Media insurance does not immediately spring to mind when thinking about the entertainment business, but given the attention paid to many such events, then cover is a necessity, not a luxury.

Take the example of the spate of award shows that hover around the month of February like a rash. In just four weeks there are the Baftas, the Grammys, the Brits and The Oscars.

And working on each event are a large number of media professionals who work on freelance contracts. These guys and gals will need the support of great media insurance policies, because if anything should go wrong, then at least there is some come back.

And things do go wrong.

People with a long memory will think back to the Britannia Music Awards (now the BRITS of course) in 1989 when the event was recorded live, as it is now. It was completely unrehearsed and top celebrities of the day, model Samantha Fox and band legend Mick Fleetwood, presented one of the most wooden award performances ever seen. Not only did they appear to be lost most of the show, but the ‘back-room’ support did not appear much in evidence. Whichever media team put the show together, might have had to reach quickly for their media insurance policies.

The year after that debacle, the BRITS was recorded the day before and then broadcast on TV, ensuring that there were no further embarrassments. It was not until 2007 (the BRITS had been on ITV since 1993), when confidence was restored to such a degree that it returned to a live show, but three categories were dropped from the proceedings:Best British Rock Act, Best British Urban Act and Best Pop Act.

But the point is that things do go wrong. This is where media insurance is vital. A recent gaffe by a CBS presenter Serene Branson when commenting on the Grammy Awards outside the venue in Los Angeles, proves just how wrong they can go.

After the studio host cut to Branson for an update, the blonde began to speak into the camera, but the words coming from her mouth were totally disjointed. Random sounds and bits of words were heard, but nothing which made any sense. Concerned viewers immediately rang the CBS studios and wondered if the presenter had suffered some sort of seizure, or undergone a mental aberration. On-site paramedics checked the presenter out, but she was declared ‘sane’ and fully in control of her facilities.

Clips of her ‘seizure’ were quickly posted to YouTube and various sound tracks were added. CBS were not so amused and feared the clip would go viral, which it quickly did, and damage their reputation. They claimed it was their intellectual property right and the clip should be brought down.