[CMA TV] URGENT: Sponsorship money for community stations

[Diane Reid]

+++ Apologies for cross posting +++

10 MINUTES THIS AFTERNOON COULD SAVE YOU HOURS OF FUNDRAISING IN THE
FUTURE: ACT NOW!

The CMA will be responding to the Ofcom Consultation on station
sponsorship, an important form of potential income for community
stations, as explained in earlier e mails. 

Ofcom has announced proposals to allow station sponsorship to extend to
television channels and radio. This is a potential source of significant
income for community stations. At the moment, stations cannot be
sponsored (individual programmes can be sponsored but not the whole
station). However, Ofcom is proposing that certain restrictions should
apply, which would adversely affect community stations.  

The Ofcom proposal is that channel sponsorship should not apply to
stations which carry news bulletins. News is an important element of
most community radio output, and so we need to lobby hard that community
radio needs channel sponsorship, but also wants to provide news. We will
need to demonstrate that channel sponsorship can exist without
threatening the editorial integrity of our news output, or appearing to
our audiences to do so.

Crucially, sponsorship on community media is not always about commercial
brands of course, but voluntary sector, local government etc wanting to
show general support for a community service, rather than specific
support for a particular programme or item.  In addition, the Community
Radio Order restricts programme sponsorship (part of the 50% overall
limit, as well as the absolute limit in areas with fewer than 150k
adults in the commercial station mca) but NOT channel sponsorship so
this is particularly important for stations who are restricted in the
amount of programme sponsorship and advertising revenue they can take. 

Ofcom has specifically asked for RESPONSES FROM BROADCASTERS so LET'S
MAKE OUR VOICE HEARD. Ofcom is required to take consultation views into
account, so if we don't want to lose the opportunity to access station
sponsorship income, it's important that as many stations/individuals as
possible respond to the consultation at
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/sponsorship/  (where there's an
electronic response form and more information about the proposals).


The CMA RESPONSE TO THE CONSULTATION IS GIVEN BELOW

QUESTION 1: Do you agree with Ofcom's proposal to amend the wording to 
reflect that the principles apply to all sponsorship arrangements? If 
not, how should Ofcom make it clear that the principles apply to channel

sponsorship arrangements?

RESPONSE: The CMA supports Option A2.


QUESTION 2: Do you agree with Ofcom's proposal to prohibit channel 
sponsorship on channels that carry unsponsorable content? If not, please

give reasons and suggest how channels that carry unsponsorable content 
can be sponsored without the sponsorship including, or appearing to 
include, this content.

RESPONSE: The CMA supports Option B2. Most Community Radio and 
Television stations see the provision of news as an important part of 
their service to their local community. Prohibition of channel
sponsorship for such stations would force a choice between rejecting
sponsorship which could make a significant contribution to
sustainability and providing an important service to the community. The
CMA would support channel sponsorship for stations where the majority of
output is sponsorable content. Crucially, sponsorship on community media
is not always about commercial brands, but about voluntary sector, local
government etc wanting to show general support for a community service,
rather than specific support for a particular programme or item. The CMA
would suggest that a measure of proportion of income against proportion
of content could be applied to ensure that unsponsorable content was not
funded in this way, provided this was not administratively burdensome
for the station or for Ofcom, and that this should form part of the
Guidance Notes.

QUESTION 3: Do you agree with Ofcom's proposal to amend the Code rules
on transparency to include channel sponsorship? If not, how should Ofcom

make it clear that the transparency rules apply to channel sponsorship 
arrangements?

RESPONSE: The CMA agrees with Ofcom's preferred option, C3.


QUESTION 4: Should broadcasters be allowed to name their service after a

sponsor eg. The Acme Channel 

RESPONSE: The CMA agrees with Ofcom's preferred option, C3.  We should 
also indicate that Community Media projects would not be seeking to name

their organisations after a sponsor.

QUESTION 5: Do you agree with Ofcoms proposal to make no amendment to
the Code regarding the separation of sponsorship from advertising and 
programming? If not, please give reasons

RESPONSE: The CMA agrees with Ofcom's preferred option, D1

QUESTION 6:Do you agree with Ofcoms proposal to make no amendment to the
Code but to publish guidance on the acceptable level of prominence for 
channel sponsor credits? If not, please give reasons.

RESPONSE: The CMA agrees with Ofcom's preferred option, E2. In addition,

we suggest that Ofcom's guidance for undue prominence include a 
'buffer zone' e.g. 15 minutes before and after news and current affairs 
programmes.

QUESTION 7: Have we correctly identified the significant issues 
surrounding the regulation of channel sponsorship? If not, what other 
matters should Ofcom take into account that are not raised in this
consultation?

RESPONSE: The CMA feels that Community Radio now (with its distinctive 
characteristics as defined in the Community Radio Order), and local and 
community television in the future, has the potential for new types of 
channel sponsors such as, for example,  government or voluntary sector 
initiatives promoting regeneration projects and wishing to support local

communities. This form of sponsorship has great potential to benefit the

stations and their communities. It would be unfortunate if these 
benefits were seen as incompatible with the provision of news services 
to local communities. The CMA feels that the discussion outlined in the 
consultation document does not sufficiently explore these issues and is 
based on a traditional view of sponsorship as being primarily to do with

commercial branding.




Best wishes,

Diane
Diane Reid, Director, Community Media Association

Diane
 
Diane Reid
Director, Community Media Association
'Access to the media for people and communities' www.commedia.org.uk 
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