Teleshopping business Gemporia failed to keep recordings of its channel, leaving the Advertising Standards Agency empty-handed.
As a result, Gemporia’s Gems TV channel has been found in breach of its broadcast licence by Ofcom.
Following a complaint from a viewer about an advert that had been broadcast on Gems TV on the 26th October 2020, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) launched a routine investigation, requesting a copy of the channel’s output.
According to the broadcast regulator, Gems TV wasn’t able to provide a copy, because of a “technical issue” with its recording equipment. This meant it was unable to record any content broadcast on Gems TV from the morning of 25th October until midday on 26th October 2020.
As a result, the ASA referred the case to Ofcom to investigate, who confirmed that the matter breached two conditions of Gems TV’s broadcast licence, relating to keeping records of the channel’s output and making recordings available in the event of a complaint. Broadcasters must keep recordings for 90 days.
Gemporia says it has updated its system with the latest software and installed a separate piece of monitoring software, with remote access to the server now possible, in the event of a problem.
The failure to record the channel’s output means its unlikely the ASA will ever be able to see the advert that triggered the complaint, bringing its investigation to an early end.