BBC World News trials product placement

BBC World News has started trialling product placement on some of its feature programmes on its international news channel.

Announcing the move, Chris Davies, sales and marketing director, BBC Global News, said that the move will bring BBC World News “in line with the BBC’s other commercial channels” that it runs outside of the UK, and follows changes introduced by Ofcom in 2011 allowing product placement on TV channels.

“There are certain programmes which aren’t included. Specifically, news and current affairs output cannot ever be sponsored or contain product placement,” said Davies.

“However, the [BBC World News] channel also offers a range of feature programmes focusing on topics such as sport, travel and technology. We already use sponsorship for these kinds of programmes, and we have recently decided to trial product placement within some of these programmes.”

The trial will initially run for a year-long period and we will then be reviewed, said Davies.