Sponsorship of broadcast programmes (UK)A B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWmade possible by the sponsoring company. Th us
culture comes to us through the arch of sponsor-
ship. At the same time the company will benefi t
by association (see synergy).
To sponsor Mozart or Rembrandt is somehow
to be touched by their greatness; their quality
rubs off on the sponsor. Th e danger is for Mozart
to be hijacked from the public domain and trans-
formed into yet another device for selling goods- processed, packaged and ‘profi tized’. Such is
the awareness in public bodies of this danger
that codes are written to regulate the degree of
sponsorship, as well as its nature. See product
placement.
Sponsorship of broadcast programmes (UK)
Responsibility for establishing rules concerning
the sponsorship of broadcast programmes in the
UK, and monitoring its practice, rests with the
Offi ce of Communications (Ofcom; see ofcom:
office of communications (uk)). Sponsor-
ship is dealt with in Section 9 of the Ofcom
Broadcasting Code. The BBC does not come
under Ofcom regulation in this matter.
Th e Code states that sponsorship may occur
subject to certain conditions: there must be
transparency, separation and editorial inde-
pendence. It must be made clear that while a
sponsor may have financed a programme, or
materially supported that programme, it has not
infl uenced the programme’s content and that the
acknowledgment of sponsorship makes clear the
diff erence between itself and the programme.
Excluded from any form of sponsorship are news
bulletins and newsdesk presentations on radio,
and news and current aff airs programmes on
TV.
Ofcom’s position on sponsorship and prod-
uct placement has been one of conceding
ground on initial safeguards, bearing in mind
that its mission has been not only to uphold
standards of broadcasting, but also to encour-
age profitability. After lengthy consultations
in 2009–10, Ofcom amended regulations
contained in the Communications Act (2003),
issuing the Audiovisual Media Services (Product
Placement) Regulation which came into force in
February 2011.
Th is allowed sponsorship credits to be broad-
cast during programmes (‘internal credits’),
though with limitations on their content. Th ese
internal credits would not be permitted in
programmes, such as children’s programmes,
which barred product placement; all sponsor-
ship credits must make clear the relationship
between the sponsor and the sponsored content.
See http://www.ofcom.org.uk.
Spielberg’s ground-breaking Jurassic Park (1993),
the Pixar/Disney animation Toy Story (1995, and
later sequels), Cameron’s Titanic (1997) and the
Wactowski brothers’ Th e Matrix (1999).
In 2004 Robert Zemeckis’ Th e Polar Express
introduced performance capture, a system that
digitally captures an actor’s live performance
using computerized cameras. This provides
a blueprint for creating virtually all-digital
characters. Zemecki took the process further in
Beowolf (2007).
Special effects pose two problems: by their
often amazing achievements, they raise audience
expectations, succeeding eff ects arguably having
to be more amazing than the last; and, perhaps
more importantly, there is the danger that eff ects
become the main player in the narrative – a
case of style dominating content, as a number of
critics pointed out when reviewing Star Wars:
Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002).
Speed photography See high-speed photog-
raphy.
Spin: spin doctor See news management;
sound-bite.
Spiral of silence See noelle-neumann’s
spiral of silence model of public opinion,
1974.
Spiral model of communication See dance’s
helical model of communication.
Spoiler Device used by one or more newspapers
to detract from a rival paper’s scoop story;
usually by running a different version of the
story as told by lesser characters.
Sponsorship Th ere is scarcely any fi eld of the
arts, sport, entertainment or media that is
not to a greater or lesser extent dependent on
sponsorship; and this sponsorship originates
for the most part from industry, business and
commerce. However, it could be said that
sponsorship is as old as the pyramids; indeed the
pyramids constitute one of the most impactful
examples of state sponsorship. Tombs, yes, but
also symbols of the pharaohs’ will to dominate
the lives of their subjects: the pyramids were a
constant reminder to the Egyptians that ‘We
are here’. Similarly, sponsorship of the arts by
monarchs and the church was at base born of a
desire to enthrone the sponsor in the minds and
memories of the people.
Some powers of monarchy and the church have
been inherited by big business, as well as certain
duties within the community. A company or
corporation will sponsor a major art exhibition
designed to give pleasure and illumination to
thousands. And those thousands will in turn, so
it is hoped, acknowledge the communal benefi t