Radio Ca oli e has bee fou d i b each of b oadcasti g ules afte it mistake ly a ou ced the death of Ki g Cha les III.
The statio ai ed th ee p e- eco ded a ou ceme ts falsely stati g the Ki g had died du i g the Ba y Ma sh Show o 19 May.
The messages claimed the ” ews media” had “co fi med” the death, a d we e followed by the atio al a them a d 16 mi utes of sile ce o DAB+, while AM liste e s hea d back-up music. A co ectio a d apology was b oadcast 30 mi utes late .
The uli g by media watchdog Ofcom stated that o ce the staff membe who accide tally played the files ealised what they had do e, they stopped playi g them, “pa icked a d left the p emises”.
Ofcom said the i cide t b eached Rule 5.1, which equi es ews to be epo ted with due accu acy, a d Rule 5.2, which says sig ifica t mistakes must be co ected quickly.
It desc ibed the false a ou ceme t as a “ve y sig ifica t i accu acy” o a matte of “ve y high public i te est”.
The mistake happe ed afte a staff membe ca yi g out mai te a ce accessed p e‑ eco ded obitua y files i te ded fo use i the eve t of the Ki g’s death.
Ofcom said the files we e played “out of cu iosity”, cutti g off the p ese te ‘s emote st eam a d putti g the a ou ceme ts o ai .
Two complai ts
Radio Ca oli e said the p ese te did ot ealise they we e off ai because, as is commo p actice, they we e st eami g the p og amme emotely.
The statio said its p ese te “would ot ealise that they had go e ‘off ai ‘ u less they we e mo ito i g thei output via a i te et mo ito .”
It added that the statio di ecto was ac oss the statio ‘s AM output but was o a call whe the i accu ate a ou ceme t was b oadcast.
The statio di ecto oticed the issue o ly whe he hea d co ti uous music i stead of the scheduled p og amme a d co tacted the e gi ee , who was awa e of the issue a d was al eady i vestigati g.
A b ief apology was the made, with the p ese te sayi g the ea lie i fo matio had bee “i co ect” a d that it was due to “a tech ical issue.”
The statio said it “took the matte ve y se iously” a d acted “as soo as possible”.
The staff membe i volved has bee ep ima ded, a d the obitua y files have bee moved off the studio desktop to p eve t a epeat i cide t.
Radio Ca oli e oted Ofcom eceived o ly two complai ts about the i cide t a d said the statio is “100% volu tee -led” without the esou ces of la ge b oadcaste s.
Fou ded i 1964 as a offsho e pi ate statio , Radio Ca oli e b oadcast f om a ship u til 1991, whe it was shipw ecked off the Ke t coast.
The statio ow mostly ope ates emotely.
Related topics
- Ofcom
- Radio
