BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989
Promo for A Nightmare on Elm Street – broadcast on SKY Sport channels – contained brief images from the film of Freddy Krueger – allegedly in breach of children’s interests standard

Findings
Standard P3 (children) – images were brief and not disturbing in themselves – broadcaster adequately considered children’s interests – not upheld

This headnote does not form part of the decision.

Introduction

[1]  A promo for upcoming movies on SKY was broadcast on 3, 10 and 15 July at various times on SKY Sport channels. One of the movies being promoted was A Nightmare on Elm Street, and two brief images were shown of the serial killer in the film, Freddy Krueger.

[2]  Nicola Te Rangiita made a formal complaint to SKY Network Television Ltd, the broadcaster, alleging that the promo breached Standard P3 (children). She considered that it was unsuitable to include images of Freddy, “deformed and very scary, and his creeping deformed scary hand” from an R16 horror movie, during live sports games which were family viewing. She said that the images frightened her children, and while she accepted that blocking mechanisms were available on SKY, this was not the case for advertising, she said, so there was no opportunity to change the channel or exercise discretion.

[3]  The issue is whether the broadcast of the promo during live sports games breached Standard P3 of the Pay Television Code of Broadcasting Practice, which states that broadcasters should ensure that child viewers are protected from unsuitable content.

[4]  The members of the Authority have viewed a recording of the broadcast complained about and have read the correspondence listed in the Appendix.

Did the promo breach standards relating to children’s interests?

[5]  We note that the images subject to complaint were screened in the context of a promo for upcoming films on SKY Movies, as part of a montage of clips from those films. In our view, the promo did not contain any material which was unsuitable for children. The images of Freddy Krueger were extremely brief, showed little more than a shadow of a figure, and were relatively dark and indistinct. We consider that the images in themselves, without a prior knowledge of the film, were not likely to disturb child viewers.

[6]  Accordingly, we find that the broadcaster adequately considered the interests of child viewers in screening the promo during live sports broadcasts, and we decline to uphold the complaint.

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

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Peter Radich
Chair
22 November 2011

Appendix

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

1                 Nicola Te Rangiita’s formal complaint – 22 July 2011

2                 SKY’s response to the complaint – 15 August 2011

3                 Mrs Te Rangiita’s referral to the Authority – 24 August 2011

4                 SKY’s response to the Authority – 20 September 2011