Product placement on the BBC

When the BBC have shown the Superrbowl they’ve sometimes (at the request of NFL fans) taken the US network feed but more times (and recently) they’ve tended to use the NFL Network produced international feed. One of the advantages is that it has a fixed number of fixed length ad breaks, so it’s much easier to fill the gaps in. (The network showing the game can vary the length of ad breaks and make up commercial time later if there hasn’t been enough at certain points during the game.) It also has little (if any?) product placement in it, so is easier to handle from that point of view as well. It doesn’t usually have a sonsororship name into and out of the half-time show either (or an on screen sponsor logo) so Sky have used it for that part, even if they tend to take the US network coverage for the game itself.

The MLB world feed for the World Series had some Pepsi sponsorship messages during some innings that whoever was on playout at BT Sport had to be quick to cover up but also get back to the game so as to not miss the next pitch. For the ones I saw whoever was doing that did very well, getting out as soon as it appeared but not missing any action. That is far from always the case - I’ve seen entire ad breaks cued when there was a brief sponsorship message to cover- ESPN America used to do this and given the broadcast (in this case ‘Hockey Night In Canada from CBC) had the same brief sponsors message around the same time every week it shouldn’t have been difficult to pass that knowledge around. Sometimes you’d miss a minute or more of play because of that.

I was told by someone I used to know who worked on live Sky sport programmes that the talkback feed you’d get from the US networks would vary in quality, both technically and in content, Blake can probably give more recent experiences with that.

Yeah, the listen lines really do vary in quality. Some will give you everything you need - good counts to the breaks, confirmations of break durations, notice that billboards are coming up. Others will not be quite so helpful (I remember one where I knew a lot more about their vacation plans than how long the next break was going to be), and then there are the rare occasions that the line's unavailable and you're flying blind - fun! You can usually muddle your way through...

Why would they cut away from the interview?

Thank you all for insight and the mods splitting the thread.

I suspect the audio feed only included the commentators.

Or as one of your MCR engineers would put it, "use your skill and judgement"!

I read that broadcast bulletin, then decided to read the latest one (4th December 2017). The first page is this:

The Code on the Scheduling of Television Advertising (‘COSTA’) contains rules that ensure
advertising is easily recognisable from programming and does not negatively impact viewers’
experience.

Most commonly, advertising is shown during breaks in between programming. However,
broadcasters may also transmit advertising and editorial material simultaneously e.g. splitscreen
advertising, where both types of content occupy separate areas of the screen.

• As made clear in the Note to Broadcasters published in Issue 262 of Ofcom’s Broadcast
Bulletin (“the Note”), split-screen advertising is subject to the COSTA requirements in the
same way as traditional advertising that appears in breaks. The Note provided guidance on
the application of COSTA rules to split-screen advertising, specifically in relation to the
potential for such advertising to impact on a programme’s integrity.

This note provides broadcasters with additional guidance on the application of COSTA
(specifically in relation to Rules 8 and Rule 9) when showing advertising and programming at
the same time.

Rule 8: “Where television advertising or teleshopping is inserted during programmes,
television broadcast must ensure that the integrity of the programme is not
prejudiced, having regard to the nature and duration of the programme, and
where natural breaks occur.”

When advertising is broadcast at the same time as a programme, it is not only important that viewers can easily differentiate between the content but also that the advertising does not impact negatively on the viewer experience. As set out in the Note, when determining whether advertising complies with Rule 8, Ofcom will consider the genre of programme. We will also consider how intrusive the advertising is, taking into account:
• how the advertising is delivered, e.g. whether visually, orally or both;
• its duration; and
• where it is positioned, e.g. whether it obscures a significant or important part of the
programme content.

Rule 9: “Isolated television advertising and teleshopping spots, other than in the
transmission of sports events, shall remain the exception.”

This rule limits the extent to which broadcasters can show a standalone advertisement, whether transmitted in between or at the same time as programme content. To comply with Rule 9, standalone advertisements can be broadcast only:

• during coverage of sports events, e.g. in between rounds of boxing where there may be
insufficient time for a traditional advertising break; or
• in exceptional circumstances, e.g. when an advertising break comprises a single long
advertisement.

From last month in the sport thread:




This took the form of an extended caption in the middle of the screen during each run:






BBC must've got wind that the red "Omega" timing logo would pop up again and again, about every 10 seconds, to accompany every single split time. (As in the official IBSF video below.)

The obvious cover-up was marginally less distracting, at least...