£130,000 fines for UK adult TV
December 20, 2011
By Chris Forrester
UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom has hit another adult broadcaster with fines totalling £130,000 for breaches of its broadcasting code. In November Playboy TV was hit with fines totalling £110,000 for breaches of Ofcom’s ‘adult chat’ code.
These latest penalties were levied on Satellite Entertainment Ltd (SEL), which telecasts Sport XXX Girls, Essex Babes and Northern Birds.
The penalty was imposed following a detailed examination and report on the three channels published in July 2011 (in Ofcom’s Broadcast Bulletin 186). The fines cover ten adult sex chat advertisements broadcast by SEL which Ofcom say breached Rule 4.2 of its BCAP Code. In addition, two of those broadcasts also breached Rule 32.3 of the BCAP Code.
– Rule 4.2: “Advertisements must not cause serious or widespread offence against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards.”
– Rule 32.3: “Relevant timing restrictions must be applied to advertisements that, through their content, might harm or distress children of particular ages or that are otherwise unsuitable for them.”
In addition, SEL was found to be in breach of Licence Condition 11 of its licences, for failing to have acceptable procedures in place to provide recordings of broadcast quality. Ofcom decided that the BCAP Code breaches were serious and repeated, and that the breach of Licence Condition 11 was serious, and therefore a financial penalty should be imposed.
Since September 2010 all daytime ‘adult-chat’ broadcasts have been considered as advertising/teleshopping services and limit what can be said or shown during transmissions.