Broadcast and on Demand Bulletin Issue Number
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Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 Issue number 356 18 June 2018 Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 Contents Introduction 3 Note to Broadcasters Monitoring of diversity and equal opportunities in broadcasting 6 Cigarette packaging in TV programming 8 Broadcast Standards cases In Breach Programming Encore Radio, various dates and times 9 The Everly Pregnant Brothers: Live at the Lyceum Theatre SheffieldLive! 13 April 2018, 20:00 12 Gold Rush Discovery, 19 January 2018, 20:00 15 Resolved STV News North STV, 23 February 2018, 18:05 18 Broadcast Licence Conditions cases In Breach Compliance with ownership restrictions JML Media Limited, 15 February 2013 to 26 May 2018 20 Broadcast licensees’ late and non-payment of licence fees Various licensees 23 In Breach/Resolved Provision of information: Diversity in Broadcasting Various licensees 25 Broadcast Fairness and Privacy cases Upheld Complaint by Mr and Mrs T Can’t Pay? We’ll Take it Away!, Channel 5, 25 May 2016 28 Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 Tables of cases Investigations Not in Breach 61 Complaints assessed, not investigated 62 Complaints outside of remit 69 BBC First 70 Investigations List 71 Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 Introduction Under the Communications Act 2003 (“the Act”), Ofcom has a duty to set standards for broadcast content to secure the standards objectives1. Ofcom also has a duty to ensure that On Demand Programme Services (“ODPS”) comply with certain standards requirements set out in the Act2. Ofcom reflects these requirements in its codes and rules. The Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin reports on the outcome of Ofcom’s investigations into alleged breaches of its codes and rules, as well as conditions with which broadcasters licensed by Ofcom are required to comply. The codes and rules include: a) Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code (“the Code”) for content broadcast on television and radio services licensed by Ofcom, and for content on the BBC’s licence fee funded television, radio and on demand services. b) the Code on the Scheduling of Television Advertising (“COSTA”), containing rules on how much advertising and teleshopping may be scheduled on commercial television, how many breaks are allowed and when they may be taken. c) certain sections of the BCAP Code: the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising, for which Ofcom retains regulatory responsibility for television and radio services. These include: • the prohibition on ‘political’ advertising; • ‘participation TV’ advertising, e.g. long-form advertising predicated on premium rate telephone services – notably chat (including ‘adult’ chat), ‘psychic’ readings and dedicated quiz TV (Call TV quiz services); and • gambling, dating and ‘message board’ material where these are broadcast as advertising3. d) other conditions with which Ofcom licensed services must comply, such as requirements to pay fees and submit information required for Ofcom to carry out its statutory duties. Further information can be found on Ofcom’s website for television and radio licences. e) Ofcom’s Statutory Rules and Non-Binding Guidance for Providers of On-Demand Programme Services for editorial content on ODPS (apart from BBC ODPS). Ofcom considers sanctions for advertising content on ODPS referred to it by the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”), the co-regulator of ODPS for advertising, or may do so as a concurrent regulator. Other codes and requirements may also apply to broadcasters, depending on their circumstances. These include the requirements in the BBC Agreement, the Code on Television Access Services (which sets out how much subtitling, signing and audio description relevant licensees must provide), the Code on Electronic Programme Guides, the Code on Listed Events, and the Cross Promotion Code. 1 The relevant legislation is set out in detail in Annex 1 of the Code. 2 The relevant legislation can be found at Part 4A of the Act. 3 BCAP and ASA continue to regulate conventional teleshopping content and spot advertising for these types of services where it is permitted. Ofcom remains responsible for statutory sanctions in all advertising cases. 4 Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 It is Ofcom’s policy to describe fully television, radio and on demand content. Some of the language and descriptions used in Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin may therefore cause offence. 5 Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 Note to Broadcasters Monitoring of diversity and equal opportunities in broadcasting Radio On 13 June, Ofcom published its first Diversity and equal opportunities in radio report, as part of its ongoing annual monitoring of TV and Radio diversity. It set out how the industry is doing on equality and diversity overall, both in terms of what it’s doing well and what it could do better. The report also contained our key recommendations on where industry needs to do more. We would like to thank all those broadcasters who responded to our information request and provided us with the relevant data within the set timeframe. Television Introduction In March we published a summary for broadcasters in Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand bulletin1, explaining our planned next steps for carrying out the television monitoring exercise. We detailed the timings for the stage one information request which has now been completed and we have published our decision in this bulletin on the 21 licensees who failed to respond to the stage one request by the required deadline. We will be engaging further with any licensee who was also found in breach for failure to respond to our diversity information request last year. Our previous note also highlighted the requirements and the timeline for those licensees who would be required to complete stage two. This note provides an update on the status of stage two and next steps. We are also inviting television broadcasters who did not meet the threshold for stage two of our diversity questionnaire to tell us about any diversity initiatives within their organisations. Stage two information request On 21 February we sent out our initial stage one information request to television broadcasters. You will have received this request if you who told us last year that your employees totalled 50 or under or you are a new licensee. If you identified at stage one as meeting the relevant thresholds2, or you informed us last year that you have over 50 employees3, you will have received the stage two information request which we sent out in April. This request was sent to company secretaries by post and to 1 Issue number 350, published 19 March 2018 2 Have more than 20 employees and licensed to broadcast for more than 31 days per year. 3 This number was selected as those with employees higher than 50 in our first report were less likely to have fallen below the employee threshold of 21 employees in a time period of a year. 6 Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 licence contacts by email on 11 April. A reminder email was also sent to all licensees who still had not submitted a response on 22 May and a further final reminder was sent on 11 June. The stage two information request consisted of a detailed questionnaire asking about your equal opportunities arrangements and your workforce, which needs to be completed and returned to Ofcom. The questionnaire takes the form of an editable pdf, included as part of the email sent to licence contacts. The deadline for completing the questionnaire and submitting to Ofcom is 20 June 20184. All television licensees are required to respond to this request and may be found in breach of their licence if they fail to do so by 20 June 2018. How will the information be used? We will use the information to produce our second annual diversity and equal opportunities in television report in Autumn 2018. How smaller broadcasters can take part We are also keen to capture good examples of diversity schemes and initiatives from those smaller television broadcasters who did not meet the employee threshold. If you would like to be considered for inclusion in our report, we are inviting you to send an outline, in less than 250 words, of what diversity looks like at your television station and what arrangements or initiatives you have in place to promote diversity and inclusion. Please send this to [email protected] by Friday 29 June 2018. Any broadcasters who have questions related to this note please contact [email protected] Finally, we would like to remind you that it is your responsibility to ensure that your contact details held by Ofcom are accurate and up-to-date. Therefore, if this isn’t the case, we ask that you email [email protected] with your correct contact details. 4 Unless we have already pre-arranged a later submission date. 7 Issue 356 of Ofcom’s Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 18 June 2018 Note to Broadcasters Cigarette packaging in TV programming Smoking and the Broadcasting Code There are a number of rules in the Code which apply to the portrayal of smoking in programmes: Rule 1.10 of the Code states that smoking: must not be featured in programmes made primarily for children unless there is strong editorial justification; must generally be avoided and in any case must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorised in other programmes broadcast before the watershed unless there is editorial justification; and must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorised in other programmes likely to be widely seen, heard or accessed by under-eighteens unless there is editorial justification.