Rules and Regulations of TV

Even though I have already researched and looked at the rules and regulations of television back in college I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on them again to make sure my idents will be professional. The regulating company for British television is Ofcom who go through and give the OK on what can be shown on our TV, so I looked on their website for any information that could be useful for me to know or keep in mind when creating my animation. Ofcom is also the company that people go to, to complain if they do see something they find offensive or not fit for television so if my ident were to be shown on TV, they would be the people who could potentially take down my animation.

The Ofcom Broadcasting Code Includes:

• Protecting the Under-18s : They explain that things such as drugs, violence, sexual behaviour, nudity, offensive language etc. will not be shown before the watershed.
• Harm & Offence : They explain that audience's should not be mislead and offensive behaviour should not be glorified.
• Crime : They explain that nothing should be shown that would encourage people to commit crimes.
• Religion : They explain all religions should be treated respectfully and no programmes are allow to seek recruits.
• The News : If it is news being broadcast it has to be accurate and not lean to one side or the other.
• Elections & Referendums : Here they explain how this must follow the Communications Act 2003.
• Fairness : They explain how broadcasters must avoid any unfair treatment of individuals or organisations.
• Privacy : They explain that infringement on privacy must be avoided to obtain any information for the programmes.
• Commercial References : This basically outlines how broadcasters are responsible for the type of advertisements they choose to show and they should make effort not to let any harm come to their viewers through this.

So, after all that boring stuff I now have a bit more knowledge into what can and can't be shown on television! Even though a lot of the rules and regulations are quite obvious it's still good to know them and the main one that I would have to consider if I were making an ident that would be comedic would be the protecting under 18s as this would be the only thing that I could play on for an E4 ident. On the other hand, it might be good to go for a more innocent ident and that way in the real world it could be shown at any time of the day and therefore be more successful.