TalkSport rapped over Jon Gaunt property promotion

Ofcom has ruled that a show by former TalkSport DJ Jon Gaunt, made a month before his on-air "Nazi" jibe that cost him his job , broke broadcast regulations for promoting foreign property deals with a company with which the station had a relationship. An edition of The Jon Gaunt Show was broadcast from the Hotel Almyra in Cyprus in October 2008 covering subjects such as the Icelandic banking crisis, the division of Cyprus and buying property abroad. Three listeners complained to Ofcom that the show "amounted to advertising" because Gaunt promoted property company Thomson OPI, resort developer Aristo and the Hotel Almyra through a combination of interviews and on-air endorsements. Ofcom said that the show had given "unjustifiable exposure" to the Hotel Almyra by being broadcast from that location and ruled that TalkSport had breached several elements of section 10 of its broadcast code, which covers the separation of editorial and commercial content. TalkSport admitted it had a contract with Thomson OPI that included providing editorial promotion, including an annual outside broadcast from one of the company's properties, for which the broadcaster would "endeavour to have this feature hosted by Jon Gaunt". In return Thomson OPI paid TalkSport a monthly fee and an additional sum for each property it sold. TalkSport said the value of the deal was "very low" but admitted that the agreement, struck by the director of new media at parent company UTV Media, "ran contrary to the station's established compliance practices". The complainants also alleged that Gaunt may have had a "personal financial interest" in promoting Thomson OPI. Gaunt submitted his own representations to Ofcom arguing that TalkSport was "fully aware of the commercial element of the programme". He also denied any financial interest in Thomson OPI, said he had never received any compensation from the company and, in contradiction to TalkSport's claim, said that he did not buy a property through the company. TalkSport said that no discussion took place with the programme director or the producer regarding the "inclusion of any commercial element in the planning of the show". The broadcaster also said that Gaunt had given a "personal assurance" that he had no "financial association" with Thomson OPI. However, TalkSport claimed that Gaunt had "bought a property in Cyprus through Thomson OPI before TalkSport's relationship with the company [began]". On its website Thomson OPI still claims to be an "official partner" of TalkSport and "their award-winning team of presenters" . Ofcom said that it did not consider the areas of disagreement between Gaunt and TalkSport, which included who decided which guests should appear on the show in question, to be "material to the consideration of the case". "Irrespective of the details, it was the fundamental responsibility of TalkSport to ensure the compliance of the material it broadcast," added the regulator. "Ofcom considered it wholly unacceptable that TalkSport had submitted that, in advance of the broadcast, it had had no knowledge of either the commercial agreement or the intended programme content." Ofcom ruled that the programme had breached broadcast code rules 10.1 (independence of editorial control), 10.2 (separation of advertising and programming), 10.3 (no promotion of products or services), 10.4 (no undue prominence) and 10.5 (product placement). "In this case, a commercial agreement was in place between TalkSport and Thomson OPI. A condition of this contract was that Thomson OPI would receive promotion in TalkSport's programming. This resulted in paid-for promotional references to Thomson OPI and an associated company, Aristo Developers, featuring prominently within the editorial content of the programme," the regulator said. "Further, there was a revenue share arrangement in place – it was a condition of the commercial agreement that Thomson OPI would pay TalkSport a specified amount for each Thomson OPI property sold, on a quarterly basis in arrears. This was to be offset against the "tenancy fee" already paid for the quarter. "Ofcom noted TalkSport's submission that it had not, in fact, received any sales-related payment, and could not have done as no sales were made. Nevertheless, the agreement between TalkSport and Thomson OPI led to the programme being distorted for commercial purposes." During Ofcom's investigation it came to light that in 2006 TalkSport had entered a similar "fee-for-property-sold" deal with a company called Football Village Limited, an agent for a Spanish property developer. Ofcom ruled that two outside broadcasts of The Jon Gaunt Show, made from Spain in April 2006, also broke Ofcom's broadcasting rules. Ofcom said the two cases had raised "significant concerns" about the enforcement of compliance procedures at TalkSport and that it had required the broadcaster to provide details of proposed improvements in this area. In July Gaunt lost a high court freedom of expression challenge against Ofcom over his November 2008 interview with a London councillor he branded a "Nazi", a "health Nazi" and an "ignorant pig" over a local authority's decision to ban smokers from becoming foster parents . The presenter was dismissed by TalkSport over the November 2008 interview, before Ofcom ruled that he had breached its broadcasting code in May last year. Gaunt took legal action against Ofcom, with the backing of Liberty, claiming its decision breached article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and was an unlawful interference with his freedom of expression. However, the high court judges, Sir Anthony May and Mr Justice Blair, dismissed his judicial review proceedings. Gaunt is now taking the case to the court of appeal. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".