Programming and Airtime Deals

A couple of weeks ago I was critical of Campaignamp160over its lack of reporting of the implications around programamp160content being included in a deal between GroupM and Channel 4 I wrote that Campaignamp160should have investigated further Well now they have and so credit is due to Gideon Spanier and to Campaignamp160for doing soThat said the issue of linking airtime salesbuys with programamp160salesbuys rumbles on and has I fear many a rumble to goAs the Campaignamp160story details John Billett a veteran media man even more veteran than me and that39s saying something and the Chairman of ID Comms a media consultancy business that advises its clients on the efficacy of their media activities has written to the new Chairman of Channel 4 with his concernsSetting aside for a moment the inevitable cries of quotwell he would say that wouldn39t he given the nature of the business he chairsquot John39s fundamental concerns seem to me wellfounded and to go far beyond the narrow confines of whether or not a consultancy or indeed an auditor has access to the workings of an airtime marketplaceThe underlying question is Is it acceptable to blur the lines between editorial independence and commercial pressuresNone of us on the outside can know the details of the commercial arrangement between any agency and any broadcasteramp160so what follows is about the principle rather than the specific Whether Channel 4 and GroupM or any agency group most of the large groups are involved in programamp160barter in one form or another happen in this particular instance to be blurring this line is altogether a different questionIt39s the opportunity to do so that is a concernFor many years advertisers have sought to influence the media To take a presumably fictional example even the current ITV drama quotMr Selfridgequotamp160has the eponymous Harry Selfridge threatening a press owner with a withdrawal of advertising unless the owner39s papers stop giving him a hard time editoriallyI was rather hoping for ironic neatness that quotMr Selfridgequotamp160would turn out to be a GME production but sadly it seems not to beThere is nothing new in the pressure between commercial needs and editorial freedom as a recent row at The Telegraphamp160indicatesamp160It39s important that the line between editorial freedom and commercial pressures survives Yes of course there were radio and television soap operas in the USA produced by Procter and Gamble but they were transparent Everyone knew who was paying for themSame with product placement in movies James Bond has to smash up several cars per film if Aston Martin or whoever wants to provide the cars and be duly acknowledged as having done so in the creditsamp160then what39s wrong with thatIt39s about being clear and transparentamp160Where things start to go wrong is when or if the advertiser starts to seek a degree of quotundue influencequotamp160over what39s broadcastamp160Or when the advertiser connives with the media owner39s commercial teams to mislead the reader or viewerSo back to the rumoured deal between Channel 4 and GroupM As I39ve said none of myself I suspect John Billett and Campaignamp160knows the details of this particular deal Both parties say they39re operating by the strictest of principles It39s the opportunity for pressure to be exerted that39s dangerousOnce you have an organization selling shows or financing shows to be sold to the same broadcaster from whom that same organization is buying airtime then there39s danger lurkingIs this oldfogeystyle thinking Am I wistfully trying to quotwind the clock back 30 yearsquotamp160to quote someone in the Campaignamp160piece I don39t think so This is about upholding the principle that advertising and editorial matters should be separatedWhy is this important in a digital age when we39re all content providers caught up in social media digital freedoms blah blah blahSetting aside lofty concerns over freedom of expression and the wish not to have large commercial organizations covertly influencing what we see and read there is the matter of the audience The audienceamp160is not dumb Once the line separating independently produced content from paidfor influence starts to blur and weaken so the audience39samp160cynicism will increase Which will lead to them assuming undue influence where maybe there is noneUltimately this is not a good thing for the publisher nor for the advertiser Brands need to step very carefully when it comes to native advertising and to listen to those with no interest in selling them the latest shiny baubleTo say it again clarity and transparency is crucialOne quote from GroupM in Campaignamp160caught my eye quotGME GroupM Entertainment operates as an independent business separate from GroupM39s media agency businessesquotI39m sure that39s true but that39s not to say that GME deals can39t in some way influence GroupM39s airtime deals which most certainly feed through to the media agenciesIf WPP really wanted GME to operate independently from the rest of GroupM then why put it in GroupM It would have been perfectly simple to establish a programamp160finance business within WPP that had no organizational relationship with GroupMPutting programamp160finance in to the same miniholding company as airtime negotiations is bound to arouse suspicion and to prepare the way for one or two misguided individuals to have the opportunity to operate on a moneyfirstprinciplessecond basisWhich might sound familiar to planners in some of the large holding companyowned agenciesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Programming and Airtime Deals

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