BBC censured for Pulp Fiction at 9.10pm[/b]
· 14-month battle ends in ruling against corporation
· Ofcom decision changes approach to watershed[/b]
Owen Gibson, media correspondent
Tuesday October 25, 2005The BBC yesterday lost a 14-month tussle with the media regulator Ofcom over its decision to schedule Pulp Fiction 10 minutes after the 9pm watershed.
Fans of the Quentin Tarantino film and others of its ilk will have to get used to staying up even later after the corporation was censured for showing the film in August last year at an hour when young people could still have been watching.
Despite the widespread proliferation of DVDs, multichannel TV and the growing distribution of video over the internet, Ofcom remains determined to maintain the watershed as a "signpost" to parents.
The decision is likely to worry BBC schedulers after they decided to give their epic new £63m series Rome a 9pm slot on BBC2 from November 2. Within the first 10 minutes of the opening episode there are scenes of full frontal nudity and graphic violence.
Ofcom said though Pulp Fiction, which features swearing, violence and drug use in its opening half hour, was shown at 9.10pm on a Saturday night on BBC2, there were still too many young people watching. Audience figures showed that almost one in 10 of those watching, a total of 124,000, were 15 or under.
The decision gives notice that the 9pm watershed shouldn't be regarded as an abrupt cut-off point after which broadcasters can show anything they like.
The BBC appealed three times, leading to the process taking 14 months to resolve. The corporation argued that as the film was one of the most influential and best known of recent years it was unlikely to "surprise or offend" viewers. It had shown the film four times before and said the number of complaints received from viewers had decreased each time.
"If the film had been broadcast at 9.30pm as opposed to 9.10pm, then what in the end is the argument about young people? Ten past nine is not 10 seconds past nine," said Stephen Whittle, the BBC's controller of editorial policy.
In May this year Ofcom issued new broadcast guidelines that were widely interpreted as a loosening of the existing rules and which the regulator claimed would "allow creative freedom for broadcasters" and "remove unnecessary intervention". But several months on some broadcasters are concerned that a new requirement to bear in mind the needs of 16- and 17-year-olds as well as those under 15 has left them with less leeway.
"They are taking a strongly protectionist line before nine o'clock. The challenge is a new media landscape where time of transmission is not going to be as well known," said Mr Whittle, referring to personal video recorders that "time shift" programmes and the predicted boom in shows available on demand online.
On too early?· Last Man Standing, 9pm, Friday October 21, Five
· The Running Man, 9pm, Wednesday October 26, Five
· Rome, 9pm, Wednesday November 2, BBC2
· The Replacement Killers, 9pm, Friday November 4, Five
http://film.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5317582-3156,00.html
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