Jus Punjabi Team In Soup For Running Sponsorship Tags After Current Affairs Programme 'To the Point'!
UK's communication regulator Ofcom received a complaint about a programme titled 'To the Point' on Jus Punjabi which had sponsorship tagsbetween it's ad breaks.
'To the Point', a programme which discussed the provincial Punjabi government’s efforts to combat the misuse of drugs had a narration towards it's start, end and between it's ad breaks which said 'this programme is sponsored by', followed by the name of some private firms.
The channel said that there was an oversight on the part of the sales person who mistook the genre of the current affairs programme and wrongly allowed these tags to run.
Jus Broadcasting added, “The channel is in the process of getting each programme reviewed by its compliance team and improving its communication between sales, programming and compliance in light of this issue and is committed to keeping updated with Ofcom rules”.
Ofcom took into account Jus Broadcasting’s comments that the sponsorship credits were broadcast in error, and that it had taken steps to keep its staff “updated” about Ofcom’s rules.
Jus Punjabi was found in breach of Rule 9.15 which states:
[9.15] News and current affairs programmes must not be sponsored.
a) religious programmes;
b) consumer advice programmes; or
c) current affairs programmes
Meaning of "current affairs programme":
A current affairs programme is one that contains explanation and/or analysis of current events and issues, including material dealing with political or industrial controversy or with current public policy.
About Ofcom
The Office of Communications commonly known as Ofcom, is the UK government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material.
Some of the main areas Ofcom presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse (e.g. pirate radio stations). The regulator was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003.
About Jus Punjabi
JUS Punjabi TV is the 1st American-Punjabi Television Network that launched on Oct 22, 2008 on DISH Network Ch. 809 joining other major South Asian channels.
- With inputs from Bizasialive
