Casualty breaches broadcasting rules with swearing blunder as fans complain to Ofcom over ‘offensive’ language
Casualty has breached broadcasting rules after a subtitle-swearing blunder aired before the watershed.
Ofcom upheld a complaint against the BBC medical drama this year and ruled it had the “most offensive language” on daytime TV.
Viewers of the show complained to Ofcom about the episode, which aired on June 12, after the word ‘fu****g’ appeared in subtitles on TV channel Drama at 10.00 a.m.
The repeated episode didn’t include any audio of offensive language, but it was enough to make fans call the regulator and complain.
The media watchdog investigated the matter and announced on Monday that the popular soap series had indeed breached its rules by permitting the “most offensive language on television before the watershed”.
UKTV Media, who holds the broadcasting license for Casaulty, have replied to the decision and have sincerely apologised to viewers for the mistake, stating that the episode was ‘incorrectly subtitled.’
They explained that this was an isolated incident and that subtitling for the show was outsourced to Red Bee Media, who did not follow through with their correct obligations.
A statement from UKTV penned: “This subtitling error occurred due to human error, and we apologise for any offence caused.
“We have comprehensive guidance in place, which has been reshared with the subtitling team.
“We take our commitment to providing subtitling for our viewers extremely seriously.
“We continue to exceed the required quota for subtitling and audio description on our channels.”
Ofcom took into consideration that UKTV had never experienced an issue like this before and has since put them and Red Bee into extra training and process programmes.
However, the regulator has found no mitigating factors, such as an on-air apology, so they have decided to rule that the broadcaster breached rule 1.14 of the code, which prevents offensive language before the watershed.
They are being disciplined and have been withdrawn from subtitling duties until they complete a thorough retraining process with their line manager.
Casualty’s double bill begins at 8:20pm on BBC1.
