Television spot advertising is "diminishing, diminishing, diminishing", Screentime Shinawil chief executive Larry Bass observed at an industry meeting on advertiser-funded programming (AFP) last week.

“I am a firm believer of being in the programme, not around the programme.”

However, Bass, who said the independent producer was "about to do a fifth" series of The Apprentice , described product placement as "a very blunt instrument" that, like good clothes, required the right fit. "If it's not a good fit, get them off."

The Apprentice , which used product placement as part of its funding model before product placement was officially sanctioned by the broadcasting regulator, ran for four years on TV3 until 2011, with Bill Cullen as the man doing the firing.

'Absolute magic'
The collapse of Cullen's business empire since then has obliged Screentime Shinawil to seek an as-yet-unconfirmed replacement for the boss role.

AFP is the umbrella term for practices including product placement, sponsorship, naming rights and even the creation of programmes in consultation with advertisers from scratch.

When AFP works, “it’s absolute magic, absolute gold dust”, Liam McDonnell, chief executive of Aegis Media Ireland, told the event, which was jointly organised by Screen Producers Ireland and the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland.

“But you have to kiss a lot of frogs to get it to work.”