CNBC Appeals To Government To Change Sponsorship Rules

European financial television channel, CNBC, has reportedly written to the Government to ask it to use the forthcoming Communications Bill to change the regulation which prevents the sponsorship of news and current affairs programming.

According to the Financial Times, the channel has appealed to the Government to overturn a recent ruling by the ITC that a series of programmes dealing with the launch of the Euro were in breach of the rules surrounding sponsorship. The programmes were partially funded by a grant from the European Union. CNBC Europe argued the grant did not constitute commercial sponsorship because the money was not provided to promote a particular product, service or brand.

The ITC accepted that the programmes were impartial, but argued that rules governing news and current affairs programming prohibit third-party sponsorship of any kind.

However, in its letter to the ITC, CNBC Europe is understood to have compared the money it received from the EU to the money the BBC receives from the licence fee. It is understood that the ITC has declined to comment on the comparison because it does not regulate the BBC.

CNBC Europe’s chief executive, Richard Cotton, told the FT: “An unwillingness on the part of the UK regulators to recognise changes in the media landscape does raise the question of whether operating a pan-European news programming service out of the UK is viable.”

CNBC Europe is owned by NBC and Dow Jones, which last week announced that it is to cut a it is to cut a further 230 jobs this month (see Advertising Recession Hits Financial Media).

ITC: 0207 306 7743 www.itc.org.uk

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