Prizes
We should not mislead competitors about the nature of the prize.
We should normally pay for the prizes we offer in our competitions and aim to offer original, rather than expensive prizes. If there is a range of prizes, there should be a range of brands or suppliers but we should normally avoid offering prizes of branded products or services which are referred to editorially elsewhere in the programme or on the same section of the site. We should avoid shots of brand logos on air and online. We should not normally refer to brand names or give details about the manufacturer or supplier of a prize.
We should normally only accept modest donated prizes such as theatre tickets, football tickets, books, CD's or DVD's. We may accept prizes of visits to special events, including the hospitality offered at the event, but we should pay for the majority of costs for travel and accommodation.
Donations of substantial prizes are permissible only in exceptional circumstances and must not bring the BBC's editorial integrity into question. They can only be accepted if they have been referred to and approved by a senior editorial figure or for Independents by the commissioning editor.
We should use a wide range of donors over time, to ensure we do not appear to favour any institution or company.
Programmes must never give an assurance that there will be an on air or online credit or any publicity in exchange for the donation of a competition prize.
We should not normally link to the site of a supplier or manufacturer of a prize.
We would not offer cash prizes for viewer and listener competitions.
Any proposal to offer a cash prize for a game show must be referred to and approved by the relevant Output Controller.
Cash prizes should never be offered for any children's competition.
Prizes in children's competitions should be appropriate to the age of the target audience and the competitors and should normally be modest or rely on "money can't buy" experiences. High value prizes should normally be avoided.