Radio stations beware! ICC's legal action on it's way

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially communicated to the Association of Radio Operators for India of having entered into an exclusive arrangement for radio / audio stream services across all mediums, including the internet in India with BIG FM and AIR. For the ICC World Twenty 20 tournament. All India Radio and 92.7Big FM, part of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL), are the official radio partners for T20 this year, being held in Sri Lanka from September 18 to October 7, 2012. 

 

Further the ICC Communication to the association says that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has said it will take stringent legal action against radio stations involved in ambush marketing during the tournament. This is the first time the council has decided to come down heavily on an offender. 

 

Ambush marketing is a strategy wherein advertisers and other firms, not associated with the tournament officially, try to gain mileage out of an event without paying any sponsorship fee.

The ICC T20 this year will be played in Sri Lanka from September 18 to October 7. 

 

As official radio partners BIG FM will deliver content with high audience engagement, this in effect, bringing immense value to the brands and advertisers who have associated with the radio station. According to an official communication sent by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to the Association of Radio Operators for India, ‘the exclusive rights holders for radio/audio stream services across all mediums, including the internet in India are BIG FM and AIR’. 

 

The biggest rider states that no radio operator will undertake any unlicensed commercial exploitation or selective commercialization of ICC Proprietary Content through third party sponsorship and presentation of the same.’ Strict action against channels which do not adhere to the stipulations laid down by the governing body will be taken this year. 

 

Says Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Broadcast Network said, “In an extremely encouraging move, ICC has decided to come down on anyone misusing content to offer packages to advertisers. As radio partners, we look forward to offer consumers the best possible entertainment package with exclusive and highly engaging content, while offering marketers an approved and ethical platform by which they can reach out to their audiences.” 

 

Ambush marketing is rampant in television and internet and can be checked. However, it is very difficult to keep a tab on radio stations. Festivals and sporting events are huge opportunities for radio stations to create special properties, contents and packages on which they can cash in. This, in turn, results in ambush marketing, illegal broadcast of an event and misuse of content, thus resulting in revenue loss of about 30-40 per cent. The stations might come up with more creative content and can earn even more than the official partners.