Circular 39/08

Circular to all Broadcasting Stations

Consultation on Sponsorship Rules

Circular 20/05 dated 18th March 2005 provides that:

“(2)  It is allowed to identify a sponsor not only at the beginning and at the end of the programme but also when the programme is interrupted by advertising breaks. In terms of paragraph 13 of the Third Schedule, a period of at least 20 minutes must elapse between each successive advertising break within a programme. During such interruption of a programme it is allowed to identify a sponsor of a programme.

(3) A segment (rokna) of a programme can be sponsored but mention of the segment’s sponsor can take place only as stated in paragraph 2 above, that is, during one advertising break per segment.”

Following a consultation process on sponsorship rules, the Authority has decided to review Circular 20/05 as aforesaid and has approved the following new rules which will come into force on 1st October 2008. The Authority has substituted paragraphs (2) and (3) above to read as follows:

(2) It is allowed to identify a sponsor not only at the beginning and at the end of the programme but also when the programme is interrupted by advertising breaks. In terms of paragraph 13 of the Third Schedule, a period of at least 20 minutes must elapse between each successive advertising break within a programme. During such interruption of a programme it is allowed to identify a sponsor of a programme.

(3)  In the case of magazine programmes only, which consist in more than one segment (rokna) dealing with different subject matters, a segment of a programme can be sponsored but mention of the segment’s sponsor can take place only at the beginning and at the end of a segment (rokna).” Each mention should not exceed a maximum of ten seconds and during a given clock hour broadcasters should ensure that if they elect to apply this paragraph or to apply paragraph 2 and this paragraph together, there still should not be more than 6 such mentions within a given clock hour.

(4)  For the purposes of paragraph (3) above, a magazine programme is a programme which consists of different segments dealing with diverse subjects.