BBC caves in and drops Coke credits.(Talent)

The BBC has bowed to public criticism over the commercial sponsorship of the charts by announcing that it is to remove the on-air credits for new chart sponsor Coca-Cola.

The move, which has been under consideration since mid-December, will take effect later this year. The first charts featuring the new sponsor were broadcast yesterday (Sunday).

The public service broadcaster is due to meet with chart owner The Official Chart Company in the next few weeks to attempt to resolve the matter. Both the OCC and Coca-Cola had been informed of the BBC'S decision before it was announced last Friday afternoon.

In a statement, Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt says that the broadcast market has "moved on considerably" since the broadcaster first struck its deal with The Official Chart Company four years ago obliging it to offer on-air mentions to any chart sponsor. It duly gave the required plugs to Worldpop, the charts' first sponsor, but faced a barrage of criticism when it was announced in late November that the new sponsor would be Coca-Cola.

"Taking this into account, and recent events, we no longer feel it is appropriate ...