RADIO DAZE

The latest batch of Ofcom judgements have been released, including three music stations getting a ticking-off. [pdf document]

BRMB's drivetime show presenter read out a news story about a prostitute biting a client's penis, chortling that it's not the time to haggle about money when your "willy is still in her mouth."

BMRB apologised for any offence caused and agreed that the remark was unsuitable
for broadcast at that time of day. It said it had spoken to the presenter regarding the future selection process of material for the show.
GCap, BMRB’s parent company said it believed that the presenter was simply making light of a story he had read about in the press. However, it appreciated that
some of the detail was “not altogether appropriate”, given the time of day, and apologised for any offence caused.

Next up, Kerrang! radio managed a misjudgement of Partidge-like proportions:

A listener objected to a promotion which said that Kerrang! was “about as welcome as a tourettes sufferer at an auction”. He considered this ridiculed a serious neurological condition.

Kerrang! said that it had withdrawn the promotion and apologised to the complainant as soon as it became aware of the complaint. The promotion was intended to be humorous not offensive, but the station recognised that it had misjudged this.

And finally, Virgin Radio found itself in hot water when it promised huge tellys as prizes, only to offer nineteen inch sets instead:

In an hourly competition, listeners were invited to identify various American cities. On separate occasions, the prize was described, variously as a “great big telly”, “enormous” and “these are not just piddly little ones, these are enormous”. A winner complained that the prize had been described inaccurately on air, since what she received was a 19” LCD television.

Virgin Radio said that it had originally intended to give away wide-screen televisions. However, on the day of the competition, its sponsorship team had discovered that the televisions were to have standard format screens and so the briefing document for the presenters was amended to reflect the changes. The broadcaster acknowledged that three of the descriptions it broadcast were inaccurate and apologised for its mistake, confirming that it was in the process of contacting all winners to inform them that they would now receive 32” wide screen sets.

Mind you, we've seen what Virgin consider an enormous audience. It's all about where you stand, is it?

In all three cases, the swift actions of the broadcaster led to Ofcom considering the complaints resolved.

music kerrang virgin