Two shows on Bengali entertainment service, Channel i have landed in trouble with Ofcom.
‘Behind The Success’, which was aired on 16th May 2017 at 12:00 was pulled up by Ofcom after receiving a complaint for commercial references. Ofcom apologised for the content of this programme. It stated that: “this was not done intentionally. It is purely a[n] editorial mis-judgment and we will make sure this will not repeat again”.
Similarly, ‘Amader Khobor’, a news programme broadcast on 1st February, featured commercial references to a fish shop in Birmingham called Bangla Fish Bazaar.
When Channel i responded to Ofcom’s request for information about commercial arrangements associated with the references to the fish shop, it stated “normally this news [is] broadcast with business news, but unfortunately they [the news team] broadcast this as a normal news”. In this case, Ofcom considered that the references to the sale taking place at the featured business were promotional and could not be editorially justified.
Ofcom continues to be concerned about the Licensee’s compliance with Section Nine of the Code and is considering whether further regulatory action is necessary.
