Topping up

The licence fee started paying for the World Service on 1st April 2014. On 4th April 2014 we finally got the "rules" on alternative funding that will supplement its income. I've lifted them in full, because they may become important in discussions about sponsorship and ads in domestic output in the future. The BBC Trust is to be the "policeman"; if this commercial income is deemed not to taint the BBC's reputation abroad, why should it damage Auntie at home ?

14. The BBC may include paid-for advertising in services provided by the World Service which are not targeted at audiences in the UK; such advertising must comply with the BBC’s Advertising and Sponsorship Guidelines for BBC Commercial Services, and must take account of the likely expectations of target audiences, regulatory requirements and local market norms in the relevant territory.

15. The BBC may include sponsored content on the World Service.
Sponsored content may be—
 (a) sponsored content commissioned or acquired by the World Service (i.e. the sponsor may provide funding to the World Service directly);
 (b) sponsored content that has been broadcast previously on other services provided by the BBC or BBC companies;
 (c) sponsored content funded via the charity BBC Media Action16 (i.e. the sponsor may provide funding to BBC Media Action which then provides the content to the World Service).

16. Current affairs content may be not be financed by external funders, except that the BBC may include for broadcast on the World Service democratic governance content financed by external funders, including content dealing with current affairs, provided that it is consistent with the policy on appropriate funders set out in the Editorial Guidelines for BBC World Service Group on External Relationships and Funding.

17. The BBC may include in the World Service other externally funded content which is not sponsored content such as is permitted by paragraph 15 but which is either— (a) funded by BBC Media Action, provided that any relevant external funding provided to Media Action for the purpose by external funders has been approved in accordance with the applicable compliance procedures in accordance with BBC Media Action’s constitution, or (b) externally funded by other appropriate external funders, provided that it is consistent with the policy on appropriate funders set out in the Editorial Guidelines for BBC World Service Group on External Relationships and Funding.

18. In order to comply with state aid rules, the BBC Trust must keep under review the total amount received by the BBC and its subsidiaries by way of alternative finance, and ensure that it does not exceed an amount appearing to the Trust to be proportionate to the cost of fulfilling the public service remit of the World Service, having regard to the licence fee funding also available to the World Service.