AFC1986
01-16-2007, 04:21 PM
The British TV watchdog Ofcom have published details of a case regarding an edition of WWE’s weekly ECW show that aired on Sky Sports 1 here in the UK last August, after a viewer complained about “inappropriate violence..and its unsuitability for transmission ” after a replay of the show was aired at 7am.
According to Ofcom, the viewer was “concerned that whilst the broadcaster appeared to have edited certain aspects of the programme’s violent content, it had left in scenes at the beginning of the programme depicting a man being thrown against a large wooden board covered in barbed wire who appeared to be bleeding heavily,” an image that was shown during the show’s opening titles.
BSkyB (who own Sky Sports) responded by laying the blame on World Wrestling Entertainment, stating that the 7am timeslot had been used for “many years” to transmit Velocity (which aired prior to the ECW brand being relaunched last Summer), which was always edited by WWE to cater for daytime audiences. BSkyB went on to state that WWE were familiar with their requirements as to the editing required to enable a programme to be transmitted in these morning timeslots, and that they had assurances that the weekly ECW show would also be edited accordingly.
With reference to the actual complaint, BSkyB stated that, just as Ofcom had previously found that tools such as sledgehammers were not readily available and that a child would be unlikely to be able to use them to imitate the simulated violence of the wrestlers, barbed wire was similarly unlikely to be accessible to children or used in the manner shown in the programme. It was also noted that the 7am programme featured a ‘Do Not Try this at Home’ warning during the programme.
Although claiming that the programme was not made primarily for children and was “broadcast on a channel aimed primarily at adults,” BSkyB accepted that the weekly ECW show should no longer be broadcast pre-watershed (9pm), although they went on to claim that the edits made by World Wrestling Entertainment were “insufficient for daytime viewing", noting that should further edits have been made by BSkyB themselves, they would undermine the storylines and overall viewer experience.
Ofcom noted that research carried out by the Independent Television Commission and Broadcasting Standards Commission had suggessted that most viewers understood “the theatrical nature of wrestling on television,” although they did express concern when theatrical elements appeared “too realistic and violent for daytime transmission.”
The matter was considered resolved by Ofcom after welcoming BSkyB’s decision to move ECW into a post-watershed timeslot.
credit: wrestlemag.com
According to Ofcom, the viewer was “concerned that whilst the broadcaster appeared to have edited certain aspects of the programme’s violent content, it had left in scenes at the beginning of the programme depicting a man being thrown against a large wooden board covered in barbed wire who appeared to be bleeding heavily,” an image that was shown during the show’s opening titles.
BSkyB (who own Sky Sports) responded by laying the blame on World Wrestling Entertainment, stating that the 7am timeslot had been used for “many years” to transmit Velocity (which aired prior to the ECW brand being relaunched last Summer), which was always edited by WWE to cater for daytime audiences. BSkyB went on to state that WWE were familiar with their requirements as to the editing required to enable a programme to be transmitted in these morning timeslots, and that they had assurances that the weekly ECW show would also be edited accordingly.
With reference to the actual complaint, BSkyB stated that, just as Ofcom had previously found that tools such as sledgehammers were not readily available and that a child would be unlikely to be able to use them to imitate the simulated violence of the wrestlers, barbed wire was similarly unlikely to be accessible to children or used in the manner shown in the programme. It was also noted that the 7am programme featured a ‘Do Not Try this at Home’ warning during the programme.
Although claiming that the programme was not made primarily for children and was “broadcast on a channel aimed primarily at adults,” BSkyB accepted that the weekly ECW show should no longer be broadcast pre-watershed (9pm), although they went on to claim that the edits made by World Wrestling Entertainment were “insufficient for daytime viewing", noting that should further edits have been made by BSkyB themselves, they would undermine the storylines and overall viewer experience.
Ofcom noted that research carried out by the Independent Television Commission and Broadcasting Standards Commission had suggessted that most viewers understood “the theatrical nature of wrestling on television,” although they did express concern when theatrical elements appeared “too realistic and violent for daytime transmission.”
The matter was considered resolved by Ofcom after welcoming BSkyB’s decision to move ECW into a post-watershed timeslot.
credit: wrestlemag.com