Ofcom was not amused after episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares USA with nearly 40 instances of offensive language was aired on a weekday afternoon.
E4 Extra accidentally screened the post-watershed version of the programme at 4pm on a Thursday afternoon in July. The hour-long programme was screened in four parts. When the programme returned for the next part after the ad break, viewers were met with a barrage of strong language. Ofcom clocked up 39 instances of language not expected on TV before 9pm.
Owning up to the error, Channel 4 said the wrong version of two parts of the programmes were ‘locked in’ to their schedule. Each part of the programme between ad breaks is loaded separately. Two of the parts of the programme were erroneously swapped over with the post-watershed version.
As a result, Channel 4 says there will now be additional manual checks on E4 Extra’s schedule.
Then, from April 2023, E4 Extra will migrate across to Channel 4’s main media management system which, according to C4 “simply does not allow a programme with a post-watershed certification to be played out pre-watershed.”
E4 Extra has been found in breach of the Broadcasting Code. No further action will be taken due to the measures being undertaken by its owner Channel 4.
The main Channel 4 service was itself found in breach of the Code due to another Gordon Ramsey show. Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back, broadcast before the watershed at 12:10 on Channel 4 on 10th August, included instances of “the most offensive language, including the F word”, according to Ofcom. Human error was blamed.