Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) was a non-governmental organisation which until the end of 2007 pre-approved most British television advertising. The work of the BACC has been taken over by Clearcast.

BACC approval was applied both to scripts and to the final commercials. The BACC applied a list of criteria which included both good taste and decency criteria, and also a variety of technical and even medical constraints (advertisements may not, for example, contain flashing which would set off attacks of photosensitive epilepsy).

The BACC was a department of ITV but funded by all of the participating British commercial television channels, in proportion to their viewing figures.

All TV commercials in the UK which were broadcast as part of a national campaign (i.e. on a national channel such as Channel 4, Channel Five, Sky etc.) had to be pre-approved by the BACC.