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Southern Cross Austereo denies Hamish & Andy’s ‘psychic dream’ Wet ‘n’ Wild broadcast breached broadcast code

Hamish and Andy Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has denied last week’s “Dream Week” broadcast from Sydney waterpark Wet ‘n’ Wild breached the Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) advertising code because it was not a “sponsored segment”, despite admitting the station has a broader “commercial arrangement” with the theme park company.

For the past few weeks SCA’s nationally syndicated radio duo Hamish Blake and Andy Lee have been talking about a “psychic dream” Hamish claimed to have had about the duo hosting their last show of the year from an “under construction waterpark in Sydney’s west”. After more than a week of build-up, where the still under construction Wet ‘n’ Wild was a central focus of their show, Hamish and Andy broadcast an outside broadcast from the Park on Friday.

The CRA advertising code requires: “Advertisements broadcast by the licensee must be presented in such a manner that the reasonable listener is able to distinguish them, at the time of the broadcast, from other program material.”

But a spokeswoman for the broadcaster said the station had generated the idea entirely itself and that it was not part of any commercial arrangement and therefore not subject to the rules. 

“The outside broadcast is not a sponsored segment,” the SCA spokeswoman said. “The content idea was one the Hamish & Andy show had a while ago to finish the year. It was proactively pitched to Wet ‘n’ Wild to see if they could help us fulfil the show’s creative idea.”

Other Sydney radio stations have confirmed to Mumbrella Wet ‘n’ Wild sent a brief out to market targeted to the city’s FM stations. The brief was reportedly sent some months ago by the park’s media agency OMD Brisbane.

SCA was explicit the idea for “Dream Week” had not come from a brief or commercial arrangement adding: “The Hamish & Andy show and Wet ‘n’ Wild don’t have a direct commercial arrangement.”

However SCA did clarify it does have a broader “commercial arrangement” in place with the Sydney waterpark.

As of yesterday the broadcaster said it had not received any complaints about the Wet ‘n’ Wild show or the “Dream Week” segment. Under the advertising code complainants must first make a complaint to the station, if they are unhappy with the response they can then escalate it to the media watchdog the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Wet ‘n’ Wild’s parent company Village Roadshow did not respond to Mumbrella’s requests for comment.

Nic Christensen

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