In a decision published in today's edition of the Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, it is ruled that the host broadcaster for the Paralympics had breached sponsorship regulations during the programme screened on August 29.

Inside Incredible Athletes profiled several Paralympic hopefuls including swimmer Liz Johnson, as they continue their preparations for London 2012.

But Ofcom noted that the programme carried sponsorship credits and idents for BT and Sainsbury's, who are both Tier One London 2012 partners and official sponsors of Channel 4's Paralympic coverage.

But Ofcom challenged Channel 4 over the two sponsors' direct relationship to the programme, as broadcasting code Rule 9.7 stipulates that "the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored channel or programme must be transparent".

The watchdog also cited Rule 9.6, which says that "sponsorship must be clearly identified as such by reference to the name and/or the logo of the sponsor".

In response, Channel 4 attempted to argue that Inside Incredible Athletes was part of its pre-Games coverage and therefore BT and Sainsbury's were cleared as sponsors.

The broadcaster refused to accept that there would be "viewer confusion about the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored programme, especially in the light of the unprecedented publicity about Channel 4 becoming the Paralympics broadcaster and the extensive pre-Games coverage it plans".

Ofcom accepted that it was made "sufficiently clear" that BT and Sainsbury's were the lead sponsors of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

However, the regulator ruled that Channel 4 "made no reference to the sponsorship arrangement between BT/Sainsbury's and the programme Inside Incredible Athletes", and so was in breach of Rules 9.6 and 9.7 in the broadcasting code.

"As the sponsorship credits made no reference to the sponsored programme, Ofcom did not consider the programme sponsorship arrangement to be clearly identified as such, as required by Rule 9.6," said Ofcom.

"As a consequence, the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored programme was not transparent, and the programme was therefore also in breach of Rule 9.7."

To read the full report click here.


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