Drunken error leads to TV ban

A drunk staff member's failure to stop racist text messages being shown on television has led to a music channel being ordered off the air for five hours.
Blog: Halt Alt!

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has ruled that Alt TV breached broadcasting standards during its live screening of the Groove in the Park music event on the afternoon of Waitangi Day.

Alt TV had set up an interactive text messaging system which allowed viewers to send text messages to the station which then appeared across the bottom of the screen.

The authority has barred Alt TV, which airs on Sky Network Television, from broadcasting for five hours on Monday, Labour Day, because it found some of the text messages shown during the G-rated programme breached standards of good taste and decency and children's interests, and encouraged denigration and discrimination on the basis of race.

The penalty is unprecedented.

In its response to the authority the Auckland-based channel said it had employed an independent moderator to monitor the texts before they were broadcast.

That person had become intoxicated on the day and had failed to perform the role for five hours.

When the mistake was discovered the text component was dropped.

The authority has told Alt TV that between 12pm and 5pm on Labour Day it must silently display a statement which summarises the authority's decision and apologises to viewers.

It is the first time that the authority has ordered a station to stop broadcasting but it considered the breaches to be extremely serious because the messages, which contained expletives, could be described as hate speech.

Alt TV, which was founded by Aucklander Thane Kirby, has also been ordered to pay the maximum $5000 in costs, despite the alternative television channel saying any order of costs would seriously jeopardise the future of the company.

The channel told the authority it was "very sorry and regretful about the whole situation", which had seriously damaged its brand and its relationship with Sky Television.

- NZPA

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