OfCom rulings [post contains some strong language]

Jason Gardiner (Dancing on Ice judge) garnered 3,500 complaints to OfCom about his bullying, sexist behaviour towards fellow judge Karen Barber.
Interesting how they responded - note the similarities to PCC style: they spoke to the producers, who spoke to Gardiner and reported back that the matter had been resolved internally; OfCom announced there was no need for a formal ruling.

The Frankie Boyle case on on Tramadol Nights: he made a joke about Katie Price's 8-yr-old handicapped child. OfCom recieved 500 complaints. C4 had written to Price, but she went to OfCom, who stated that the 7.12.2010 programme was preceded by a warning about the "very strong language" and ruled the show had NOT broken their programming code.: 'The comedian Frankie Boyle has been rapped over the knuckles for "offensive" jokes he made on Channel 4 about Katie Price's disabled eight-year-old child, Harvey.
During an episode of the comedy Tramadol Nights, Boyle joked: "Jordan and Peter Andre are still fighting each other over custody of Harvey - eventually one of them will lose and have to keep him."
He then added: "I have a theory about the reason Jordan married a cage fighter - she needed a man strong enough to stop Harvey from fucking her."
Media regulator Ofcom received more than 500 complaints about the joke, including one from Price – once better known as the glamour model Jordan - who posted on her website: "To bully this unbelievably brave child is despicable, to broadcast it on television is to show a complete and utter lack of judgment".
But although Ofcom has condemned Boyle and Channel 4 for breaching broadcasting rules, it has not imposed any punishment, such as a fine or on-air apology.
Channel 4 argued at the time that the comments were merely satirical and absurdist. Chief executive David Abraham personally sanctioned the episode before it was broadcast.
The broadcaster also claimed Boyle was making fun of Price, better known as former-glamour model Jordan, for her "exploitation of her children for publicity purposes".
But Ofcom ruled that this did "not provide broadcasters with unlimited licence... This position applies even more firmly in a case in which the child is as young as eight years old, and has a number of disabilities which are specifically focussed on".
Boyle has been in trouble before for jokes about Downs Syndrome sufferers, Olympian Rebecca Adlington's looks and the Cumbria massacre.'
Read OfCom ruling here.

OfCom revoked the licenses of four adult channels [ie porn] for repeatedly broadcasting porn pre-watershed. from the Guardian: 'Ofcom said the ruling should act as a warning to other adult channels, such as Richard Desmond's Television X and Babestation. The regulator plans to meet all licensees in this sector to ensure they are serious about adhering to the broadcasting code.
In July, Ofcom fined London-based Tease Me owners Bang Channels Limited and Bang Media Limited a total of £157,250 for "manifest recklessness" in its compliance system.
More than 60 individual breaches have been committed by the channels in the past 18 months, Ofcom revealed today.
Last week Ofcom suspended transmission of Tease Me, Tease Me TV, and Tease Me 2 and Tease Me 3. Today the regulator revoked their licences with immediate effect.'

The X Factor final 2010 was at the very edge of acceptability for pre-watershed, but ultimately DIDN'T break the code. 'The "sexualised" pre-watershed scenes, aired in December on ITV1 at the end of the seventh series, sparked 2,868 complaints to the media regulator.' 't stated that Rihanna's performance on the same night, where she removed a wraparound dress to parade on stage in a bikini, was not inappropriate for the time when it was broadcast.
But it said that Aguilera's burlesque-style routine "was at the very margin of acceptability for broadcast before the 9pm watershed and especially" when it was repeated at 9.30am the next day.
It has now asked ITV to attend a meeting on the issue. As a result of the broadcast, Ofcom also wants broadcasters who intend to transmit similar material to meet the watchdog to discuss whether it complies with the broadcasting code.
Viewers complained that the material should not have been on "a family show", and that the raunchy content was "too sexually explicit and inappropriate for the young audience".
But ITV said that burlesque routines had become "almost mainstream" and that it had used certain camera angles and wide shots to minimise potential offence following rehearsals.'

Chris Moyles [radio eg] has been repeatedly censured by OfCom, showing the OfCom/BBC overlap. In this case, it was for a reference to 'gay' and Will Young. He changed the words of 2 Will Young songs, singing them in a camp fashion. The BBC defended him, but OfCom found him guilty having received 8 complaints: 'Ofcom received eight complaints from listeners who said Moyles's spoof lyrics were offensive and derogatory towards the gay community.
The BBC acknowledged that the comments had been misjudged and unacceptable, adding that Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt had spoken to Moyles and his production team about the matter. Parfitt has also written to Moyles's agent to make clear the material was unacceptable, the corporation said.
But the BBC, in its response to Ofcom, denied that Young was ridiculed because of his sexuality.
"[The BBC] said regular listeners to the programme will have been aware that Will Young has been a guest on the show a number of times. The audience in general would have been clear that such remarks were not intended to be taken as hostile or derogatory," Ofcom said today in its ruling.
Ofcom added that it recognised that Moyles's show was "well known for its irreverent style and humour", but said in its opinion his comments were "clearly based on the singer's sexuality and therefore capable of giving offence".
Moyles was censured by Ofcom in 2006 after he told a caller to his breakfast show "You've got some kids from some fucking...", before tailing off. But in the same year he was defended by the BBC governors – the predecessor of the BBC Trust – after he described a ringtone as "gay".
The governors said he was justified in using the word to mean "lame or rubbish" because its playground meaning had changed for many children.'

Zac Goldsmith was furious after OfCom rejected his complaint.

Bang Media - 4 of their adult 'Tease Me' channels had their licenses revoked. They'd been found guilty of over 60 violations of the Communications Act 2003 Section 3 (protection of the public from harmful material, and especially vulnerable children). They had been fined £160,000 previously, but were banned for broadcasting what OfCom described as R18-strength porn pre-watershed.

C4 doc The Great Global Warming Swindle, broadcast 8.3.2007, saw OfCom receive 256 complaints (C4 took 758 calls and emails of which 1 in 6 was in favour). OfCom found the programme to be within the code.

Wayne Rooney's swearing rant, broadcast live by Sky Sports in April 2011, was seen as NOT a breach of the code as Sky took every possible step to diminish the imact, quicky cutting away, but OfCom released a letter to viewers on this.