BBC ceases sponsorship of on-air events

BBC management has decided to stop accepting sponsorship for "on-air" events run by the corporation, following yesterday's damning ruling by the BBC Trust.

A deal with Britvic for sponsorship of Sports Personality Of The Year 2007 was heavily criticised for giving the impression that a BBC programme had been sponsored, and "compromis[ing] the editorial integrity" of the corporation.

Director general Mark Thompson was told to send written apologies to ITV and RadioCentre, the commercial radio group, which had complained.

"The complaints made by ITV and the RadioCentre prompted the management to consider the appropriateness of commercial sponsorship of BBC on-air events in relation to changing market conditions," said a statement last night.

"In the context of today's findings, the management of the BBC has reviewed its sponsorship policy and has concluded that it should no longer accept sponsorship from commercial bodies for any on-air BBC event."

The decision is expected to cost the corporation £1.5m per year and will principally affect Sports Personality Of The Year, Proms In The Park, which has a deal with National Savings & Investments, BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme, presently sponsored by Aviva and the BBC Four World Cinema Award, whose deal with Pioneer has recently expired.

The statement continued: "This conclusion will be reflected in our revised guidelines which will be put to the BBC Trust in October for approval. Existing arrangements will be honoured within the new guidelines, but they will not be renewed."