Post by Teddy Bear on Jun 25, 2010 18:49:02 GMT
Whether it's their arrogance, or they get paid off to give masses of free publicity to their chosen cause, or both; whatever, they show the disdain they have for the licence fee payer.
Radio 1 bosses 'fell under spell of celebrity' with Harry Potter day that broke BBC's own rules
By Paul Revoir
A Harry Potter themed day on Radio 1 broke the BBC's own guidelines after it gave blanket coverage to the film on the day of its release.
The BBC Trust ruled yesterday that the 'timing' and 'scale' of the coverage broke rules on 'product prominence' at the corporation.
Critics accused the broadcaster of acting like a publicity machine for the film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with its on air marathon.
This is the third time in the last 15 months that Radio 1 has been censured for excessively covering a commercial product following complaints about its coverage of Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour and last year's tie-up ahead of U2's latest album.
The station's Harry Potter Day was timed to coincide with the cinematic release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in July last year.
During the 12-and-a-half hours of dedicated programming, which ran across four programmes, there were a total of 33 plugs for the Harry Potter Day specifically.
Coverage, which aired on the shows of Chris Moyles, Sara Cox, Edith Bowman and Scott Mills, ran between 6.30am and 7pm that day.
Bowman's show was even broadcast live from the Harry Potter film set.
There were also 13 mentions of a Radio 1 Harry Potter website and 10 direct references to the film and seven comments from listeners. There was also a film review which gave the release four out of five stars.
The Trust said the timing of the corporation's coverage last year made the day a 'valuable commodity' to the producers of the film.
Yesterday Andrew Harrison, chief executive of commercial radio trade body RadioCentre, which made the complaint, said the BBC had 'fallen under the spell of celebrity' and was 'selling listeners short'.
This came after the report said: 'The verbal references to the brand or the film were not used sparingly nor were there very strong journalistic reasons for repeated references.
'Sufficient care was not taken to minimise product references in output designed to appeal to children (who would comprise a proportion of the audience and for whom the coverage was by its very nature designed to appeal).'
The report added: 'It was the packaging of the programmes under the Harry Potter Day label, together with the way in which those programmes were trailed and promoted continuously throughout the day, which amounted to undue prominence.'
Mr Harrison said: 'This decision is the latest example of the BBC falling under the spell of celebrity and being hijacked for the promotion of an already successful commercial product.
'For the BBC to break its own rules repeatedly is bad enough, but more importantly it is selling listeners short if its radio stations are allowed to move yet further away from their public service remit.
'As the [BBC] Trust prepares its report on the BBC Strategy Review, we are urging it to be more ambitious and to put a stop to this kind of excessively commercial behaviour once and for all.'
RadioCentre appealed to the BBC Trust after its complaint was rejected twice by BBC management.
The BBC had initially defended the blanket coverage saying the books and films were a 'popular culture phenomenon' and of clear interest to listeners. The programming included interviews with stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.
The Trust said each individual programme had complied with editorial guidelines on commercial products.
But it ruled that the 'cumulative' effect of the mentions and trails on air, and the timing of the coverage to coincide with the film's release in cinemas, represented a breach of guidelines on undue prominence.
Last year experts had calculated that the BBC had handed more than £1million worth of publicity to U2 in a series of special shows and appearances.
By Paul Revoir
A Harry Potter themed day on Radio 1 broke the BBC's own guidelines after it gave blanket coverage to the film on the day of its release.
The BBC Trust ruled yesterday that the 'timing' and 'scale' of the coverage broke rules on 'product prominence' at the corporation.
Critics accused the broadcaster of acting like a publicity machine for the film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with its on air marathon.
This is the third time in the last 15 months that Radio 1 has been censured for excessively covering a commercial product following complaints about its coverage of Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour and last year's tie-up ahead of U2's latest album.
The station's Harry Potter Day was timed to coincide with the cinematic release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in July last year.
During the 12-and-a-half hours of dedicated programming, which ran across four programmes, there were a total of 33 plugs for the Harry Potter Day specifically.
Coverage, which aired on the shows of Chris Moyles, Sara Cox, Edith Bowman and Scott Mills, ran between 6.30am and 7pm that day.
Bowman's show was even broadcast live from the Harry Potter film set.
There were also 13 mentions of a Radio 1 Harry Potter website and 10 direct references to the film and seven comments from listeners. There was also a film review which gave the release four out of five stars.
The Trust said the timing of the corporation's coverage last year made the day a 'valuable commodity' to the producers of the film.
Yesterday Andrew Harrison, chief executive of commercial radio trade body RadioCentre, which made the complaint, said the BBC had 'fallen under the spell of celebrity' and was 'selling listeners short'.
This came after the report said: 'The verbal references to the brand or the film were not used sparingly nor were there very strong journalistic reasons for repeated references.
'Sufficient care was not taken to minimise product references in output designed to appeal to children (who would comprise a proportion of the audience and for whom the coverage was by its very nature designed to appeal).'
The report added: 'It was the packaging of the programmes under the Harry Potter Day label, together with the way in which those programmes were trailed and promoted continuously throughout the day, which amounted to undue prominence.'
Mr Harrison said: 'This decision is the latest example of the BBC falling under the spell of celebrity and being hijacked for the promotion of an already successful commercial product.
'For the BBC to break its own rules repeatedly is bad enough, but more importantly it is selling listeners short if its radio stations are allowed to move yet further away from their public service remit.
'As the [BBC] Trust prepares its report on the BBC Strategy Review, we are urging it to be more ambitious and to put a stop to this kind of excessively commercial behaviour once and for all.'
RadioCentre appealed to the BBC Trust after its complaint was rejected twice by BBC management.
The BBC had initially defended the blanket coverage saying the books and films were a 'popular culture phenomenon' and of clear interest to listeners. The programming included interviews with stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.
The Trust said each individual programme had complied with editorial guidelines on commercial products.
But it ruled that the 'cumulative' effect of the mentions and trails on air, and the timing of the coverage to coincide with the film's release in cinemas, represented a breach of guidelines on undue prominence.
Last year experts had calculated that the BBC had handed more than £1million worth of publicity to U2 in a series of special shows and appearances.