Al Jazeera in trouble over sponsorship broadcast

Al Jazeera, the English language version, broadcast on the Sky television platform has been in breach of sponsorship broadcast rules.

The media regulator Ofcom found that the weather reports on Al Jazeera, which each lasted approximately 60 seconds, included a ten second opening sponsorship credit and a five second closing sponsorship credit.

The sponsorship was broadcast in seven variations of the opening credits and featured the Qatar Airways logo.

Ofcom found Al Jazeera in breach of Rules 9.19 and 9.22(a).

Breached rules

Rule 9.19 – The AVMS Directive requires sponsored programmes to be ���clearly identified as such by the name, logo and/or any other symbol of the sponsor such as a reference to its product(s) or service(s), or a distinctive sign thereof in an appropriate way for programmes at the beginning, during and/or end of the programmes�۝. Such identification is usually achieved by way of sponsorship credits broadcast around sponsored programmes.

Rule 9.22 of the Code requires that sponsorship credits must be distinct from advertising. Sponsorship credits must therefore not contain advertising messages or calls to action.