MTV fined $484,500 by U.K. regulator

[JackFetch]

LONDON — MTV Networks Europe has been fined a total of £255,000 ($484,500) by U.K. media regulator Ofcom for “widespread and persistent” breaches of its broadcasting code by four of its channels.

The Viacom-owned operator will have to pay the following penalties: TMF £80,000 ($152,000), MTV France £35,000 ($66,500), MTV UK £80,000 ($152,000) and MTV Hits £60,000 ($114,000).

The “highly offensive language and material” was broadcast before the 9pm family-viewing watershed.

Auds complained about a number of shows. They included: repeated use of the words “motherfucker”, “fuck you” and “fuck” in a music video by Aphex Twin for the song “Windowlicker” on TMF, and racist and homophobic text messages aired by MTV France in “Belge Chat."

Additionally TMF screened a trailer for the reality skein “Totally Jodie Marsh” on seven occasions between 9.48am and 3.15pm on July 24 last year containing the sentence: "I just don't want you settling down with some fucking wanker from a modeling agency."

Other breaches identified by Ofcom included a 4.30pm broadcast of MTV UK show “Totally Boyband” in 2006 featuring "extensive offensive language."

In a statement the regulator said: "Ofcom concluded that this material was not justified by the context of broadcasts that were likely to appeal to children and that the likely audience would have expected to have been protected from the most offensive language and material in such programming."

A spokesman for MTV said: “MTV Networks Europe takes this sanction and fine very seriously and has taken a series of steps to minimize as much as possible any breaches in the future.

“These include strengthening procedures regarding programs for pre-watershed broadcast, reviewing MTV's archive programming, increasing the number of staff involved in compliance and investing in a new channel management system."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111798685...=1&nid=2562

I love how they can say the words in the article since it's the internet, but on tv it's different somehow.

[Dread]

Hope they're dropping charges on the BBC and Channel 4 too since I heard stuff just as harsh before dinnertime when I lived there on those channels...

[slothian]

Hope they're dropping charges on the BBC and Channel 4 too since I heard stuff just as harsh before dinnertime when I lived there on those channels...

Pfft, you're offended by the word yoghurt......

As a British man, and I hope Stavros will back me up here, it's quite funny to watch a reality show based on an untalented model get MTV fined. Perhaps if they'd just stuck to music instead of turning out turgid, youth-orientated shit, they'd still have some of that money (if they don't play Aphex Twin before 9pm, that is). Anyone who makes a show that starts with the word "Totally" deserves to lose whatever they own in a fire.

racist and homophobic text messages aired by MTV France

Quelle suprise!!!

[Mull]

The reality show stuff is just the channel showing how lazy they are now, just replay the same show over and over again and im glad they are getting done for it. The song is different as it may be the channels fault as they are usually given a clean edit of a song and unedited one so that may be them being careless again or it could be the bands management fault for just sending out the rude version and no-one noticing

[Stavros]

As a British man, and I hope Stavros will back me up here, it's quite funny to watch a reality show based on an untalented model get MTV fined. Perhaps if they'd just stuck to music instead of turning out turgid, youth-orientated shit, they'd still have some of that money (if they don't play Aphex Twin before 9pm, that is). Anyone who makes a show that starts with the word "Totally" deserves to lose whatever they own in a fire.

racist and homophobic text messages aired by MTV France

Quelle suprise!!!

Untalented is not the word for Jodie Marsh, a woman whose main claim to fame is the fact thats she's sluttier than Jordan and leaves orange fake tan stains on whatever surface she comes into contact with. The mere fact that this woman has a TV show and I do not is some sort of incredible tragedy. Not that I've actually proposed a show of my own to MTV or any other broadcaster, but I know that I've provided a more worthwhile existence than Miss Marsh. If MTV would turn to the sort of substance-orientated subject material that would result in me having my own modestly-budgeted TV show I think I could safely say that the world would finally be back on track after what I think you'll agree has been a pretty appalling last few centuries.

However I cannot be responsibly for any fines that MTV may incur due to my show. I drop truth-bombs, raw and as they were intended, unedited.