Ofcom raps DM Global for recording failure

Ofcom has rapped DM Global for failure to provide recordings of five shows that had been complained about between March and July 2014.

In four of the five cases and in the fifth, had provided the recording only after a considerable amount of time had elapsed after the expiry of the deadline specified by Ofcom. The Licensee responded to Ofcom in November. In its response, the Licensee said it had not deliberately failed to provide Ofcom with information. By way of explanation, the Licensee said that the email account it had provided to Ofcom for correspondence had been hacked and consequently it had not received the original or reminder emails sent by Ofcom. The Licensee also said that the individual responsible for arranging recordings to be sent to Ofcom had been on long-term sick leave.

Ofcom noted that the Licensee did not provide details of an alternative contact while the member of staff responsible for corresponding with Ofcom was on long-term sick leave. Ofcom did not consider that the reasons put forward by the Licensee provided a sufficient justification for its failure to provide the recordings in these cases forthwith, in accordance with its obligation under Licence Condition 11(2)(b).

Ofcom considers these repeated and successive breaches of Licence Condition 11(2)(b) to be serious and therefore puts the Licensee on notice that it is considering these cases for the imposition of a statutory sanction.