Sky Sports Breaks ITC Code For Programme Sponsorship

Sky Sports News was found to have been in breach of three rules of the Independent Television Commission’s Code of Programme Sponsorship when it broadcast an edition of Fox Sports News. The US sports news programme included one item sponsored by Yahoo! and one by Burger King. The ITC ruled certain references made to both sponsors should have been removed.

Rule 8.4 of the ITC’s code prohibits credits from suggesting the broadcaster’s responsibilities have been compromised by the sponsor in any way. The item sponsored by Yahoo, Question of the Week, included the aural statement “Brought to you by Yahoo!” in the credit, while the item sponsored by Burger King, called I Heard That had an end credit which included the aural statement “I Heard That has been brought to you by Burger King”. Both statements were in breach of this rule.

The Burger King statement continued “When you have it your way it tastes better!”, which contravened Rule 8.6 which says that straplines must not make specific reference to the attributes of the sponsors goods or services. Both items also went against Rule 8.2 of the code, which states that no sponsor credits are allowed within programmes. During the Question of the Week item, a full screen shot of the sponsor’s logo appeared, and the sponsor’s name remained on screen throughout.

Although no complaint was received regarding the matter, the ITC concluded that the programme was in breach of the Code of Programme Sponsorship. Sky acknowledged that the items should not have been broadcast and apologised for its error.

ITC: 020 7255 3000