Buzz Asia avoids Ofcom rap over sponsorship
Lit Corporation’s youth radio station, Buzz Asia has avoided getting into trouble with Ofcom after a complaint from a listener was resolved.
The media regulator received a complaint from a listener saying that Sunrise Radio’s younger sibling, Buzz Asia had broadcast a sponsorship tag with a client’s offer, which had expired.
In August, the station twice broadcast a sponsorship credit for a restaurant which advertised a special offer by the restaurant. A complainant alerted Ofcom to the fact that he had visited the restaurant and was told that the offer of “all you can eat for fifteen pounds” was no longer available, and that as the restaurant�۪s sponsorship contract with Buzz Asia had finished, Buzz Asia had broadcast the credit without its consent.
Buzz Asia submitted that the sponsorship credit was broadcast in error in August. It explained that it had been unable to establish the circumstances surrounding the mistake, but assumed it had been caused by human error.
Buzz Asia told Ofcom that errors such as this were rare, as it has systems in place to ensure that the correct material is broadcast. It continued that “as with any system with a human interface, the potential for errors cannot be entirely eliminated”. As a result of this incident, Buzz Asia has reviewed its systems “to ensure that they are as robust as is practical and [it has] reminded those staff involved with the scheduling of the station�۪s output of the need to ensure the accuracy of the schedules”.
Ofcom took into account that the sponsorship credit was broadcast as a result of human error. As the sponsorship contract had ceased in June 2011, the broadcaster had not received payment from the advertiser to broadcast the credit in August. It was clear that the broadcaster had not intended for the credit to be transmitted on these two occasions. Ofcom also welcomed the steps the Licensee told us it has taken to improve its procedures in the scheduling of sponsorship credits.