BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Summary  

[This summary does not form part of the decision.] 

The Authority has upheld a complaint that promos for Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Paper Dolls and The Playboy Murders broadcast during family movie Scoob! breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards, and that action taken by the broadcaster in response to the complaint was insufficient. The Authority found that, viewed cumulatively, the promos went beyond expectations of the host programme and its PG-VL classification, and scheduling them during Scoob! meant the broadcaster did not enable child viewers to be protected from potentially unsuitable content. The Authority did not make any orders, however, finding publication of the decision was sufficient to publicly notify and remedy the breach and to provide guidance to the broadcaster and broadcasters generally.

Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children’s Interests (Action Taken)

No Order

The broadcast

[1]  Animated children’s movie Scoob! was broadcast on Three between 7pm and 9pm on 29 March 2024 (Good Friday), and classified PG-VL (Parental Guidance recommended; with audience advisories for Violence and Language). During the movie’s ad breaks, three promos aired for:

• Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a documentary series investigating the abuse of child actors and staff at Nickelodeon, classified M-LSC;
• Paper Dolls, a fictional programme following five young pop singers, rated 16-LS; and
• The Playboy Murders, a true crime show investigating murders that intersect with Playboy, rated M-VLS.

[2]  The promo for Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV showed images of Nickelodeon television sets, interviews with various people and footage of infamous producer Dan Schneider. It contained the following dialogue:

Interviewee 1: In the early 90s. Nickelodeon was kid everything, and this is when Dan Schneider arrives. Nickelodeon's Golden boy.

Interviewee 2: Working for Dan was like being in an abusive relationship.  

Interviewee 3: 11 charges of child sexual abuse, related to a child actor.  

Voiceover: Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. Stream every episode on ThreeNow.

[3]  The promo for Paper Dolls showed excerpts of scenes from the show, notably (for the purposes of this complaint) several scenes of women crying or screaming. It contained the following dialogue:

Woman 1:       A life spent making music. What more could you want?  

Man 1:             Buckle up, ladies. I'm gonna make you superstars. They're not just a pop group, OK, they're light, dark, sweet, nasty.  

Woman 2:       You think you're above being a pop star, but you're not. This is what you signed up for.  

Woman 3:       One wrong move and I'm gone. I didn't know what happened to me.  

Woman 4:       Let's see who else is standing at the end of this.  

Voiceover:      Paper Dolls. Stream every episode on ThreeNow.  

[4]  The promo for The Playboy Murders showed brief shots of women putting on or wearing lingerie, a gun being loaded and text onscreen reading, ‘7 gripping mysteries / of jealousy / lust / and murder’. It contained the following dialogue:

Interviewee 1: I called it the ‘Playboy curse’ because once you were associated with that world, things went horribly wrong.  

Interviewee 2: The Playboy Mansion is very mysterious. But if you get the wrong set of eyes on you, there's a chance they could track you down and it could lead to something really awful.  

Voiceover:      The Playboy Murders. Stream every episode on ThreeNow.

The complaint and the broadcaster’s response

[5]  Adam Milina complained the promos breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards of the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand for the following reasons:

• ‘Just watching Scoob! with my kids and the ads were completely unnecessary and unacceptable. Something about sexual assault on kids and then paper dolls advert which was not acceptable for kids either. …it’s ruined the movie and the night. Who chooses such ads for the break in a kids movie.’
• ‘Wow and it got better. Advert for the playboy murders on too.’

[6]  Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) upheld the complaint for the following reasons:

• ‘We agree with you that the Paper Dolls, Quiet On Set and The Playboy Murders promos were unsuitable to screen within Scoob! and we have upheld your complaint under Standards 1 and 2 [offensive and disturbing content, and children’s interests]. We sincerely apologise to you and your whanau for any distress the promo caused.’
• ‘Ultimately, the promos were incorrectly scheduled in a children's movie and we agree they contained material that viewers of Scoob! may have found unexpected and distressing. We apologise for this mistake. This incident has been thoroughly discussed with the promo scheduling team to ensure appropriate care is taken in future with any similar content. We would like to assure you this has been a good learning experience for the staff involved and thank you again for bringing this matter to our attention.’

[7]  Milina referred the complaint to the Authority on the basis he was dissatisfied with the action taken, concerned that the broadcaster upholding and apologising ‘seems a bit like an easy way out’. He also considered the problem was ongoing, alleging other inappropriate promos continued to be aired across free-to-air television.

The standards

[8]  The purpose of the offensive and disturbing content standard¹ is to protect audiences from viewing or listening to broadcasts that are likely to cause widespread disproportionate offence or distress or undermine widely shared community standards.² The standard takes into account the context of the programme, and the wider context of the broadcast, as well as information given by the broadcaster to enable the audience to exercise choice and control over their viewing or listening.

[9]  The children’s interests standard³ requires broadcasters to ensure children can be protected from broadcasts which might adversely affect them. Material likely to be considered under this standard includes violent or sexual content or themes, offensive language, social or domestic friction, dangerous, antisocial or illegal behaviour and material in which children or animals are humiliated or badly treated, where such material is outside the expectations of the programme’s classification.⁴

[10]  Guidelines to these standards relating to the broadcast of promos, and relevant for the purposes of this complaint, include:

• Promos for television programmes should comply with the classification of the programme during which they screen.⁵
• Broadcasters should consider children’s interests in scheduling promos for adult programmes (M, 16 or 18) during children’s normally accepted viewing times⁶ and during programmes specifically aimed at child viewers so that the promo’s themes and content are not inappropriate for the programme classification.⁷
• A ‘child’ is under the age of 14 years.⁸

Our analysis

[11]  We have watched the promos as broadcast and read the correspondence listed in the Appendix.

[12]  As a starting point, we considered the right to freedom of expression. It is our role to weigh up the right to freedom of expression against any harm potentially caused by the broadcast. We may only intervene and uphold a complaint where the resulting limit on the right to freedom of expression is reasonable and justified.⁹

Did the broadcast of the promos breach standards?

[13]  We first considered whether we agreed with WBD’s finding that the broadcast of the three promos complained about breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards.

[14]  The context of the broadcast is crucial to our assessment of potential harm under both standards.¹⁰ The harm alleged in this case is a potential adverse impact on child viewers, arising from inappropriate scheduling of promos with adult themes, during the animated family movie Scoob!

[15]  We considered the following contextual factors were relevant in this case:

The broadcast’s classification

• The host programme was classified PG, defined as ‘Programmes containing material more suited for mature audiences but not necessarily unsuitable for child viewers when subject to the guidance of a parent or an adult.’¹¹
• The programme carried audience advisories for violence and language that may offend.

The promoted programmes’ classifications

• Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV was rated M-LSC;
• Paper Dolls was rated 16-LS; and
• The Playboy Murders was rated M-VLS.

The time of broadcast

• The programme screened during children’s normally accepted viewing times, beginning at 7pm on Good Friday, a public holiday.¹²

The target and likely audience

• The programme was aimed at a family audience and children were likely to be watching.¹³

Audience expectations of the programme

• Scoob! is a stand-alone film in the long-running Scooby Doo series. Previous entries in the series have attracted G or PG ratings.¹⁴
• There is a high level of awareness of the premise of the programme and the type of content it is likely to contain, including some potentially scary scenes or figures (for younger viewers) as the Scooby Doo characters solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures.
• However, the guidelines recognise, and the Authority has previously commented on, the reduced likelihood of adverse impact on children where programmes contain animated ‘scary’ or ‘violent’ scenes, as opposed to realistic/real-life violence or scenes involving real people (as in the promos).¹⁵

[16]  The key questions for the Authority are whether the content complained about was outside audience expectations for the type of programme or the programme classification, and whether the audience was able to exercise adequate choice and control over the content they were consuming.

[17]  We consider that each of the three promos would likely have been rated M. Programmes rated M ‘might contain violence, sexual material, offensive language, adult themes, nudity, or other content that some children and adults find challenging. May contain material with a moderate impact and themes that require a mature outlook.’

[18]  The Quiet on Set and Playboy Murders promos also contained sexual themes not contemplated in the PG-VL rating of the host programme. We note in particular the mention of ‘child sexual abuse’ during the Quiet on Set promo. The Authority also considers violent themes discussed in these promos (such as abuse and real-life murder) were also outside the scope of cartoon violence that likely would have featured in the host programme.¹⁶

[19]  Viewers could reasonably expect some content in Scoob! may be scary for younger viewers or require parental guidance. However, the nature of that content in an animated family movie would be in a different category to real-life references to sexual abuse and murder in the Quiet on Set and The Playboy Murders promos, and the depiction of women upset and distressed in the Paper Dolls promo.

[20]  We consider that the cumulative effect of the three promos – which contained mature, and some sinister, themes – would have been outside audience expectations for Scoob! and its PG-VL classification, meaning the audience was not able to exercise adequate choice and control over their viewing, in particular for children in the audience.

[21]  For these reasons, we agree with the broadcaster’s decision to uphold the complaint under the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards and consider the potential harm did outweigh the broadcaster’s freedom to air the promos in that timeslot and during that particular programme.

Action Taken

[22]  Turning to the sufficiency of the action taken by the broadcaster in response to the breach, we considered the severity of the conduct, the extent of the actual or potential harm that may have arisen and whether the action taken appropriately remedied the alleged harm.¹⁷

[23]  We consider the conduct was moderate to severe, notably because the broadcaster aired three promos that breached standards within a single programme. Together they went beyond audience expectations and had the potential to unduly disturb the audience, particularly children. Children are afforded special protection under the standards, and the guidelines to the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards make it clear extra care and caution is needed around scheduling content that may adversely affect them. There was foreseeable harm in the inclusion of these promos during this programme.

[24]  The broadcaster has acknowledged this and responded to the breach in the first instance by upholding the complaint, apologising to the complainant and their whānau, and discussing the issue with their promo scheduling team ‘to ensure appropriate care is taken in future with any similar content’. On the other hand, the broadcaster has not explained what led to the inappropriate scheduling of not one, but three, promos within a single programme – beyond stating it was a ‘mistake’.

[25]  While we acknowledge the broadcaster’s acceptance of the breach and the steps taken, overall, we do not consider the action taken was sufficient to remedy the harm caused by these promos.

For the above reasons the Authority upholds the complaint that action taken by the broadcaster having upheld a breach of Standards 1 (Offensive and Disturbing Content) and 2 (Children’s Interests) of the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand during the broadcast of Scoob! on 29 March 2024, was insufficient.

[26]  Having upheld the complaint, the Authority may make orders under sections 13 and 16 of the Broadcasting Act 1989. We do not intend to make any order on this occasion. We consider publication of this decision constitutes sufficient additional action to publicly notify the breach of standards and censure the broadcaster, and to provide guidance to WBD and other broadcasters regarding the importance of correctly classifying and scheduling promos during programmes aimed at families and children.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Susie Staley
Chair
16 July 2024    

Appendix

The correspondence listed below was received and considered by the Authority when it determined this complaint:

1  Adam Milina’s formal complaint to WBD – 29 April 2024

2  WBD’s decision on the complaint – 29 April 2024

3  Milina’s referral to the Authority – 29 April 2024

4  Milina’s further comments on referral – 29-30 April 2024

5  WBD confirming no further comments – 22 May 2024

¹ Standard 1, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand 
² Commentary, Standard 1, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 8
³ Standard 2, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁴ Guideline 2.2
⁵ Guideline 1.6
⁶ See Guideline 2.1: Children’s normally accepted viewing or listening times are usually up until 8.30pm (especially before school and after school), and on weekends and public holidays.
⁷ Guideline 1.16
⁸ Standard 2, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁹ Introduction, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 4
¹⁰ Guidelines 1.1 and 2.3
¹¹ Guideline 1.4
¹² Guideline 2.1
¹³ “Scoob!” Raising Children (accessed 18 June 2024)
¹⁴ For example “Scooby-Doo (2002) Parents Guide” IMDb (accessed 18 June 2024); “What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002–2006) Parents Guide” IMDb (accessed 18 June 2024)
¹⁵ Guideline 2.7; See for example Zacharias and Television New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2021-104 at [14]
¹⁶ See Burton and Television New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2019-026 at [19] for a similar finding concerning violence
¹⁷ Lerner and MediaWorks Radio Ltd, Decision No. 2021-091 at [9]