Radio station item breached taste and decency standards

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) has found that radio station Spin 103.8 was in breach of taste and decency standards when it broadcast an item about sex toys on a lunchtime discussion show.

However, it rejected two complaints of bad language against the Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM.

The BCC yesterday issued its decisions on 16 complaints brought against programmes on RTÉ television, TV3, Newstalk, Cork 96FM, South East Radio and Galway Bay FM, as well as Spin and Today FM. Eight complaints were upheld and eight rejected.

The complaint against Spin, lodged by Peadar Tóibín, centred on a December edition of Spin Talk at lunchtime when a segment entitled "sex toy show" was aired. The segment discussed various sex toys and their uses.

The commission found the content of the programme, "together with the flippant and puerile presentation style", was inappropriate for the broadcast time and its nature and tone was offensive.

Six of the upheld complaints related to advertisements for Europe Direct, an information service of the EU, aired last October on South East Radio, on Newstalk and on Cork 96FM. They were brought by Patricia McKenna and Anthony Coughlan, who argued that the ads were political and biased.

The adverts included information stating that telephone calls and airfares cost less now than they did 15 years ago and attributing this to EU legislation. The BCC ruled that the adverts promoted EU membership and therefore were directed toward a political end and so were in breach of the Broadcasting Act.

Two complaints against an edition of the Ray D'arcy Show on Today FM, broadcast in January last, were rejected . The complainants said they were offended when Mr Darcy used the word "f*****g". The commission ruled the word was used accidentally.