The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found Channel Seven in breach of broadcasting rules.
The ACMA investigation found Seven failed to disclose a commercial arrangement in relation to a segment on The Morning Show in May 2020.
The program included a segment titled ‘The latest trends for your winter wardrobe’, which promoted clothing ranges at department store Big W.
An ACMA investigation found that while some viewers may have recognised the segment was an advertisement, this was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the Television Industry Code of Practice.
“Viewers should not be left to guess whether a segment is a paid advertisement,” ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.
“Broadcasters have an obligation to disclose arrangements of this kind. Failing to do so can harm people’s confidence in the credibility of Australian factual TV programs.”
Under the Code, broadcasters must adequately bring the existence of the commercial arrangement to the attention of viewers (this is usually done in the closing credits of the program).
“This investigation should serve as a reminder to all TV broadcasters to review their internal processes and assure themselves that they have the right procedures in place to comply with disclosure rules,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
Channel Seven Sydney has indicated that human error was the cause of their failure to disclose the commercial arrangement and that their client, Big W, had no involvement with this breach.
In response to the findings, Channel Seven Sydney will report to the ACMA in three months on the effectiveness of the actions it has taken.
This includes implementing a new sign-off procedure to ensure commercial arrangements are acknowledged in the credits of the program, as well as further education and training of staff.
While Seven is not commenting publicly, sources tell TV Blackbox the network did not charge Big W for the segment after realising the error.
TV Blackbox understands the error occurred at a time when production staff were working at home due to the COVID lockdown. Seven has since implemented new procedures and checks to go above and beyond what the Code requires.
The network is also confused over the fact the first they heard about the investigation was when they saw a segment on Media Watch. No complains were received by the network.
This is the first ACMA investigation into compliance with the current disclosure provisions.
