But she adds advertisers are fully aware of the need for quality programming and do not want to

But, she adds, advertisers are fully aware of the need for quality programming and do not want to jeopardise this.Even the programme-makers - traditionally those most likely to eschew any contact with commerce - are waking up to the potential of advertiser funding. The Action Time chairman, Stephen Leahy, recently had a new game show knocked back - not because of the concept but because the broadcaster had insufficient funds. "I am now attempting to persuade them to approach an advertiser to get it made," he says. "I want to increase the volume of programmes I can produce."Economic reality, it seems, will ensure the trend is here to stay. Indeed, the ITC is now considering calls for changes to its sponsorship code to allow advertisers greater on-screen credit. They are doing so at the behest of broadcasters and producers, worried that cash is running out.

"We've all got to look ahead to a future when programme funding becomes even more difficult," says Ms Wonfor. "We just can't afford to rule any potential co-funding partnership out."British TV programmes co-funded by advertisersRaise the Roof: the game show's pilot was co-funded by Express Newspapers for ITV.The Shape of Things: a design seriesco-funded by Unilever for ITV.Passengers: a youth show co-funded by Pepsi for international distribution. Broadcast in the UK on Channel 4.Go Bingo: Procter & Gamble owns the international rights to the format of this show, which, in the UK, is made for ITV.The Wanderer: an action dramaco-funded by P&G for BSkyB.Crufts: a programme on the dog show's centenary co-funded by Pedigree Petfoods and seen on BBC 2.Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy: ITV quiz shows whose development was funded by Unilever, which owns the formats.Riviera: "Eurosoap" co-funded by Unilever.Dogs with Dunbar: a pet series co-funded by Spillers for local transmission on Meridian.IndyCar 93: US motor sports coverage for ITV funded by Texaco.Pied Piper: an ITV drama starring Peter O'Toole co-funded by P&G.Shape of the World: a factual series for ITV co-funded by IBM.. Three billion dollars buys plenty of influence. That's the size of Procter & Gamble's worldwide advertising budget.

The manufacturer of Tide and more than 200 other cleansing products spends 90 per cent of that money on TV commercials. Its budget for US television is more than $1bn, which makes Procter & Gamble the fourth-largest space buyer in America But the company is not happy. "We've seen network ratings decline," says Greg Rossiter from Procter & Gamble's headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio "Frankly, we feel there's been a slippage. Plus the networks now have more competition from new cable channels. It's becoming more difficult to get our message to a broad audience.

There are good shows, but there are too many that have either poor ratings or are of poor quality. We can't stand by and watch broadcast television decline." In the US, more than 95 per cent of television is paid for by advertising Audience ratings are watched with extreme care. To sell space on a show, TV networks have to promise a given share of the audience. If they don't deliver, they must return part of the fee to the advertiser or offer free space on a subsequent show It's brutal. A new series that doesn't make it can be taken off the air even before it finishes its first season.But Procter & Gamble has decided even that kind of influence isn't enough.