Colors rapped by Ofcom for sponsorship breach

Popular Hindi entertainment channel, Colors has been rapped by media regulator, Ofcom for two sponsorship breaches.

The two concerning shows were ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi 4’ and ‘Balika Vadhu’. Ofcom felt that the sponsor credits for both these shows had extended information, which were similar to adverts rather than sponsors.

Sponsorship credits broadcast around sponsored programmes must not contain advertising messages or calls to action. Credits must not encourage the purchase or rental of the products or services of the sponsor or a third party. The focus of the credit must be the sponsorship arrangement itself. Such credits may include explicit reference to the sponsor’s products, services or trademarks for the sole purpose of helping to identify the sponsor and/or the sponsorship arrangement.

Viacom told Ofcom that on this occasion its compliance team in India had failed to check these credits with its UK compliance consultant. Viacom said it is “genuinely embarrassed by this error” and that it has “taken this issue very seriously and [has] adopted appropriate corrective measures to ensure such an occurrence is not repeated.”

While Ofcom notes Viacom�۪s apology for the breaches in this case, Ofcom was concerned about the circumstances in which these breaches occurred, and do not expect a recurrence of similar compliance issues.