Channel S in trouble for “undue prominence”

Bengali entertainment service, Channel S has landed into trouble with Ofcom after it scrolled two “advertising” messages continuously across the screen during a charity appeal.

Channel S stated that the messages were not programme sponsorship credits, advertising or paid-for.

Ofcom said broadcasters may choose to transmit charity appeals free of charge, and generally, in such circumstances, they may acknowledge briefly by name individuals�۪ or organisations�۪ donations to a broadcast appeal, and/or support for the relevant cause (where editorially justified), without raising Code issues by doing so.

However, in this case, Channel S�۪ acknowledgements to businesses (and a barrister) who supported a Loughborough mosque extension project, were repeated throughout a 50 minute broadcast. They were not therefore brief.

In addition, there appeared to be no editorial justification for screening the contact details of six businesses that were acknowledged on screen as supporting the Loughborough mosque extension project.

Ofcom considers that by including references to the six businesses in banners that appeared were given undue prominence.