Making television news pay

The (UK) media regulator, Ofcom, has just finished a consultation on the rules governing programme sponsorship. Next year its new broadcasting code comes into operation. Many of the news networks are clamouring for the regulations to be eased. "Clearly you need to put in safeguards to make sure that commercial considerations do not override news considerations," says Crossley-Holland. "I am not suggesting that television news itself becomes sponsored - 'this Iraq report was brought to you in association with Smith & Wesson' - but the rules that govern news channels are prehistoric."

The regulations are arcane and strict. Direct sponsorship of news or current affairs programmes is banned. But non-news slots within programmes are allowed to carry a sponsor's name - just so long as there is no "promotional reference" to a sponsor during any slot it has paid for. Thus a sports report can be brought to you by 02, but not if the presenter happened to mention that the company's logo is present on the Arsenal team's shirts.

Last year, the Independent Television Commission, Ofcom's predecessor, banned the business channel CNBC from broadcasting again a series about the positive and negative effects of the euro, which was funded by a £190,000 grant from the European Union.

CNN, in particular, is pushing the boundaries as far as they will go, moving beyond the mere sponsorship of market reports or weather forecasts. It has been regularly broadcasting six "mini-documentaries" entitled World Sports: A Nation's Passion. The short segments have been paid for by HSBC. Yet they were made not by an advertising agency but by journalists and crew working for CNN. Viewers are not told this explicitly, though they are informed at the beginning and end that the slot was "brought to you in association with HSBC, the world's local bank". Other reports in the HSBC-funded series cover boxing in Cuba, long-distance running in Kenya and fencing in France.

CNN, perhaps aware of the sensitivities of the genre, calls this "advertiser collaborative programming" (ACP). Everyone else in the industry calls it "advertiser funded programming".

ACP is an enormous wealth creator for the international news network. CNN is also showing Siemens' Mobility Workforce - about how technology is changing the way we work - and Rediscover Lebanon, a series of travelogues. Any firm looking to purchase a handful of ACPs is likely to have to spend a minimum of about £515,000. This year, an extraordinary 30% of CNN's European advertising revenue will come from ACP and programme sponsorship. So what does CNN mean by "collaborative"? Kevin Razvi, executive vice president of advertising sales, is clear about one thing: "We have 100% editorial control. But what we will do on a collaborative front is be open with a client, show them what we are doing and explain why we are doing it."

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