European Union lawmakers gave the final green light today to new EU rules allowing broadcasters to raise more money with product placements and covering new technologies such as video-on-demand.
Lawmakers rubber-stamped the "Television without Frontiers" directive agreed with the bloc's governments earlier this year.
The new rules will regulate the use of product placement, or the display of branded products in television programmes and films, as a revenue stream for production companies.
Hidden advertising will remain banned in children's programmes, news and documentaries throughout the 27-country bloc.
Another controversial part of the reform is a "country of origin" principle under which broadcasters must follow home country rules when making programmes, even if shows are then transmitted in other states with different regulations.
Governments may adopt stricter national rules than their peers, and the bloc's executive European Commission will decide whether they break EU law.
The rules also cover new advertising forms, such as split-screen, virtual and interactive commercials, and minimum standards on issues such as protection of children, including measures against fast-food advertising, the Commission said.
Daily limits on the amount of advertising that broadcasters can show have been removed, and hourly limits were set at 12 minutes.
Films, current affairs programmes and news cannot be interrupted by adverts more than once every 30 minutes.