Takbeer TV found in breach of exceeding commercial airtime

Takbeer TV has been found in breach of exceeding commercial airtime by Ofcom.

During routine monitoring, Ofcom identified that between 18:00 and 19:00 on 8th February 2016, Takbeer TV broadcast approximately 18 minutes and 39 seconds of advertising.

Takbeer TV responded by saying it was extremely mindful and diligent about compliance, was aware of sensitive topics and careful of any risks leading to any breach of the regulatory codes. It said it was aware of the issue before it received notification from Ofcom.

It also outlined that it aimed to serve viewers from the Pakistani and Urdu speaking communities. For that reason, it included some content from another provider in Pakistan.

In this case, the Licensee said there been an error in handling the incoming material that meant the programme and advertising content had not been correctly prepared for broadcast. It said that this was partly due to a training issue with a new operator and partly due to weather related technical problems with receiving the material.

Takbeer TV said it would usually have replaced the advertisements from its content provider in Pakistan with locally made advertising segments and ensured that the hourly total of advertising remained below the 12 minute COSTA limit. Takbeer TV sincerely apologised for this “one off unintentional breach” and committed to keep its system in full working order to avoid future problems. It said it had provided further training for staff and reminded them of Ofcom’s COSTA Guidance to avoid any breach in future.

Ofcom said that Takbeer TV acknowledged that the advertising exceeded that limit on this occasion. Ofcom concluded is that the broadcast was in breach of Rule 2 of COSTA.