Supporting Trust in Advertising
Supporting Trust
in Advertising

Trust is an important factor in effective advertising – for the public, the advertising industry itself, and policymakers.

For trust to exist, advertising must be legal, decent, honest and truthful. Advertising in the UK is self-regulated, to ensure that this is the case.

The Broadcast Advertising Standards Board of Finance Limited (basbof) is responsible for collecting the levy that funds this regulation – which is carried out by the Advertising Standards Authority (Broadcast) (ASAB) in co-regulation with Ofcom.

Download the full guide
What is
the basbof levy?

As with the asbof levy, the basbof levy is voluntary, raised to fund the self-regulation of advertising in the UK. It is paid by advertisers who use specific marketing channels – in this case, television, radio and cable – and is based on the level of spend within those media.

To be truly effective, it is important that all advertisers support this system, and the UK advertising industry has been successfully self-regulating since 1975.

The levy is included by advertising agencies in their media invoices to their clients, collected by the agencies and then passed on to basbof.

For traditional and digital advertising, visit asbof

Why contribute?

It is important for advertisers to pay the levy because it directly – and solely – enables the self-regulation of advertising in the UK.

Regulation is important, because it ensures that advertising is – and is seen to be – legal, decent, honest and truthful. Advertising which isn’t these things won’t be trusted by the public, and will lose its impact.

And self-regulation (as opposed to the alternative, Government regulation) is crucial, because it leads to better trust, relevance, responsibility and effectiveness, for advertisers and the industry as a whole.

How much will
you contribute?

Most broadcast advertising is billed to advertisers by their agency or by the
broadcaster. Only use this calculator for any other broadcast spend you make.

Still not sure?

Download our guidelines for additional information on exclusions and methods of calculation

Download
Enter your total TV, Radio and Cable media spend

For traditional and digital advertising, visit asbof

Please enter a spend in the field.
You will contribute:
£

Spend under £500,000 is not subject to the levy

Please note this is an indication of your contribution, based on the information you have provided.

To confirm the precise amount(s), or for more information, please contact our team on 020 7340 0210 or via info@basbof.co.uk

To pay the levy please contact basbof and we will set up a suitable billing arrangement based on your estimated annual broadcast media spend.

Contact Us
Still not sure?

Download our guidelines for additional information on exclusions and methods of calculation

Download
Read more on our impact
Our member organisations

Without trust a brand is just a product and its advertising is just noise.

Keith Weed, President, Advertising Association

All advertisers gain great benefit from advertising self-regulation, so it is vital that all share the cost, and pay the levy.

Phil Smith, Director General of ISBA

Consumer trust is crucial to brand value and so our value as an industry.

Stephen Woodford, CEO, Advertising Association

How to contribute