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On 16 December 2019, Ofcom, the United Kingdom's communications regulator, found that Radio Caroline had breached Section Two of its Code, which outlines standards for broadcast content so as to provide members of the public with adequate protection from harmful and offensive material. Radio Caroline, which was founded in 1964 and broadcast from international waters, had been rendered an illegal (pirate) station by the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967, but 50 years later, in June 2017, Caroline was granted a community radio licence by Ofcom. Community radio services are provided on...

The Communications Act makes provision for Ofcom to carry out reviews when there is a change in ownership of any Channel 3 or Channel 5 licensee. There have been three previous reviews in relation to a change in control of Channel 5. Section 353 requires Channel 5 to give Ofcom notification of a “relevant change of control”, backed up by an obligation to provide Ofcom with such information as it requires to carry out a review of the change. The “relevant change of control” is not limited to the direct holding of shares in the licence holder but also includes any...

Directors UK, the professional association for screen directors, has launched its Directing Nudity and Simulated Sex Guidelines (the Guidelines), purportedly the first of their kind in the UK. However, arguably, they act as a complement to the terms contained in the agreement between the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT) and the actor’s union, Equity, dated 1 August 2004 as revised on 13 October 2005 (The Agreement). The Guidelines provide shared professional expectations that apply to everyone involved in making sensitive content, with the aim of becoming standard working...

On 3 October 2019, Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, announced that the remit of the Advertising Advisory Committee (AAC) will be expanded so that the Committee can bring a consumer voice to both broadcast and non-broadcast advertising policy issues. In the UK, advertising is regulated through a combination of “co-regulation” and “self-regulation” systems. Co-regulation sees the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) given responsibility for regulating the content of broadcast adverts (television and radio), under contract from Ofcom....

Ofcom determined that an exchange between two BBC Breakfast Time presenters about President Trump’s remarks over four female Democratic congresswomen had not breached impartiality rules. The BBC Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) had partially upheld that comments made by presenter Naga Munchetty (NM) had breached the broadcaster’s impartiality requirements. However, that decision was overturned by the BBC’s Director-General after a public outcry. Ofcom received two complaints that the Director-General’s decision to overturn the ECU’s finding had breached Ofcom’s rules on due impartiality and accuracy...