BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

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Summary

"Coronation Street is bigger and better now" and "Be watching for one whole hour of

your favourite show" were comments made by characters "Mavis" and "Derek"

respectively in a promo for Coronation Street broadcast on TV1 at about 9.00pm on

29 December.

Mr Turner complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that both

statements were not strictly correct and thus the broadcast breached the broadcasting

standards requiring factual accuracy.

Maintaining that "one hour on Tuesday evening was bigger" than the former half hour

Tuesday evening programme and that commercials were included when measuring the

length of the programme, TVNZ stated that those aspects of the comments were not

inaccurate. Acknowledging that "better" was a subjective opinion, TVNZ said that

the programme's increased audience size following the change of format justified the

use of the term and it declined to uphold any aspect of the complaint. Dissatisfied

with TVNZ's response that "one whole hour" included commercials, Mr Turner

referred that aspect of the complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under

s.8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.

For the reasons below, the Authority declined to uphold the complaint.

Decision

The members of the Authority have viewed the item complained about and have read

the correspondence (summarised in the Appendix). As is its practice, the Authority

has determined the complaint without a formal hearing.

Following a scheduling alteration on TV1 whereby Coronation Street was changed

from three half-hour broadcasts a week to one one-hour programme a week, characters

"Mavis" and "Derek" appeared in a promo broadcast on TV1. "Mavis" stated

"Coronation Street is bigger and better now" and "Derek" added, "Be watching for one

whole hour of your favourite show".

Arguing that neither statement was strictly accurate, Mr Turner complained to TVNZ

that the promo breached the broadcasting standard requiring factual accuracy.

TVNZ assessed the complaint under standard G1 of the Television Code of

Broadcasting Practice which requires broadcasters:

G1  To be truthful and accurate on points of fact.

As the Tuesday broadcast of one-hour was longer than the previous Tuesday

broadcast of a half-hour, TVNZ said it was bigger. While acknowledging that better

involved some subjectivity, it argued that increased ratings suggested that the audience

considered it was better. As for the complaint about the phrase "one whole hour",

TVNZ said international practice when measuring the length of a programme was to

include breaks for commercial and promotional material.

The Authority understood from Mr Turner's letter that he referred only the "one

whole hour" phrase to the Authority. It would add nevertheless, that it would have

been unlikely to uphold the aspects which referred to the terms "bigger" and "better".

With regard to the use of the phrase "one whole hour", Mr Turner observed that while

the practice might be international, that did not mean he said that it was not

misleading. In response, TVNZ pointed out that it was a commercial operation and

thus it was implicit that "one whole hour" meant one commercial hour.

In deciding the meaning of the phrase "one whole hour" used by "Derek" on the

promo, the Authority had some sympathy with Mr Turner in view of the use of the

word "whole". However, TVNZ, like all other television broadcasters in New

Zealand, is a commercial operation. The Authority believed that viewers of free-to-air

television programmes accepted that advertisements and other material featured

regularly throughout all programmes and would understand that "one whole hour" on

commercial television would inevitably include commercials. The Authority

concluded that the Coronation Street promo was unlikely to mislead and in the

prevailing circumstances could not be regarded as inaccurate. It declined to uphold the

complaint.

For the above reasons, the Authority declines to uphold the complaint.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

I W Gallaway
Chairperson
6 April 1995

Appendix

Mr Turner's Complaint to Television New Zealand Ltd - 30 December 1994

Mr Cliff Turner of Hamilton complained that a promo for Coronation Street broadcast

at about 9.00pm on 29 December 1994 contained statements that were not strictly

accurate.

"Mavis", he wrote, had said, "Coronation Street is bigger and better now" and

"Derek" had stated "Be watching for one whole hour of your favourite show".

Because of the inaccuracies, Mr Turner said that the promo breached the broadcasting

standard requiring factual accuracy.

TVNZ's Response to the Formal Complaint

Assessing the complaint under standard G1 of the Television Code of Broadcasting

Practice, TVNZ said the promo was specifically linked to the scheduling change so

that Coronation Street would in future be shown for one hour - not half an hour - on

Tuesday evenings.

As the programme was screened for a greater time on Tuesdays, TVNZ said that it

was longer and thus bigger. It continued:

The word "better", TVNZ acknowledges, is a subjective opinion. However,

given the role of a promo - which is to attract an audience to a programme - it

does not seem out of place to portray the programme in the best possible light.

That the hour-long screening on Tuesdays seems to be attracting a bigger

audience than before seems to suggest that the view of "Coronation Street" at

one sitting could be interpreted as something "better" than was previously

available on Tuesdays?

As for the complaint about the phrase "the whole hour", TVNZ said international

practice when measuring the length of a programme was to include breaks for

commercial and promotional material.

On the basis that the promo was not inaccurate, TVNZ declined to uphold the

complaint.

Mr Turner's Complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority - 10 February

Dissatisfied with TVNZ's response, Mr Turner referred his complaint to the

Broadcasting Standards Authority under s.8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.

Maintaining that the promo was misleading, he specifically mentioned that just

because a practice about measuring the length of a programme might be an

international one, that did not mean that it was not misleading.

TVNZ's Response to the Authority - 22 February 1995

In its report to the Authority, TVNZ said that Mr Turner had only mentioned his

complaint about the phrase "one whole hour" when referring his complaint to the

Authority.

Pointing out that it was a commercial television operation, TVNZ said it was implicit

that a reference to an hour meant a commercial hour. The phrase, TVNZ continued,

was accurate as it referred to a programme which, with commercials, screened for a

whole hour.

Mr Turner's Final Comment - 6 March 1995

In his final response, Mr Turner said that TVNZ claimed the right as a commercial

organisation, to define for itself the meaning of words.

While he might have accepted a claim in the trailer for "an hour", the actual words

used were "one whole hour". He concluded:

TVNZ says that it does not see the advertising breaks as something separate

from the programme. To use the appropriate vernacular that is right daft.