Born to Win - sponsored by Norwich Union

Anyone see Born to Win?

A few issues: Firstly, the show is basically sponsored by Norwich Union - Dermot mentions it during the programme, the credits acknowledge it, the arenas have the sponsors logo and the elimination part comes from the Norwich Union Arena.

Anyway, moving on to the show. As an entertainment show it worked quite well - a few challenges of different types and at the end a winner and an elimination.

However, as a series it appears flawed. Is it really possible to judge and train a Fencer against a Rugby player against a Long Jumper, especially when both the judges are hurdlers? It also appears unfair that some sports are represented by one athlete while other are represented by five.

And also, as it is supposed to be about breeding talent, what's the point in eliminations. Surely it's better to train them all up until the end then declare an overall winner, especially as no public vote is involved.

The elimination process is basically each athlete gets points for the position they come in the events. After 3/4 events, the bottom three in the drop zone face elimination - decided by the judges (Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell).

Think this is a pedantic point - but I think the "event" is sponsored by Norwich Union, rather than the TV show. Whilst the show might not exist without the event - I think there is a subtle difference...

Of course, if the show was on ITV1 (or other commercial TV channel) it would most likely have sponsorship
credits for Norwich Union. Something like . . . "Born To Win . . . Quoting you happy, with Norwich Union!"

Also remember that the BBC *could* use the point that they plan to sell this to foreign markets - and therefore say that it was a partnership between BBC UK and BBC Worldwide.

But the point closer to the truth is that the BBC are seemingly allowed to seek sponsorship for outdoor events such as music festivals or sports events they organise - just look at BBC Proms In The Park - they were sponsored by Renault.

Anyway, nice to see a reality show where it isn't backed up by numerous spin-off programmes on BBC3.

Well they're not TV or radio are they? So why not have sponsors? The sponsor pays for the event, so it doesn't come out of the licence fee!

Yep, but any extra money the BBC earns is in excess to the licence fee. I'd have no problem with programme sponsorship on the BBC if it led to a cut in the licence fee.