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Ofcom raps ARY QTV for excessive ads

ARY QTV rapped by Ofcom
ARY QTV rapped by Ofcom

ARY QTV has been rapped by media regulator, Ofcom for broadcasting excessive amount of adverts during an early morning programme on Saturday 26th May.

Broadcasters must adhere to Ofcom’s rule of commercial airtime, which must not exceed 12 minutes per clock hour. Rule 4 of the Code on the Scheduling of Television Advertising (���COSTA�۝) states, “time devoted to television advertising and teleshopping spots on any channel in any one hour must not exceed 12 minutes.”

Ofcom received a complaint about advertising scrolling across the bottom of the image seen on screen during this broadcast on ARY QTV. Such advertising is permitted in television programmes provided it is kept distinct from editorial content.

After reviewing this output, Ofcom noted that ARY QTV broadcast 45 minutes and 27 seconds of advertising in a clock hour.

The Licensee said its technical team detected this incident, which was caused by a ���system malfunction�۝, and immediately notified management. It said that the error was then rectified as soon as possible.

Ofcom considered this to be a serious breach that the advertising allowance in this clock hour was exceeded by 33 minutes at 27 seconds.

In an earlier incident, Ofcom recorded a breachfor the broadcast of a scrolling message on ARY QTV which resulted in over 52 minutes of advertising content being broadcast in a clock hour. Ofcom is particularly concerned.