Dear Mr Cowan

Tennent's Scottish Cup References

Thank you for your recent letter outlining concerns relating to BBC Scotland coverage of the Tennent's Scottish Cup and the part played by advertising in that coverage.

In essence, the use of the word 'Tennent's', by BBC Scotland commentators, before references to the Scottish Cup is a contractual requirement. As part of Tennent's deal with the Scottish Football Association, the cup has now been renamed the Tennent's Scottish Cup. And as part of BBC Scotland's deal with the SFA, the requirement is upon us to refer to it by its proper title.

The interview positions used at the various grounds, and the walls of logos behind, are determined by the SFA. The logos used, again, form part of the contract Tennent's has with the SFA and, consequently, which we, in turn, have with the SFA. That contract also forms the basis for use of the competition logo in Sportscene’s opening title graphics.

I hope that this goes some way to answering your questions.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Small
Head of Public Policy

I think that just because a company sponsors an event, it should not highjack media coverage. As for TV presenters and commentators being contracturally required to mention the sponsor’s name at every opportunity - this is pure “Big Brother” stuff.

Alcohol maims and kills thousands of football fans every single year.

The BBC is increasing the licence fee again, and has hundreds of millions of pounds to spend. The BBC should be calling the shots, not Tennent’s.