BBC scraps sponsor deals after trust upholds ITV complaints

The BBC was yesterday forced to axe commercial sponsorship from its external events including Sports Personality of the Year and Proms in the Park, after furious complaints from ITV and commercial radio rivals were upheld. The BBC Trust ruled the corporation's management had "compromised the editorial integrity of the BBC" with an agreement for Britvic juice brand Robinsons to sponsor the Sports Personality of the Year award last December. In light of the decision, the BBC said it would abandon all its commercial deals once existing agreements ran out, and axe a controversial website that had outlined sponsorship opportunities. The move will cost the BBC around £1.5m a year. "In the context of today's findings, the management of the BBC ... has concluded that it should no longer accept sponsorship from commercial bodies for... [read full story]