Why new KR may never be aired in the UK . . .

[DJGM]

A picture (or two) paints a thousand words, so to speak . . .

From episode 2:


From the latest episode:


Put simply ... Ford's sponsorship of the show breaks British TV broadcasting regulations.

Our broadcast regulator, Ofcom (an official organisation similar to the FCC in the US) does not
allow the commercial sponsors of any television programs broadcast in the UK to have undue
prominence on the programs themselves. They might get away with showing the "Cobra"
emblems on KITT's exterior, since the Ford Mustang Shelby isn't commercially available
at any of the Ford dealerships in the UK.

But the blatant "in yer face" product placement with Ford's familiar blue oval shaped logo as
shown in the screengrabs, wouldn't be allowed. These would have to be edited out before
transmission on any of our TV channels, especially the commercial (non-BBC) ones. And
any UK transmission of new KR would most likely have to find different sponsors.

[Kitzira]

Stupid question.. or mebbe smart one.

How does Doctor Who get away with Tennant wearing Converse 'Chucks.' They're a well known brand.

Or is it just direct logos? People can drink red cans of cola, but not coke cans.

[sarfraz]

Its a fine line balancing act and I do not really know what the deciding factors are. I have noticed with some of US import shows which air on UK commercial TV (not even the BBC) that logo's are blurred. A good example is the USA Pop Idol show. The judges all drink from Coke Cola glasses, but they are always blurred.

Then again you can argue with Knight Rider that the car is the show and the fact it is a Ford is irrelevant. Same as like Kitzira suggests with Dr Whos shoes.....hey that rhymes

I suspect it is a direct logo thing, but car/vehicle branding is much harder to enforce. However, whenever I have seen a typical scene in a TV show in the UK, you can see the logo of the car as it stops and the actor gets out of the car. For example, the Vauxhall badge is on display more often than not on The Bill's police cars. The detectives all drive Toyotas and it is clear as day.

Talking about sponsorship of shows, that X-factors. They use to be sponsored directly by Nokia and had adverts going in and out of commercials. Along with that, Nokia phones were given away as competition prizes again highlighting the phones themselves. So I'm abit confused what constitutes too much?

Sarfraz

[TheGunheart]

Stupid question.. or mebbe smart one.

How does Doctor Who get away with Tennant wearing Converse 'Chucks.' They're a well known brand.

Or is it just direct logos? People can drink red cans of cola, but not coke cans.

I don't think we've ever gotten a close-up of the logos. In fact, I think they just have white circles, rather than the star-in-circle logo, like how most cartoon characters depict them.

[DeeKnight]

Maybe its just me,but i dont even notice the logos half the time. Im just enjoying the show.

[DJGM]

Stupid question.. or mebbe smart one.

How does Doctor Who get away with Tennant wearing Converse 'Chucks.'
They're a well known brand.

Or is it just direct logos? People can drink red cans of cola, but not coke cans.

Because Doctor Who is primarily a program shown on BBC One, a channel with no commercials
or sponsorship. The trainers/sneakers/plimsolls being worn by The Doctor are never shown to
blatantly display the makers logo. As for The Bill (a popular long running cop show) while the
characters may be seen driving Vauxhall (owned by GM) and Toyota cars, the actual program
is currently being sponsored by a company that makes toilet cleaning products!

The issue with the new Knight Rider is that Ford sponsors the show, and have their famous
blue oval shaped logo gratuitously appearing in shot. They may get away with the example
shown in the screengrab of KITT as the F150 truck, as that could be easily obscured. But
the huge Ford logo clearly shown in the second screengrab wouldn't be allowed.

If the new KR ever does get shown over here, I forsee it being pretty much cut to ribbons
before the episodes are broadcast. It was bad enough when ITV did that to the original
series ... and there was no such thing as program sponsorship over here back then!

[sarfraz]

Tell me about it. Its not like they keep saying "oh look at how well the Ford F150 truck handles the terrain"

Sarfraz

[PHOENIXZERO]

DJGM, did you make a similar topic about this a few months ago? Because I recall it being mentioned before...

Anyway, I kind of wish the FCC here in the US could do something about it, they did back in the 80s or maybe they didn't but there was an issue with cartoons advertising toys for said cartoon in the commercial breaks and something stopped that. I think everyone would welcome Ford not being bashed over our heads. I'm still surprised they allowed for Mike to say what he did about the Dodge Super Bee in the last episode and not dissing it....



EDIT: Ahh, maybe it wasn't its own topic, just post you made two months ago.

viewtopic.php?f=1046&t=12231&p=144879&h ... om#p144845" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pheonix_knight]

They can re edit the show to be regulator friendly. Every show that gets exported goes past the censors of the country its being exported to before broadcast. That shot of the ford logo can be cut out by starting the scene 3 seconds later before anything significant happened on screen...

NBC (and of course other US broadcasters) are in business for a reason, they're smart.

They arent going to make 'coninuation' of a series that was internationally taken to heart and then make it unbroadcastable anywhere outside their domestic market. Even if the show bombs at home they can always sell it abroad and that option certainly would not have been overlooked...

[Stuntman Lee]

I don't really see it being too much of a problem, editting is a wonderful tool.

They'll want to sell the show to as many countries as possible, which I assume would help fund the show for it to continue filming for longer than 1 or 2 series.

My only concern is that they put it on a *?$# channel like ITV4 or SCi-FI Channel where there isn't a big audience. I think Bionic Woman should have been put on a decent channel.

[pheonix_knight]

I don't really see it being too much of a problem, editting is a wonderful tool.

They'll want to sell the show to as many countries as possible, which I assume would help fund the show for it to continue filming for longer than 1 or 2 series.

My only concern is that they put it on a *?$# channel like ITV4 or SCi-FI Channel where there isn't a big audience. I think Bionic Woman should have been put on a decent channel.

By the time BW aired on ITV2 in the UK, there was an actors strike on the horizon and BW was already suffering in its US ratings, being shown on a more mainstream UK channel wouldn't have helped it

[Crumbling Down]

A litle off topic but when it came back from commercial break with the lawn mower or tractor with the big Ford Logo, did anyone else think that Kitt transformed into a tractor/lawn mower?

[pheonix_knight]

A litle off topic but when it came back from commercial break with the lawn mower or tractor with the big Ford Logo, did anyone else think that Kitt transformed into a tractor/lawn mower?

They have started putting Ki3ts scanner on ALL transformations so.....no

[Knight2000]

The laws and regulations are being examined and there's a strong possibility that they're gonna allow this kinda advertising to pass, as well as other stuff where companies put their logos on screen (a bit like a logo of the channel you're watching appears in the corner).

[Stuntman Lee]

The laws and regulations are being examined and there's a strong possibility that they're gonna allow this kinda advertising to pass, as well as other stuff where companies put their logos on screen (a bit like a logo of the channel you're watching appears in the corner).

I'm really detesting how British tv is turning into American tv. I don't mean with the shows themselves, just the stupid logos in the top corner of the screen. I don't need a constant reminder what channel i've turned to. And I hate the stupid bars that come across at the bottom of the screen near the end of a programme to tell you what's on next.

[cloudkitt]

Our broadcast regulator, Ofcom (an official organisation similar to the FCC in the US) does not
allow the commercial sponsors of any television programs broadcast in the UK to have undue
prominence on the programs themselves.

I envy you.

[Sky_Blue_Civic]

A litle off topic but when it came back from commercial break with the lawn mower or tractor with the big Ford Logo, did anyone else think that Kitt transformed into a tractor/lawn mower?

No not really...But it's creepy to think that...
"KITT!Use the Tractor Mode!"

[DJGM]

The laws and regulations are being examined and there's a strong possibility that they're gonna
allow this kinda advertising to pass, as well as other stuff where companies put their logos
on screen (a bit like a logo of the channel you're watching appears in the corner).

Let me start my response by first quoting Sue, from the Knight Of The Zodiac episode thread:

I've never been one to complain about the advertising, but if it starts to dictate how
a writer has to write the script -then it is really taking away from the show, and
probably from the writers creative process. Yes yes Ford flex, new Mustang
whoop-de-do. It kinda made KITT look really old after they opened those
doors and revealed him hiding there in a cloud of his own imagined smog.
Cough cough, some futuristic car you turned out to be buddy.

If the show was good on its own accord it would have advertisers lining up no matter
what they wrote. But if it's not.. and Fords footing the bill, than Fords going to be
calling the shots. I really wish that Ford and NBC would just empower the writers
and let them find their own self confidence and creativity again.

Well, that pretty much sums up the basis of this thread and why our broadcast regulator might
still put the kybosh on new KR being shown in the UK, even with certain edits being applied.

Ford may be the commercial paymasters of this new incarnation of KR, but if they're able to
have this amount of input in the storylines, curtailing the creativity of the writers, then
they seriously have way too much undue prominence over the entire show.

(At least with Pontiac and the original KR series, it went entirely in the opposite direction!)

There may be plans afoot to relax the way product placement on TV is handled over here for
the not too distant future, but I'm sure any changes to the current rules will ensure that any
extra product placement is likely to be considerably more subtle than Ford on new KR.

As it stands right now, if a show was made for broadcast on any UK commercial TV channel
had as much creative interference from the sponsor as Ford have over new KR, the show
would simply not be allowed to be broadcast, full stop. If, despite that, the show was
shown anyway, the channel would be severely reprimanded or even fined by Ofcom.

[Knight2000]

What about TKR? There were ford vehicles left, right and centre!

[Stuntman Lee]

What about TKR? There were ford vehicles left, right and centre!

Yeah but did Ford have a major say in the show? Besides, they were more subtle about the advertising from what I remember compared to what I have read on here.

Anyway, i've given up waiting for it to be shown over here as I feel we'll be in for a long wait, so i've resorted to a 'friend' supplying me with weekly episodes. I don't wanna do this way, but hey that's life.

[Mr. Nice]

Look, those car logo heavy "no adverts" 24 season openers aired just fine in the UK. Bit of a mountain being made out of this mole hill I feel.