SABC promo gives kids nightmares

2010-04-01 09:09

Sanri van Wyk, Beeld

Johannesburg - The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has rapped the SABC over the knuckles after a woman complained about a Lord of the Rings preview which was shown early in the morning.

Apparently this preview has been giving her children nightmares.

The preview was broadcast during Morning Live at 07:20 on Wednesday March 3.

The SABC was also in trouble over a complaint about The Summit, which was broadcast on weeknights between 17:35 and 18:30 on SABC3 around December.

The programme is broadcast with a violence warning and has an age restriction of 16.

'Horrific violence'

The woman who complained about the Lord of the Rings preview, said it was shown while her family, including pre-school children, were having breakfast together.

"They show the most horrific violence and terrifying scenes in the preview. How can they be allowed to show such disturbing scenes so early in the morning?

"It is unacceptable. If a film or a programme is not allowed to be broadcast during a certain time slot, then the preview for the film or programme shouldn't be shown in that time slot either," said the complaint.

The person who complained about The Summit had objections about one particular episode in which a child is murdered.

"The series was broadcast at a time when one can expect many children to be watching."

Apology

The BCCSA Tribunal found that the SABC had broken the Broadcasting Code, but the broadcaster acknowledged that it had broken the code before the verdict was given, and apologised.

The public broadcaster also said in its defence that new measures have been put in place to prevent similar transgressions.

As a result of the SABC's acknowledgement and the new measures, the BCCSA Tribunal said in its verdict the commission will not demand "big" fines for the transgressions of the Broadcasting Code.

The SABC was warned not to break the code again.

- Beeld