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Stealing the show By Shuki Sadeh Tags: Second Broadcasting Authority  As a Second Broadcasting Authority supervisor, Ronit Binder has to watch hours and hours of TV to spot the commercial brands that worm their way onto many programs, breaking the law against hidden advertising. Binder spent last Tuesday morning watching the reality TV show "Hamitbach" (The Kitchen) broadcast by Channel 2 franchisee Keshet. To carry out her mission, Binder waited patiently, like a soldier , headed by Prof.lying in ambush, for the moment the show's sponsor - Nikol brand plastic wrap - appeared on the program. The plastic wrap made a guest appearance in three previous shows. The average viewer is glued to every movement of chef Ezra Kedem, who tyrannizes the young participants who dream of becoming famous chefs. But Binder is not distracted. "Whoa, here it is, you see," she says as she catches the moment a young chef covers a prime cut of meat with plastic wrap. Advertisement "They pull out the plastic wrap in the middle of the show. If it were all innocent, they wouldn't need the wrap. They don't really need to cover the bowl," she says. Binder hurries to pass on her findings to her supervisors at the Authority, so they can get to work on fining Keshet in lost prime-time advertising minutes. That, more or less, is how the Second Broadcasting Authority works. Advertising whizzes are busy trying to find loopholes on TV shows to plant ads worth hundreds of thousands of shekels, and the public servants are working to thwart their efforts. "Is it [a game of] cops and robbers?" asks Binder. "It is possible that the feeling exists, but we feel we are serving the public. We identify what bothers the public." The Second Broadcasting Authority has 60 employees, about 40 of whom are somehow involved in monitoring broadcasts. Thirty employees work on the technical aspect of monitoring ads in round-the-clock shifts in Jerusalem's Givat Shaul neighborhood. They are in charge of the broadcast quality and ensure the volume during advertisements does not rise in relation to the regular programming. The remaining 10 employees are responsible for monitoring content. At the helm are only two: Binder and Doron Cohen. Binder and Cohen work a normal 8 A.M.-5 P.M. day and watch a selection of the previous day's prime-time shows. They do not watch the news or investigative reporting shows unless they receive a specific complaint. In addition to monitoring hidden advertising, Binder and Cohen make sure there are no sex scenes before 10 P.M.; that the franchisees do not exceed their advertising minutes; and that certain shows do not push the envelope in terms of bad taste, offending viewers. They are not responsible for the content of the advertisements though. Since the advertiser's code of ethics was formulated, ads are no longer pre-approved. In general, ads are only examined if there are complaints after they appear. Cohen and Binder's sole role in examining ads is to ensure that no actor/participant on a show appears in the ads. Sometimes they take their work home with them. "Two years ago, when Modi Bar-On appeared in Channel 2's World Cup studio, he was onscreen for 20 minutes. In the first block of advertising he starred in an ad for Bank Discount," Cohen said. "I immediately sent a memo on the matter, and it was dealt with." Three months ago, Cohen was watching "Survivor" at home on Channel 10 when Marina, Yael and the rest of the reality TV show began extolling the praises of Head-and-Shoulders shampoo for several minutes. Cohen immediately called Binder, and the two dealt with the matter first thing the next day. The shampoo on the desert island may cost Channel 10 three minutes of prime-time advertising, worth about NIS 240,000. However, the Authority may still accept the channel's appeal. "Survivor" also got in trouble over Ariel laundry detergent, when the show's producers decided to pamper the contestants with new, clean clothes that just happened to have the brand's logo on them. Facing Binder and Cohen are the franchisees: Reshet, Keshet and Channel 10. (The HOT cable television company is regulated by the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council.) Then there are, of course, the advertising agencies and producers, and of course the companies behind the ads - a well-oiled machine ready to bend, if not break, the rules. The hidden advertising market is estimated at $30 million a year in Israel, about 3% of the total advertising market. There are many methods for introducing such ads, and every day the television industry tries to invent new ones. "The way to bypass the rules is to invent something new which has not yet been banned," said Erez Bergbaum, the CEO of a company working with "Survivor." For example, the show is allowed to award prizes to participants, but broadcasters long ago figured out how to turn that into a drawn-out affair focusing on the product. Close-up shots of the product are almost passe, and the new way is to introduce the brand as part of the storyline. However, the law has been largely ignored in recent years by Channel 2 and Channel 10, as well as the satellite and cable stations. For example, one of Channel 2's most popular shows, "A Star is Born," was presented in purple hues and decorated with stars - the color and logo of leading cellular phone company Cellcom. However, most advertisers think the risk is worth it, since such advertising is particularly effective. What has some worried is that businesses that pay for the advertising may try dictating artistic content too. The other side on the lookout for violations is the public. Often the Authority relies on citizens' complaints to learn of new tricks. Many people complained that the volume during commercials is much louder than during regular programming. It seems the advertisers compressed the soundtracks in such a way that the Authority's control equipment did not pick up. In the end they needed to purchase a special instrument to identify such tactics - requiring broadcasters to buy new equipment to solve the problem. Another way the Authority learns of advertising tricks is by hearing of contracts between franchisees and companies. And, of course, broadcasters often rat on one another and turn their competitors in, said one senior Authority official. On average, Binder and Cohen say they pick up on 15 alleged violations of various rules every week. However, there are those who view this figure as the Authority's failure to do its job properly. The broadcasters themselves believe they are over-regulated and that Authority staffers are just trying to make work for themselves to justify their existence and gain publicity. 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