BROADCAST SPONSORSHIP PROCESS
ENQUIRYTO ON AIR.
Broadcast sponsorship is not buying advertising space. It is fitting a brand into a production schedule that is already running, which is why sequence and timing decide as much of the outcome as budget does. Below is the process SELLi actually runs, and what the brand has to hand over at each stage.
Last checked
The short answer
A broadcast sponsorship runs in this order: enquiry, brand and budget assessment, IMC plan, programme matching, contract, product and asset delivery, production, on air, report, overseas reuse. Enquire four to eight weeks before air to keep your options open, and eight weeks or more if the brand needs to be written into a drama script.
The whole schedule on one page
The timings below count backwards from the air date. They shift by genre, but the order rarely does: drama needs the most notice and radio the least.
| When | Stage | What the brand does |
|---|---|---|
| 8+ weeks before air | Enquiry and assessment | Budget range, product category, one line on the message |
| 7 to 6 weeks | IMC plan and programme matching | Review the proposal, come back with priorities |
| 6 to 5 weeks | Quote and contract | Legal review, purchase order, payment schedule |
| 5 to 3 weeks | Product and assets | Physical product, logo files, the exact on-screen credit name |
| 3 to 1 weeks | Production | Final sign-off on how the exposure works |
| On air | Broadcast | Nothing. You are told the date and episode |
| +1 to 2 weeks | Report | Receive results, decide on reuse |
| After | Overseas reuse | Agree the assets, territories and window |
Anything that has to be written into a script, rather than placed on set, needs another two to four weeks. Radio spots and jingles can move faster, inside two to three weeks.
What happens at each stage
Enquiry
Three things are enough: a budget range, the product category, and one line on what you want to say this time. You do not need to have picked a programme. Picking the programme first and fitting the brand to it afterwards is the single most common shape of a sponsorship that disappoints.
Brand and budget assessment
We look at the category, the advertising assets you already have, the distribution you already have, and whether broadcast is genuinely the answer. If it is not, we say so. If the budget sits below the floor for broadcast placement, we propose a radio or short-form build first.
SBS and SELLi design the IMC plan together
As an official SBS marketing partner, SELLi receives the new programming and advertising line-up each month before it is circulated. We brief the network on the brand category, the budget and the direction, and the SBS marketing line designs a plan for that brand. What arrives first is a strategy, not a list of available slots.
Programme matching and proposal
The plan is translated into specific programmes. Audience, time slot, and whether the on-screen situation suits the brand, alongside whether that form of exposure is legally available in that programme at all. The output of this stage is the sponsorship proposal.
Contract
Exposure type and volume, the range of episodes, payment terms, and what happens if it does not run. That last one is where broadcast sponsorship disputes actually start. It is set out under what to check before signing.
Product and assets
Physical product, original logo files, the exact wording of the on-screen credit, and a list of claims that must not be made. The credit name matters more than it sounds: a sponsor credit cannot be changed once it airs, and if the legal entity and the brand name differ, this is the moment that gets decided.
Production
The exposure the advertiser wants goes to the production team directly. Whether the product sits on the set, is used by a character, or becomes the setting of a scene produces completely different results at the same rate. Broadcast is an edited medium, though, and the edit always belongs to the broadcaster.
On air
You are given the date and episode in advance. How much exposure actually survives the edit can vary, and that variance is intrinsic to the product. This is where the minimum guarantee you agreed at contract stage either matters or does not exist.
Report and overseas reuse
Captures of the actual exposure, the episode and time, and the programme performance numbers. Then the decision on whether to extend into Netflix and VIU simulcast, SBS official YouTube and short-form re-cuts, and overseas channels. A placement that ends with the domestic broadcast and one that keeps playing abroad are different products bought with the same money.
How far ahead to enquire
Broadcast advertising products are published monthly and the strongest positions on popular programmes go first. Lead time therefore does not buy you a discount, it buys you choice. Arrive with four weeks and you choose among what is left. Arrive with ten and you choose the programme and the form of the exposure.
| Product | Recommended lead time | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Drama placement, written into the script | 8 to 12 weeks | The brand has to be in the script and the shooting schedule. Once shooting starts, set dressing is the ceiling. |
| Drama placement, set dressing | 6 to 8 weeks | Needs only the episode schedule and product delivery to line up. |
| Variety placement and production support | 4 to 8 weeks | Variety turns around episode by episode, so it has more give than drama. |
| Virtual advertising | 3 to 4 weeks | Composited in post rather than shot, so it is almost independent of the production schedule. |
| Break and mid-programme spots | 3 to 4 weeks | Needs asset clearance and the booking deadline, nothing else. |
| Radio spots and sponsorship | 2 to 3 weeks | Light production, short booking cycle. |
| Radio jingle production | 4 to 6 weeks | Writing, composition, recording and clearance. Making it takes longer than running it. |
These are the internal lead times SELLi works to, not a published industry standard. They move with the production situation and the booking deadline; we confirm the real dates for the specific programme when you enquire.
What the brand has to supply
What is needed to enquire and what is needed after signing are different. You do not have to assemble all of it up front.
- To enquire, three things
- A budget range, the product or service category, and one line on the message. That is enough to start the assessment. You do not need to arrive with a programme in mind.
- At proposal stage
- Competitive situation and past media activity, distribution, campaign window, and a list of anything that must never be said.
- After signing
- Physical product or a service account, original logo files, brand guidelines, the exact on-screen credit name, and a named contact. The credit has to be settled down to whether it reads as the legal entity or the brand.
- If the category is regulated
- Food, health functional food, cosmetics, medical devices and financial products carry their own labelling and advertising rules. Certification numbers, the evidence behind any efficacy claim, and mandatory disclosure wording should arrive with the assets rather than after them.
What a sponsorship proposal contains
The document called a 협찬 제안서, or a drama PPL proposal, is something the agency gives the brand, not something the brand writes and sends to a broadcaster. If the one you have been handed is missing any of the following, ask about it there and then.
- Programme detail. Title, genre, day and time slot, run dates, number of episodes. Pilot or regular, and which season if it is a returning title.
- The product and the form of exposure. Sponsor credit, production support or product placement, and which tier if it is placement. Comparing quotes without knowing what each product is and what it costs puts entirely different things on the same line.
- Volume and minimum guarantee. How many episodes, how many appearances, which of those are guaranteed and which depend on the edit.
- How the money splits. Media, production, talent and overseas reuse rights, each priced separately. A single-line quote makes it impossible to work out later what was left out.
- Legal availability. Whether that form of exposure is permitted in that programme. Placement is prohibited in news and current affairs and in children’s programming, and alcohol is out entirely.
- Dates. Contract, product delivery, production, air, report.
- Reporting. What you receive after air, and in what form.
- What happens if it does not run. Pre-emption, a schedule change, or the scene being cut in full.
What to check before signing
What the brand signs is an agency or sponsorship agreement. What sits behind it is the agency’s own business; what the brand has to verify is what it is owed and what happens if it does not arrive. These five clauses are where disputes actually occur.
- 01 · The minimum guarantee
- Phrases like "natural exposure" or "sufficient exposure" mean nothing in a dispute. The guarantee has to be a number: episodes, scenes, or seconds on screen.
- 02 · What happens when the edit removes it
- Broadcast is edited and the edit belongs to the broadcaster. If the scene is cut or heavily reduced, does it roll to the next episode, get replaced with another form of exposure, or get refunded? A contract without this clause is the most common contract there is.
- 03 · Pre-emption and schedule change
- Sport, breaking news and seasonal reshuffles move programmes. Contract to a window rather than a date, and say what happens if the window is missed.
- 04 · Reuse scope and term
- Using the aired footage on your own channels, in store, or overseas is a separate right. It does not come automatically. Check that the permitted media, term and territory are written down.
- 05 · Credit wording and format
- A sponsor credit is a disclosure whose format is set by law, not a piece of copy the brand writes. What appears, when and for how long follows the broadcaster’s scheduling rules and the sponsor credit regulation. Understand that before signing rather than after.
What you get after it airs
Most brands treat the broadcast as the finish line. In practice the asset is built afterwards. A single airing is over the same evening; what remains is the right to reuse the footage and the overseas audience the footage has already reached.
- Delivery report
- Captures of the actual exposure, episode and timecode, form of exposure, and the programme performance numbers. Within one to two weeks of air.
- Short-form re-cuts
- The scene is re-edited for SBS official YouTube and short-form. There is a real range in which more people see the short-form cut than saw the broadcast.
- Overseas simulcast
- SBS content goes out internationally through Netflix and VIU. The domestic airing is not the end of it, and this is where terrestrial placement separates from cable and general programming channels.
- Secondary usage rights
- The right to reuse the aired content as an overseas marketing asset. SELLi secures it separately. Without it, posting the broadcast footage to your own channels can itself be a problem.
Four things that go wrong
- Arriving with the programme already chosen
- Starting from "we want to be in this drama" bends the brand to fit the programme, and the product ends up in a scene it does not belong in. Starting from the brand and the message and choosing the programme afterwards produces a better result on the same budget.
- Comparing quotes before fixing the form of exposure
- Sponsor credit, production support, and placement tiers one and two are tens of times apart. A quote comparison that has not matched the product is not a comparison. The price band table is the faster starting point.
- Asking for something the law does not allow
- Placement is prohibited in news and current affairs, alcohol is not an eligible product, and having a character speak the brand name or urge a purchase is prohibited. The regulations page sets this out with the articles.
- Arriving with no lead time
- With three weeks to air, drama placement means set dressing and nothing else. The options that would have produced a far better result for the same money are already closed.
Frequently asked
- Where do you apply for broadcast sponsorship?
- Broadcasters do not run an open application desk for advertisers. Advertising products are booked through agencies: the brand enquires with an agency and the agency confirms availability with the network. SELLi is an official SBS marketing partner, and an enquiry needs only a budget range, a category, and one line on the message.
- Does the brand write the sponsorship proposal?
- No. The proposal is a document the agency gives the brand. You supply budget and direction; you receive a proposal covering the programme, the form of exposure, how the money splits and the dates, and you review it.
- How many weeks before air should we enquire?
- Four to eight weeks is the working rule. Eight to twelve if the brand has to be written into a drama script. Radio spots and sponsorship can move inside two to three weeks, but a radio jingle takes four to six weeks to make before it can run.
- What if the scene is cut entirely?
- It depends entirely on the contract. Roll to the next episode, replace with another form of exposure, or refund: one of the three has to be agreed in advance. The edit always belongs to the broadcaster, so a contract without this clause puts the whole risk on the brand.
- Can we post the aired footage on our own channels?
- Not automatically. That is a separate secondary usage right, and the permitted media, term and territory have to be written into the contract. SELLi secures reuse rights, including overseas channels, as a distinct item.
- Does broadcast sponsorship work for a smaller brand?
- Yes, though the upper tiers of drama placement often do not fit the budget. In that case a build around sponsor credits or production support, a radio jingle, and SBS official YouTube short-form buys far more total exposure for the same money.
Sources
A budget range, a category, and one line on the message is enough to start. The programme comes after that.
Start a broadcast enquiry