Two sponsorship breaches for ATN Bangla

Bangladeshi entertainment channel, ATN Bangla has come in breach of Ofcom regulations on two occasions over sponsorship.

In November 2013, during the show ‘Law and Talk’ and ‘Legal Platform’ in January 2014, both shows featured guests/hosts, which were the actual sponsors of the respective shows. This was a breach of sponsorship and product placement regulations.

As noted in Section Nine of the Code, any reference to a sponsor that appears in a sponsored programme (with the exception of the sponsorship credits themselves) as a result of a commercial arrangement with the broadcaster, the programme maker or a connected person will be treated as product placement.

Although the Licensee denied that the programme featured product placement, we noted that the guests were employees of the programme sponsors. Ofcom also noted that both the guests appeared in advertisements for the sponsoring companies
which were shown around and during the programme. Ofcom considered therefore, that their inclusion throughout the programme was a reference to the sponsors and therefore amounted to product placement.

Ofcom also prohibits consumer advice programming to feature any product placements.