DM Global, PTC Punjabi & MATV rapped by Ofcom

DM Global, PTC Punjabi and MATV have been pulled up by Ofcom for failing to provide recordings of their output on the request of the regulator.

DM Global
Following receipt of two fairness complaints, Ofcom requested recordings of two programmes on 3rd and 11th August 2014 separately. No response was received from the Licensee in either case. Ofcom therefore made further requests for the recordings, but again no response was received. Ofcom subsequently received an email from the Licensee that related to a separate complaint explaining that the contact email address provided to Ofcom for compliance purposes had been ���hacked�۝ and that, as a result, it had not been able to access its emails. Given this, Ofcom requested the recordings again and set new deadlines.

The Licensee stated: ��ω�_we have delivered the DVDs on 3 occasions to you and there was a problem of hacking of my emails�۝. The Licensee also said that the individual responsible for compliance was undergoing hospital treatment and ���a close member of [their] family�۝ had also been receiving hospital treatment for a serious medical condition. Subsequently, the Licensee said that: ��ω�_our records show that we have sent you the recordings to comply with the request�۝. The Licensee then asked which recordings Ofcom had not received. The Licensee also explained again that the lateness of its response was: ��ω�_due to illness and hacking of our system which has caused difficulty in retrieving the information�۝.

PTC Punjabi
Ofcom noted that there were three instances in September 2014 when this channel appeared to exceed the maximum allowance for advertising in a clock hour. However, when Ofcom requested recordings of the output to confirm this, GNM UK said it was not able to provide the material as, following a move to a new playout facility, no recordings were available. GNM UK said that after it took control of the licence for PTC Punjabi at the end of August 2014, the playout operations were transferred to a new site. The Licensee said ���testing was carried out for broadcast and retention of recordings�۝ and that ���the system was operating properly�۝. GNM UK said it had since ���held briefings with the Operations team and started a series of random checks of recordings and retentions�۝ which ���continue on a fortnightly basis�۝ to ensure compliance. The Licensee added that that following identification of the fault, recordings had been made and retained.

MATV
Ofcom requested from MBCL an off-air, time-coded recording of a programme broadcast on MATV on 12th April 2014, Welcome TV. This was for the purpose of investigating a fairness complaint that Ofcom had received about the programme. Ofcom did not receive a response to its request by the specified deadline. The Licensee apologised for the delay in sending the requested material to Ofcom. It explained that the delay was due to someone ���hacking�۝ into its data system so that emails could not be opened and data was lost. Further, MBCL said that it had suffered a power outage which caused problems with its broadcast system and that ���restoring the entire system took [sic] lot of time�۝. The Licensee explained that: ���Luckily we have this Ofcom Data Recording facility at a different location, hence the compliance recording data was not lost�۝, but that there had also been ���an issue with the data recording system at that Location�۝. It said that that issue had since been fixed, enabling the Licensee to provide Ofcom with a copy of the material requested. Finally, MBCL stated that it ���sincerely regret[ted] the events that has taken place in April and May and will try [its] best to maintain compliance as per OFCOM request�۝.

All three broadcasters were in breach of TLCS Licence Conditions 11(2)(a) and (b).