Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin

The Ofcom broadcast bulletins are always amusing with their very formal dry way they have to deal with complaints, having to transcribe songs with swearing in etc, but this week's edition is particularly amusing.

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/enforcement/broadcast-bulletins/obb189/obb189.pdf

From page 7, some tin pot radio station explaining that the F word is acceptable because it isn't considered a swear word in Scotland and their excuse that they got confused a slang term for a body part with a type of sandwich!

The write up about BBC Radio 1's coverage of Radio 1's Big Weekend is notable. It seemed to be heading down a road of the BBC being sanctioned, even though they gave numerous swearing warnings. It's good that Ofcom have agreed that it was acceptable.

some people are having a laugh!

The Sex Education Show
Channel 4
26/07/2011
Sexual material
4 complaints!

No idea!!

Sesame Tree
CBeebies
26/07/2011
HFSS

It made the Media Guardian website the other day, with a clever headline: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/12/radio-station-grilled

Ah, Brick FM. It's had several run-ins with OFCOM in the last few years, of which this is just one. I can safely say that the management at Radio Borders needn't worry about Brick FM encroaching on their audience figures any time soon...

That made me laugh for a long time!

Some of the bulletins recently have been very dull, all about international channels broadcasting incorrect adverts and sponsorships, but this one was very amusing!

"Regarding the material itself, Brick FM said that a “punany” was a “sandwich sold
locally and is made of Italian bread with cheese and tomato which is heated up” and
therefore did not accept the song “More Punany” had sexual connotations."

I wonder if Brick FM are now "bricking" themselves.

..and for those interested, here's John Myers' take on the matter. Yes, THAT John Myers of Border TV, Century Radio and Real Radio fame.

http://www.myersmedia.co.uk/mm/2011/ofcom-bricking-it-over-a-punani/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ofcom-bricking-it-over-a-punani

Oh dear!

When they say "The most offensive language must not be broadcast … when children are particularly likely to be listening (in the case of radio).” does that mean radio doesn't have a specific watershed period or is it 9-5:30 like TV?

There isn't a specific watershed, I believe swearing isn't allowed in theory at all unless it is editorially justified. You'll get presenters on a local radio late show apologising if one of the callers starts swearing for example, even though it's around Midnight.

Radio 4 and 2 can get away with it if it in being used in a Drama etc, I do hear a lot of people being rude ( mainly old OAP on radio 2 saying naughty words ) during Jeremy Vine or Allan Carr