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Media
Ofcom raps Xfm over Milk motherfucker
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 22 May 2012
Xfm has been found to have breached OfCom regulations when it inadvertently broadcast the word “motherfucker” one Sunday afternoon in March when playing ‘Broke Up The Family’ by The Milk.
The Sun’s Gordon Smart, who was presenting at the time, immediately apologised after the track was broadcast, and Xfm said in its submission to OfCom that the track had been labelled a “clean radio edit” by the band’s record label, Simon Fuller’s Sony Music imprint Sign Of The Times. The station added that although all songs are checked for language by its staff before being broadcast, the person reviewing this particular song had removed their headphones before the offending word, which features at the end of the final chorus, had appeared.
In its ruling, OfCom said: “We noted that the licensee acknowledged that the broadcast on Xfm London of this example of the most offensive language on a Sunday afternoon was inappropriate and that the presenter made an on-air apology as soon as convenient. We have also taken into account all the background circumstances that led to the track being played as explained by Global Radio. Nonetheless, this was a clear example of lack of diligence in the application of compliance procedures leading to the broadcast of the most offensive language at a time when children were particularly likely to be listening, and a failure to apply generally accepted standards”.
