Sony TV UK lands in trouble with Ofcom for exceeding commercial airtime

Sony Entertainment Television has been rapped by UK media regulator, Ofcom for exceeding commercial airtime on six occasions during February and April 2019.

Ofcom regulations state that time devoted to advertising and teleshopping spots on any channel in any clock hour must not exceed 12 minutes.

The broadcaster acknowledged the following:
• three incidents were the result of human error attributed to staff covering absence; and
• the remaining three incidents resulted from a system error.

The broadcaster said it had rectified the issue and had put the following measures to avoid such instances in the future:
• training more staff in UK guidelines to cover for when their regular schedulers are on
leave;
• ensuring log checks are carried out by two people, including a supervisor; and
• producing reports to validate their scheduling process

Ofcom found the broadcaster in Breaches of COSTA Rule 2.