TV News

The BBC has apologised after an image of Prince William with a rude doodle drawn on his head was shown on BBC Breakfast .

It was spotted by viewers who then tweeted a freeze frame of the image. A statement from the BBC said the image was shown fleetingly within a comedy promotional video:

We failed to spot the offending material within it. We apologise for this.

The video, provided by humorous barbershop group Barbershopera, was shown during a segment promoting their appearance on the programme.

New Year's Eve Countdown Concert
RTE Radio 1, 31 December 2012

This magazine programme included a satirical review of the year's events with impressionist and comedian Oliver Callan who at one point impersonated the boxer Katie Taylor. His impersonation of Katie Taylor went as follows:

I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for Jesus Christ and God and Marty Morrissey, they've been my inspiration, and you know I came over a lot of adversity, there was a lot of talk about how I tested positive for performance-enhancing prayers, then there was the whole business about the wine being found in me urine sample but thank God, with the help o' God it turned out to be the blood of Christ so, em, I'll be fine and I encourage all people in 2013 if you want your dreams to come true, you know, you can always, em, put faith in the Good Book. My Olympic Dream is out now in all good book stores and Easons, €12.99. I'll sign it for an extra two quid.

A priest objected to what he describes as the blasphemous reference in this programme to the Blood of Jesus being found in Katie Taylor's urine.

The Decision of Compliance Committee found:

• The Committee noted that the trans-substantiation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus is considered a central tenet of religious belief for Irish Catholics. Therefore, particular care is required where it is referred to in a programming other than in a religious context. For this reason, it was the view of the Committee that some listeners may have found the item offensive and a greater sensitivity to this source of offence than that shown in this item would have been desirable.
   
• However, having had regard to the programme about which the complaint was made, it was the Committee's view that it had been used in a humorous and playful manner in a comedy section of a New Year's Eve radio programme. The Committee noted that the target of the comedy was Katie Taylor rather the religious symbols of Christianity and while this part of the comedy feature could be considered as being in poor taste and potentially offensive to some listeners on religious grounds, it was its view that the item would not cause undue offence, contrary to the Code of Programme Standards.

It must be a bit confusing for the BBC to deal with amusingly inconsistent Daily Mail. If they include a little nudity they get lambasted for 'gratuitous sex' yet if they don't they get lambasted for censorship.

The White Queen is a co production by the BBC and the US Starz cable channel. It is based on Philippa Gregory's The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Kingmaker's Daughter and is set against the backdrop of the turbulent War of the Roses

The Daily Mail explains:

Few countries can compete with the UK when it comes to television costume dramas . . . but American audiences, it seems, prefer our dramas without the costumes.

A raunchy alternative version of the ten-part BBC1 series The White Queen has been created for screening in the US -- including graphic sex and nude scenes which don't appear here.

Bedroom scenes in which actors appear in the BBC version partly clothed are sexed-up for the American market -- and the actors complete the scenes naked.

As lead actor Max Irons put it: There's the BBC cut and the Starz cut. You get a lot more arse in the Starz version -- the cameras kept rolling after the BBC stopped the scene.

Eg, in episode two Queen Elizabeth, played by Rebecca Fergusson, was seen wearing a nightdress for her love scene with Edward IV, played by Max Irons. But when the clinch is broadcast on American television later this summer, the same actress will be shown first topless and then completely naked in the marital bed.

Episodes one, two and three of the American version all contain nudity and the first programme includes at least four shots of the Queen's breasts and a scene showing her younger sister topless in a bath. By contrast, the BBC version doesn't include any nudity until episode three, and even then only fleetingly.

New 'research' from morality campaigners of the Parents Television Council's 4 Every Girl Campaign claims that teenage female characters on primetime broadcast television are more likely to be presented in sexually exploitative scenes than adult women, and the appearance of underage female characters in a supposedly sexually exploitative scene increased the probability that the scene would be presented as humorous.

Study results revealed that out of 238 scripted episodes which aired during the study period, 150 episodes (63%) contained sexual content in scenes that were associated with females and 33% of the episodes contained sexual content that rose to the level of what the PTC see as sexual exploitation.

Topics that targeted teenage girls and were presented as humorous included: sexual violence, sex trafficking, sexual harassment, pornography, and stripping.

PTC President Tim Winter claimed:

The frequency with which viewers are able to watch and laugh at these sexually exploitative situations supports the notion that entertainment media is creating an environment that encourages and even facilitates the sexualization of women. When we laugh about dead hookers, it becomes increasingly difficult to see the mistreatment of sex workers as a national civil and human rights issue. The same can be said for child molestation or sex trafficking.

The prevalence of images that trivialize sexual exploitation can be interpreted as sanctioning the sexualization of women. When these messages, images and ideologies are delivered via mass media, the definition of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are communicated both implicitly and explicitly to viewers. Similarly, when the media associates humor with sexual exploitation they are sending a strong message that these issues are harmless and require neither urgency nor a strong response.

We hope that these disturbing findings will spur concern, increased dialogue, and a collective responsibility to find answers that will result in a qualitative difference in the lives of young girls and women everywhere.

The BBC has apologised after one of its senior presenters suggested the women's Wimbledon champion was never going to be a looker .

John Inverdale made the remark on the broadcaster's Radio 5 live programme shortly after French player Marion Bartoli won the competition. Inverdale sparked a Twitter todo when he told listeners:

Do you think Bartoli's dad told her when she was little, 'you're never going to be a looker, you'll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight?

The comments sparked 'outrage' on Twitter where one user branded the presenter a sexist dinosaur and another called for Inverdale to be stripped of his job.

The BBC later apologised for the comments. A spokesman said:

We accept that this remark was insensitive and for that we apologise.

Update: Tally

9th July 2013. See review from  independent.co.uk

The BBC has received 674 complaints over John Inverdale's comments about Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli's appearance.

In response to Inverdale's comments, Bartoli said:

I am not blonde, yes. That is a fact. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No. I'm sorry. But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon? Absolutely, yes.

Update: BBC Response

10th July 2013. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Complaint

We received complaints from listeners who were offended by comments made by John Inverdale about Marion Bartoli's appearance.

The BBC's response

John Inverdale is one of our most experienced presenters, however we do accept that in the run-up to Saturday's Wimbledon Ladies' Final John made an insensitive comment regarding Marion Bartoli. John has apologised for this remark and acknowledges that it was clumsy . Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live subsequently, John went on to explain that, The point I was trying to make, in a rather ham-fisted kind of way, was that in a world where the public perception of tennis players is that they are all six feet Amazonian athletes, Marion, who is the Wimbledon Champion, bucks that trend and she is a fantastic example to all young people that it's attitude and will and determination, together obviously with talent, that does in the end get you to the top . John has also written a personal apology to Marion Bartoli to express his regret if any offence was caused.

Ofcom has fined the muslim channel DM Digital £105,000 for 2 transgressions of Ofcom's programme code.

DM Digital is a television channel primarily aimed at an Asian audience in the UK, which features broadcasts in a number of languages including English, Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi, Kashmiri and Hindi. The service is also received in the Middle East and parts of Asia. The licence for this channel is held by DM Digital Television Limited.

The first fine was £85,000 over the programme Rehmatul Lil Alameen broadcast on 9th October 2011 at 18:30.

The programme was in Urdu and was approximately one hour in duration, featured a presenter who introduced an Islamic Pir (a religious 'scholar') who delivered a live televised lecture about points of Islamic theology with reference to the shooting dead in early 2011 of the Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer by his bodyguard Malik Mumtaz Qadri. Salmaan Taseer had been a vocal critic of Pakistan's blasphemy law.

Ofcom noted in particular the following remarks from Abdul Qadir Jilani's lecture:

Under the guidance from Islamic texts it is evident that if a Muslim apostatises, then it is not right to wait for the authorised courts; anyone may kill him . An apostate deserves to be killed and any man may kill him. For this, you do not need to contact the authorised courts. Because the prophet did not question Omar's act.

...if someone denies the existence of God, you may have a defensive war with them but if someone insults the Prophet, you should not be defensive but you should aggressively attack them. You should go to their homes and fight them there .

The man who has killed [Salmaan Taseer] has done an act of great love and proved his loyalty. It was his duty to do so. Some people say that he was supposed to guard [Salmaan Taseer] but a man's first duty is to protect his father and Abu Ubaydah killed his own father because the latter denied the apostolate of Prophet Mohammed….When Abu Ubaydah killed his father, Allah praised him because he had killed in the love of the Prophet Muhammed. Such an act does not fall into the category of terrorism .

I hail those who made this law [i.e. Pakistan's blasphemy law] which states that one who insults the Prophet deserves to be killed – such a person should be eliminated .

The programme was found to have breeched Rule 3.1: Material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder must not be included in television or radio services .

Having regard to the serious nature of the Code breach, the Licensee's representations and the Ofcom Penalty Guidelines, Ofcom decided it was appropriate and proportionate in the circumstances to impose a financial penalty of £85,000 on the Licensee in respect of the breach of Rule 3.1.

The second transgression was by  the programme POAF Conference on DM Digital, 25th November 2011 at 19:00 and 4th December 2011 at 21:00. Ofcom found this programme fsimilarly in breach of their rules and imposed a financial penalty of £20,000

Comment: So why have there been no criminal charges?

A question reflecting other comments to Melon Farmers too.

7th July 2013.  See  article from  secularism.org.uk

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said:

Inciting murder is against the law. Why aren't the police knocking on Mr Jilani's door? Why is he not under arrest? Surely he cannot be allowed to get away with such blatant call to kill innocent people? Other people have been sent to prison for far less than this.

Two channels have been fined £12,500 and £10,000 for making bollox claims about the accuracy of their psychic predictions. The same material was aired on Psychic Today and the Big Deal.

TV censor Ofcom cited 2 rules governing psychic TV:

Rule 15.5.2:

Advertisements for personalised and live services that rely on belief in astrology, horoscopes, tarot and derivative practices are acceptable only on channels that are licensed for the purpose of the promotion of such services and are appropriately labelled: both the advertisement and the product or service itself must state the product or service is for entertainment purposes only.

Rule 15.5.3: Advertising permitted under Rule 15.5 may not:

• Make claims for efficacy or accuracy;
• Predict negative experiences or specific events;
• Offer life-changing advice directed at individuals, including advice related to health (including pregnancy) or financial situation;
• Appeal particularly to children;
• Encourage excessive use.

Ofcom found that three broadcast pieces contained explicit and/or implicit claims of efficacy and accuracy and were therefore in breach of BCAP Rule 15.5.3. In particular:

• A broadcast on 6 May 2012 on Psychic Today included an onscreen graphic which stated that a particular psychic ( Mollie ) could give accurate and precise readings.

• A broadcast on 2 June 2012 on Psychic Today included a psychic who referred to a previous reading given many years earlier. By referring to that reading she purported to have correctly predicted a number of events that had since occurred. The psychic also referred to evidence to confirm that her predictions had come true. This was a prediction about someone becoming friends with singer Michael Jackson.

• During a broadcast on 20 June 2012 on Psychic Today, the host and psychic referred to the psychic's direct involvement with various police investigations, including the investigation into the abduction and murder of Milly Dowler. To suggest on air through various remarks that UK police forces had employed the psychic in this way was meant to show that the psychic could provide reliable and substantiated readings as demonstrated by her experience of working closely with various UK police forces to help them solve cold cases'

A few months ago I read on your website about how TV shows like The Walking Dead and The Shield were edited for broadcast in the UK and how the same versions were subsequently issued on DVD despite being available uncut in the US.

Well you can add Breaking Bad to that list. The season 3 episode I.F.T. - which stands for I fucked Ted - was edited for broadcast in the US on AMC to omit the expletive from an important dialogue exchange at the end of the episode.

The region 1 release lists that fact that it contains 3 uncensored episodes , but the UK version features the same censored version that AMC broadcast despite the fact that the language would not have caused a problem in the UK at all, even on television. What makes this more annoying is that the expletive is included in the English subtitle track and the French dub track is also intact.

Season 3 has subsequently been issued on Blu-ray, but there doesn't seem to be any indication that the edits have been restored.

Seasons 4 and 5 (part 1) seem to be okay, but I still don't see why UK viewers should have to put up with US TV censorship at all on a format that does not require it.

As AMC is also home to Mad Men , so I'm starting to wonder if the DVD releases of those series are similarly edited.

Russian state television has pulled a show over a joke about President Vladimir Putin's surprise divorce announcement..

The youth-oriented television show called The Social Network recorded a satirical item about Putin putting up a profile on an online dating site. The programme's co-host Vladislav Sorokin wrote on Facebook:

We made a video item about photos of Putin for mamba.ru (dating site). They took the whole programme, all of it, off air entirely.

We'll work till our contract ends on June 30 and then so long.

Actors were briefly shown vaguely waving bloody knives and cleavers like killers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. This occurred as a a throwaway reference to the UK in a spoof of the Eurovision Song Contest.

A spoof compere was doing the rounds interviewing people sitting at tables representing a few European states. When he approached the UK table he asked those sitting there to wave to the camera. They were shown to be holding knives as per the Woolwich terrorist. The compere then pretended to run away screaming.

The show was Saturday night's Langs de Leeuw show on Holland's publicly-owned VARA channel. The same programme caused 'ourtrage' last week with a presenter sampling breast milk direct from a participant.

The latest sketch sparked a little 'outrage' from Dutch viewers via the inevitable Twitter.

Niet Mohammed wrote: Has Paul de Leeuw no shame?

DCorleone59 added: For almost 400,000 euros a year, Paul de Leeuw makes fun of the brutal killing of Lee Rigby.

Edin Mujagic wrote: Someone killed with a machete is NOT, I repeat NOT funny!

Australia has unveiled plans to ban television and radio broadcasts of betting odds during live sports matches.

Gambling advertisements will no longer appear during live events and around sporting venues, the government said. Gillard told a press conference:

From the moment that the players step onto the field, to the moment that they leave the field, there will be no live odds.

The broadcasting industry is expected to submit a revised code to Australia's media watchdog reflecting the changes.

Under the new rules, advertisements would only be allowed before or after a game, or during a scheduled break in play, such as quarter-time and half-time.

Comedy Central has been banned for ten days for airing supposedly obscene and vulgar words and being derogatory to women.

Stating multiple clauses that the channel has breached, the I&B Ministry asked Comedy Central to go off air from May 25 till June 4 for a comedy broadcast during Stand Up Club and Popcorn programmes on May 26 and July 4 last year.

The order issued by Delhi High court claimed that the programme showed a stand up comedian mouthing supposedly vulgar words accompanied by obscene and suggestive gestures and gyration.

Jokes during his performance supposedly denigrated women, indecently and crudely referred to sex organs of men-and women and the sing-song rendition by the man sought to pornographically describe male lust, whilst depicting women as a commodity of sex.

The second case was an episode from the reality show titled Popcorn wherein members of the Comedy Central crew are seen playing pranks on the general populace. In this case, one of the Comedy Central crew members was seen mimicking the act of intercourse with a set of dummy legs, in different locations.

Update: Ban stayed

28th May 2013. See  article from  timesofindia.indiatimes.com

A division bench of the Delhi High Court has stayed an order of the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry that prohibited transmission and re-transmission of the television channel, Comedy Central.

The HC bench stayed the order after hearing Sujeet Jain, executive vice-president, of Viacom, who had challenged the ban.

Dutch TV host Paul De Leeuw generated a little 'outrage' during is chat show Langs De Leeuw , which focused on breastfeeding.

The audience was made up of breastfeeding mothers who donate excess milk to women who are unable to produce enough of their own. The openly gay comedian was asked if he wanted to taste the milk from one audience member who had expressed milk into a bottle.

But De Leeuw joked to the woman, known as Wendy, that he would rather try it direct from the source. Wendy, then unhooks herself from the pump and tells him he can so long as he doesn't bite .

Video footage then shows him suckling from one breast and then the other before telling Wendy:

I find the second one better tasting, but I can taste that you've eaten asparagus yesterday.

But the stunt sparked 'outrage' with people saying it was disgusting. Probably just a few trivial tweets, hyped up by the local tabloid.

US morality campaigners of the Parents Television Council have launched #NoIndecencyFCC Week, May 6-10. They are hoping to encourage moralists to file public comments to the FCC's proposal to limit broadcast indecency complaints.

PTC President Tim Winter said:

We are focusing on #NoIndecencyFCC to let the FCC know that we consider its proposal to limit broadcast indecency complaints extremely troublesome. Only pursuing so-called 'egregious' complaints from the public about indecent TV or radio content will lead to broadcasters pushing the decency limits even further -- including the airing of nudity or harsh profanity when millions of children are in the audience.

Federal law limits the broadcast of indecent material to the times of day when kids are much less likely to be in the audience, making no distinction for 'egregious' instances. Either material is legally indecent or it is not, and the 'egregious' nature of violating the law should only dictate the punishment a broadcaster faces for breaking that law. It is unnecessary for indecent content to be repeated many times in order to be actionable, and it is unwise for the FCC to pursue a new course that will guarantee nothing but a rash of new litigation.

We are encouraging the public to share its concern with the FCC in a public comment by the deadline of May 20. To date, over 90,000 public comments have been filed, most of them expressing outrage that the FCC would even consider such a proposal.

If this proposal is adopted, the greatest harm will fall upon our children and grandchildren, who already face waves of explicit content when they use the airwaves of which they, too, are co-owners. The FCC proposal erodes a parent's recourse for broadcast decency enforcement and, instead, cedes control of our airwaves entirely to the entertainment industry. It's time to say #NoIndecencyFCC!

The PTC is also encouraging people to take to Twitter using the #NoIndecencyFCC hashtag.

China's international news propaganda channel is looking to expand into Taiwan. But local authorities have given a strict requirement that CCTV can only be aired in the country if Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) is allowed to air freely in China.

Air freely is a pretty tough sell to Chinese authorities, and CCTV-style censored stories don't exactly resonate with the Taiwanese, as South China Morning Post reports:

If the mainland grants our television channels landing rights, then yes, we have basis for discussion but if the other side does not allow us landing rights, then unfortunately, we have no basis for discussion, Lung [Taiwanese Culture Minister] said on the sidelines of a Legislative Yuan committee hearing.

BBC publicity described the scheduled TV programme Jerusalem: An Archaeological Mystery Story

The exile of the Jewish people has played a central role in Christian and Jewish theology for nearly 2,000 years, even being mentioned in Israel's national anthem and its declaration of independence. But what if the exile never actually happened?

This documentary by Ilan Ziv looks at new evidence that suggests the majority of the Jewish people may not have been exiled following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem and the catacombs of Rome, the film invites us to review and rethink our ideas around the exile, raising important ethical questions about its impact on present-day Middle Eastern issues along the way.

But now the programme has been pulled at the last moment with the unconvincing comment that the documentary would not fit editorially .

There has been no particular comment as to anything that may have been particularly controversial in the programme, so just down to religion, sensitivity and easy offence.

Update: BBC criticised for dropping film

30th April 2013. See  article from  dailymail.co.uk

The BBC has been accused of political naïveté after dropping a controversial documentary which called into question the mass exile of Jewish people from Jerusalem in AD70 after their failed uprising against the Romans.

Film maker Ilan Ziv accused the BBC of

incompetence and suggested they succumbed to conscious or subconscious political pressure after they decided not to broadcast it.

In a blog post, Ziv said the decision to axe the programme was:

Ultimately a sad saga of what I believe is a mixture of incompetence, political naïveté , conscious or subconscious political pressure and, I believe, a lack of courage of broadcasters when they are faced with the complexity of the Middle East issue and the intense emotions, fears and aggression it generates.'

A spokesman for the BBC claimed they may show Ziv's programme in the future, and added unconvincingly:

We originally acquired Jerusalem: An Archaeological Mystery Story to supplement BBC Four's season exploring the history of archaeology.

However, it was decided that it did not fit editorially so we did not show the programme as part of the season. Any future transmissions are under review.'

Afgahanistan's President Hamid Karzai has ordered further censorship of supposedly un-Islamic and obscene televisions shows in response to lobbying by the country's religious council.

Karzai told the culture ministry to block programs which are vulgar, un-Islamic, obscene and violate social morality, and Islamic morality , according to a statement from his Council of Ministers.

It said the move follows a request from the religious council to ban televised drama seen as promoting vice and prostitution.

There doesn't seem to be any details of the type of programmes which might be banned as a result of the order.

Britain may be forced to lift its ban on broadcasting political advertising when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules on its lawfulness tomorrow.

The campaign group Animal Defenders International (ADI) was told it could not run adverts highlighting the plight of caged primates. Because the organisation was not a charity, it was treated as a political group. ADI said this was a breach of its right to freedom of expression and appealed against the decision. The final ruling in its attempts to overturn the ban on its adverts will be handed down tomorrow.

If ADI is successful, the Government will have to amend the laws regarding political advertising or even lift the ban altogether.

The ECHR has overturned similar bans in Norway and Switzerland. Jacob Rowbottom, a fellow in constitutional law at University College, Oxford, said:

It seems very likely that they will find the complete blanket ban on paid political advertising to violate freedom of expression.

Update: Political adverts will continue to be banned

23rd April 2013.  See  article from  independent.co.uk
See also 'political' chimp advert from YouTube
See also ECHR Judgement from bailii.org
See also Strasbourg ties itself in knots over advertising ban from  ukhumanrightsblog.com

An animal rights group has narrowly lost an attempt to end the broadcast ban on paid political advertising in the UK.

Human rights judges in Strasbourg ruled in a 9-8 test case verdict that Government refusal to allow Animal Defenders International to screen a TV advert promoting animal rights was not a breach of ADI's freedom of expression.

The Strasbourg judges declared:

The court noted that both parties (ADI and the Government) maintained that they were protecting the democratic process.

It found in particular that the reviews of the ban by both parliamentary and judicial bodies had been exacting and pertinent, taking into account the European Court's case law.

The judges said the ban only applied to advertising and ADI had access to alternative media, both broadcast and non-broadcast .

Film4 is pulling a comedy about a group of hapless terrorists from its schedule in the wake of the deadly Boston Marathon bombings. Channel 4 was planning to air the movie Four Lions on its film channel next Monday.

The 2010 film is a dark comedy about four incompetent British Muslim jihadists who undergo terrorism training before trying to attack the London Marathon.

Film4 said it has decided not to proceed with the broadcast in light of recent tragic events.

A Family Guy Episode at Center of Boston Marathon Conspiracy Theory has been pulled from the Web by Fox.

It all started when some heartless troll saw fit to combine two disparate parts from a single episode of Family Guy to make it appear as through Peter is using a cellphone to remotely detonate two explosive devices, thereby securing his victory in the Boston Marathon. In actuality, the two scenes occur many minutes apart from each other and belong to two unrelated gags.

Alex Jones, never one to bother with facts that get in the way of his conspiratorial ravings, presented the doctored clip to his readers as proof that the media knew in advance about the government's plans to bomb the Boston Marathon in order to generate a convenient excuse to take our civil liberties and promote homeland security.

Obviously.

But now it seems that someone is going to great lengths to censor the episode and remove it from the internet. The Episode is Turban Cowboy , Season 11 Episode 15.

Ireland's TV censor has proposed controversial new censorship rules for television and radio stations.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has proposed a new code governing news and current affairs. It introduces a ban on presenters from stating their personal view on air. Another proposal to establish a register of financial interests of presenters has been put on hold by the BAI due to legal difficulties.

In a submission to the BAI, TV3 accused the broadcasting censor of attempting to extend Draconian controls over the media:

The State now seeks through its regulator to control content on channels it does not own, limiting news and current affairs programming to arid lists of facts

It prevents non-State broadcasters from having a different view from the State and thereby restricts essential roles of media as watchdog, as court of public opinion and as provider of informed analysis. At best this is unnecessary 'regulatory creep', more harshly it could be called state censorship.

TV3 said if such a code was introduced in countries like Russia or China it would be regarded as an attack on free media.

Eraser is a 1996 US action film by Chuck Russell.
With Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams and James Caan.

Channel 5's sister channel 5 USA, has just screened the full version of (arguably) Arnold Schwarzeneggers last decent action film. Eraser .

While it's not unheard of for channels to do this while a censored version sits on public shelves, it would be interesting to know where the channel got the copy they aired. As it was way too low res to be DVD, and 5 USA doesn't have a HD alternative, so it wasn't a poor upscale either. Food for thought, as the UK still does not have an official release of the original film, whereas most countries have had releases on all major home formats of the last 20 years.

While it may not be the most sought after film in the world, it is a poignant 90's echo, of the halcyon days of James Ferman and his band of scissor friendly conservatives.

Note that Eraser was passed 15 uncut in 2009 with previous BBFC cuts waived. However this version hasn't yet been released on DVD or Blu-ray.

After the US Supreme Court's decision in FCC v. Fox Television Stations in September 2012, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has initiate a review of the Commission's broadcast indecency policies and enforcement to ensure they are fully consistent with First Amendment principles.

In the interim, the Chairman directed the Enforcement Bureau to focus its indecency enforcement resources on egregious cases and to reduce the backlog of pending broadcast indecency complaints.

The Bureau has reduced the backlog by 70% so far, more than one million complaints, principally by binning them on the grounds that it had taken so long to process them that they were too stale to pursue.

The FCC now seek comments on whether the full Commission should make changes to its current broadcast indecency policies or maintain them as they are.

Update: American Family Association have their two Penneth

5th April 2013. See  article from  christianpost.com

The American Family Association, a major pro-family group, has announced that Americans should petition the FCC to uphold high television, radio decency standards.

In addition to the overarching negative impacts of indecency in media on children, a more immediate issue exists: radio 'shock jocks' that thrive on shocking even the most hardened of sensibilities will have even greater latitude to express even more profanity without the worry of FCC censure, states AFA.

Upset over the broadcast of supposedly indecent visuals on Fashion TV, a committee of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry ordered that the channel be taken off air for 10 days.

The ministry said it had issued a show cause notice to FTV after it telecast programmes like Midnight Haute & Designers in High Definition ,'Chantellie Lingerie, Paris' and Lingerie in September 2011. It claimed that the visuals offended good taste and decency and were obscene and vulgar and not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and also for children.

According to the panel, the programme Designers in high definition showed models walking on the ramp while a man in an underwear was clinging to a woman in an embrace in the background:

Both are shown insinuatingly swaying their bodies and making suggestive postures. Such a portrayal appears to offend good taste and decency and also appears obscene.

Again in April 2012, the channel telecast another programme 15th Anniversary- Top Designers . The committee claimed:

The programme showed nudity of female bosom, which appeared obscene and vulgar, showing form and figure of women in an indecent way. The visuals did not appear suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and also not suitable for children.

Representatives of FTV during a personal hearing at the panel said there was no nudity in the content. When the committee offered them to show recorded instances where buttocks and breast were fully exposed, they replied that these instances would have happened due to improper blurring.

This is the third time that the government has ordered FTV to be taken off air.

China's top media censor will expand pre-broadcast vetting to cover television documentaries, in a further extension of TV censorship.

China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) told TV stations and producers that all documentaries would have to be approved in advance of being shown, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

The notice would bring censorship of TV documentaries into line with requirements on non-fiction films, it said. A notice posted on SARFT's website said that TV production companies including joint Chinese-foreign co-productions should report documentary topics in advance.

A Venezuelan television channel that takes a critical stance toward President Hugo Chavez accused the government of excluding it from a new digital television system, and it warned that the action could force it off the open airwaves.

Globovision is the sole remaining television channel in Venezuela that takes a stridently anti-government line. The channel said in a statement that it was arbitrarily excluded from the digital TV system despite having taken steps to be included during meetings that officials held to launch the project.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced the launch of the digital TV system saying that state channels will be participating as well as private channels including Venevision, Meridiano and Televen. He and other officials did not address the complaint raised by Globovision.

Globovision has long clashed with Chavez's government, and in recent years the National Telecommunications Council has opened eight investigations against the channel.

BBC 2 showed the Germans episode of Fawlty Towers last Sunday evening

The BBC cut dialogue from a scene involving Basil Fawlty and the major, played by actor Ballard Berkeley.

The conversation moves from Basil's wife Sybil to women in general. The major tells Fawlty about the time he took a woman to see India play cricket at the Oval. He then says:

The strange thing was, throughout the morning she kept referring to the Indians as niggers. "No, no, no," I said, "the niggers are the West Indians. These people are wogs".

But this time around the major's words were edited out by the BBC.

Some fans took to the BBC's Points Of View message board to say they despaired at the unnecessary editing. One wrote:

You can't airbrush history away and I doubt if anyone but the terminally thin-skinned could be offended by the major, a character we're clearly supposed to laugh at rather than with.

Another posted:

The point is that the major is a racist old bigot, incongruous with modern society -- even in the Seventies. The audience isn't supposed to agree with him, they're supposed to laugh at him. The whole episode is about xenophobia in various forms -- it's social satire. I instinctively dislike the airbrushing of history.

A BBC spokesman spewed:

We are very proud of Fawlty Towers and its contribution to British television comedy... BUT ...public attitudes have changed significantly since it was made and it was decided to make some minor changes, with the consent of John Cleese's management, to allow the episode to transmit to a family audience at 7.30pm on BBC2.'

Comment: Littlejohn, The BBC, Comedy Censorship and Total Hypocrisy at the Daily Mail

25th January 2013. See article from mediasnoops2.wordpress.com

Comment: Australian press proves just as PC worthless as the BBC

25th January 2013. See  BBC rewrites TV history with Fawlty Towers censorship from  smh.com.au:

The Australian press has a justified knock at the BBC's vandalism of Fawlty Towers... but somehow can't even conjure up the backbone to actually print what was censored!

You wait months for the new season of Psych to reach the UK, on Sunday at 7pm, and then by 7:02pm, Universal Channel has already muted out some word spoken by an 11-year-old character.

This is far from Game Of Thrones - what could be said in Psych that needs a mute?

India's government has directed all cable and television platforms not to carry SS TV channel for a fortnight from the midnight of 15 January to the midnight of 30 January for telecasting the trailer for the supposedly  'adult' film Friends with benefits on 30 September 2011. The film is a comedy romance that is 15 rated in the UK.

Television transmission platforms have also been prohibited from carrying Zing and Enterr 10 television channels for one day from midnight of 12 January for telecasting 'adult' films in violation of the programme code.

While Zing TV had telecast the adult film Hawas in January, the Enterr 10 channel telecast three Hindi feature films -- Musafir on 29 September 2011, Plan on 19 October 2011 and Aashiq Banaya Apnne on 31 January 2012.

In the case of Hawas , the directive noted that the film showed visuals of passionate love making and kissing scenes between a couple, who were shown to be clinging to each other and writhing in bed in an explicit portrayal of sexual desires overpowering them. Such a portrayal is distinctly meant for adult audience, for which CBFC had appropriately given A certification to the said film.

Thai Government figures have denied any political intervention in the abrupt termination of a controversial TV series on Channel 3, which was unexpectedly replaced last night with a new drama series.

Channel 3 announced in an onscreen message last night that Nua Mek 2 (Above the Clouds 2) had been replaced earlier than scheduled because of supposedly  inappropriate content.

The storyline focuses on a corrupt politician keen on profiteering on a satellite launch and a sorcerer who performs black magic to manipulate politics, and of course lots of soapy romance.

Comments on social media, have it the series was cut short at the orders of people in power who were stung by its content.

Suranand Vejjajiva, the prime minister's secretary-general, claimed that the government had never interfered with any TV drama or news report. The prime minister has nothing to do with the abrupt end of the drama, he said in a phone interview with The Nation.

The original schedule for Nua Mek 2 called for 12 episodes. Episode Nine aired last Sunday. As controversy mounted the producers hastily edited the last 3 episodes into a single episode to at least provide a presumably uncontroversial end to the series. However even that edited last episode was cancelled, leaving the show's story unfinished.

Leading broadcasters from Europe, Japan, the United States and Australia have signed a declaration to fight what they believe is the growing censorship of the Internet and jamming of TV signals by authoritarian political regimes.

The following broadcast organisations say that international journalism is facing unprecedented challenges from countries that seek to deny their own citizens access to information from outside their borders in violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

• Audiovisuel Exterieur de la France (AEF),
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC),
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),
• Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) [US],
• Deutsche Welle (DW),
• Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK)
• Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW)

They note and condemn without reservation certain government's control of the flow of information such as blocking the Web and most notably intentional jamming of satellites as practised recently by Iran. Furthermore, they have denounced efforts to identify and track Internet users in order to stifle free expression, inquiry and political activity.

In a call to action, they have agreed to increase, whenever possible, support for efforts to circumvent Web censorship through the use of new and innovative hardware and software tools and have agreed to increase our advocacy for Internet freedom.