CBAA - Sponsorship Guidelines Under Revision

Sponsorship has been a key area of concern for the community broadcasting sector in recent times. As we’ve become more creative in ways of gaining support, the lines have become more blurred as to where sponsorship ends and advertising begins.

The former Australian Broadcasting Authority published ‘Guidelines for broadcasting sponsorship announcements and other promotional material on community radio and community television’ in 2003. These guidelines provided a solid background on how sponsorship works.

However the guidelines as they stand do not go into enough detail on some of the tricker areas of sponsorship structures and as such, have left many CBAA members wondering what they can and can’t do.

After representations from the CBAA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have agreed to review and update the guidelines. The initial phase of the review is now under way and commenced with a number of face to face meetings between CBAA and ACMA representatives and then followed by a detailed submission to ACMA from the CBAA outlining many of our members concerns and questions about the sponsorship framework.

The CBAA’s submission has highlighted issues such as:

Gig Guides: Can stations do them and if so, where is it possible to cross the line from community information to advertising?
Interviews: Again, where do interviews cross the line from informative to advertorial?
Community Service Announcements: The need for further clarification of what constitutes community information and CSAs
Outside Broadcasts: Some of the potential problems that can arise from doing a broadcast from a commercial place of business, eg: the local Harvey Norman store.

The CBAA has also requested the inclusion of case studies and also that the guidelines be written in ‘plain English’ rather than in the legalistic language of the Broadcasting Services Act.