In exciting news there has been an announcement with a change that affects Broadcast TV commercial specifications.
The change is very welcome and replaces a rule that has been in place for 18 years here is Australia.
What is it?
As of mid 2026, text on TV commercials’ Safe Area can be displayed in accordance with 16:9 EBU R95-2017 recommendations.
16:9 EBU R95-2017 is the broadcast spec code and Title Safe is the area in which broadcasters can accept graphics, logos and text within.
This change means that we can now move Text/Graphics a lot further out towards the edges of the screen.
All Australian broadcast destinations are now accepting material in this spec and Cape io (formerly IMD Peach), our dispatch partner have implemented the change in the system to accommodate 16:9 EBU R95-2017.
What do the guides look like?
To help demonstrate the effect of the change, please refer to the image attached to this post with TVC frames that shows the existing guides, and then how much further outward the new guides are going to allow.
What does it mean for ads already out in circulation?
We can leave those as they are and this announcement doesn’t affect them in any way.
Next steps
For any future TVC’s, you are welcome to either stick to the position of text onscreen that you have been using or you may start to utilise the extra screen real estate.