News that the rules limiting television commercials are to be reviewed has already set tongues clucking.
If you believe the red-tops, Brussels is set to force British TV viewers to swallow a 70% rise in TV ads, bringing us in line with "ad-happy America". The reality is not quite so extreme.
Ofcom is indeed reviewing the rules in light of a forthcoming relaxation at European Union level and is looking at both the volume and the scheduling of ads.
But the regulator is not obliged to increase the limit to the current EU maximum of 12 minutes of ads every hour with an average of nine minutes per hour - and most observers believe it is unlikely to make such a radical change.
Currently, the EU rules govern multi-channel TV stations but the public service broadcasters - ITV1, Channel 4, Five, GMTV and S4C - have stricter limits.
They are still permitted a maximum of 12 minutes an hour but they must adhere to an overall average of seven minutes an hour, and a specific average of eight minutes an hour between 6pm and 11pm.
It's unclear how the EU rules will change but Ofcom is still permitted to retain stricter limits and industry insiders predict it will increase the average hourly minutage by only one or two minutes.
The regulator said it would take into account the concerns of viewers about the amount and intrusiveness of TV ads, but it needed to balance this with the increasing pressure felt by commercial broadcasters competing for advertising revenue in a multi-channel world.
The fact is that the terrestrial broadcasters are hurting badly as money flows into the coffers of multi-channel broadcasters - or out of TV altogether in favour of online advertising and billboards. In the UK ITV is the worst hit, but the problem is wider and regulators in Europe and around the world are dealing with similar issues.
An increase in advertising minutage will only be a short-term balm since ad avoidance is at an all-time high and most broadcasters and advertisers believe spot advertising is doomed. To that end, Ofcom has also been relaxing the rules on sponsorship, branded content and product placement.
As Britain heads for digital switchover, it is clear that we need to choose between levelling the playing field between multi-channel broadcasters and terrestrial stations or seeing many of our heritage TV brands struggle for survival.
The real question is whether, in the age of Tivo, Sky+ and other devices allowing viewers to skip ads, increasing the number of ads matters at all.
