Word is that radio missed out on the first round of the multi-million dollar Medicare campaign because it was felt that the creative used on TV could not be adapted for radio. Having seen the TV ad, ad nauseum, even a hack of a radio copywriter would find this hard to believe – until you look at the last frame which carries the coat of arms and lists all the dozen or so names who participated in that ad.

Although the Broadcast Services Act is very hazy about the requirement for this type of “non-political” government advertising to list the “spoken bys”, clearly, on this occasion, the ad agency’s client insisted that they be there. If the same rule applies to radio, then what is just a momentary flash of names on a TV screen, would become a boring 15 second chunk out of a 30 second ad on radio – putting radio at a definite disadvantage.

The more industry captains that radioinfo spoke to (see main story) the less light was shed on to what the Act actually requires – especially on the point of; what the point is of reading out the names of the voice over talent? No-one would hazard a guess as to exactly how the public’s democratic freedoms would be compromised if they weren’t told the name of the jock in the booth.

If you have any clues, let us know.

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