Ofcom Discussion

Who will be the next BBC DG – today's odds from Ladbrokes. (20 March)

3/1 George Entwistle
7/2 Caroline Thomson
7/2 Helen Boaden
6/1 Ed Richards
7/1 Michael Jackson
10/1 Peter Fincham
12/1 Danny Cohen
16/1 Tim Davie
16/1 Jay Hunt
20/1 Mark Scott
20/1 David Abraham
20/1 Peter Salmon
20/1 Sophie Turner Laing
25/1 Dawn Airey

from the Guardian

(18-04-2012 11:50 )fedup Wrote:  I think shan_123 and Addison work for oftwats...

I think you work for them. You've been sent in to rave incoherently about penises and make muddled sexist arguments in order to detract credibility from the anti-Ofcom movement. Mind you, you're doing it well. That stuff about your GP putting you on sedatives because of the brainache you were suffering due to all the knobs being shown on TV was priceless.

(18-04-2012 21:10 )Addison Wrote:  

(18-04-2012 11:50 )fedup Wrote:  I think shan_123 and Addison work for oftwats...

I think you work for them. You've been sent in to rave incoherently about penises and make muddled sexist arguments in order to detract credibility from the anti-Ofcom movement. Mind you, you're doing it well. That stuff about your GP putting you on sedatives because of the brainache you were suffering due to all the knobs being shown on TV was priceless.

I would love to read the GP's notes!

I think fedup should join mumsnet as I'm sure they'd welcome him with open arms, given his massive concern for the censoring of their genitalia on mainstream TV.

I'm firstly going to reflect on what is good about Ofcom before desending onto what has long become a nanny big brother state. Firstly here is the positives.

Ofcom have successfuly managed to hold onto important events and kept them free to air and stopped the likes of SKY coming in to charge a king's ransom to view them such as The FA and Scottish Cup Final. The Fifa World Cup and European Championships. The Olympics and Commonwealth Games. The World Snooker Championships and Wimbledon. Also events such as Royal Wedding's have also been kept FTA. This is only a few out of many examples. So so far so good on the Ofcom front Now for the negatives

Ofcom are hell bent on censorship and have destroyed the very fabric of British society and freedom, aswell as freedom of speech such as the recent removal of Press TV by having their licence revoked. Now I never watched that channel and never would as I also don't agree with the politics of this channel but it was hardly a threat to the democracy now was it, all it really did was offer a very different perspective from the British popular viewpoints. Now onto the Adult entertainment industry.

Back in 2002 Babestation TV was launched, a brand new concept of telly was invented, this type of show had never been seen on British telly before and was a new idea that had first started in the Neitherlands with the launch of Sexysat TV the previous year. At first nobody really took this seriously and was nothing but a bit of light hearted fun and Ofcom certainly didn't give it much notice at the time either. This was the start of a false dawn and many more started to appear on the SKY EPG. Infact it really wasn't until 2006 when all the Adult Channels were grouped together that the tirade from Ofcom against these channels really started in earnest.

Babestar TV was the first one to experience the might and wrath of Ofcom power and OTT regulations when they had their channel revoked at the start of 2007 but again the tirade against them wasn't so much for the full frontal material shown or use of the sex toys either but more for the obscenity of language and claim's of the barely 18 model status but nonetheless the channel's overnight across the whole board of the adult EPG toned down the content of their programming overnight after this took place and for a very long period the content was pretty much finished as far as a spectacle was concerned or was it.

2010 was the year that the channel's really started to up their game again with the like's of Elite rising from relative obscurity aswell as the the re-emergence of Bangbabes and Sportxxx as a force to be reckoned with aswell as Babestation too putting on significantly hotter show's and shaking of their image as Tamestation. This was at the time a glorious period for all the channels and you just never knew what suprise's were going to be thrown up night to night. This ofcourse was all too good to last long and so it proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Bangbabes TV who were hounded to no avail by those at Ofcom HQ until another channel bit the dust. Next up we had Elite feeling the heat of the censor's too and the show's they do now compared to a few short year's ago has become a toned down drab affair.

At present the influence the stranglehold that Ofcom has on all the channels is crystal clear for all to see, they have become victom's of their success and future of the Adult Channels now is very unclear, what I viewed last night as a spectacle was simply abysmal, it was terrible and woeful show's allround, but the pattern remains the same as to date Ofcom have remained unchallenged and appear to be invincible, we are needing change to these out of date rules fast as 2012 and we are still no further forward and are infact going backwards, don't allow these bastards to destroy our beloved channels, time for the channels as one to stand up and fight, not just for us but in the name of democracy.

On conclusion all I can say is let's hope that the future for this type of entertainment is bright and that we see an end to censorship soon so that we can once more get back to discussing the show's on a more positive note than we do at present.

don't allow these bastards to destroy our beloved channels, time for the channels as one to stand up and fight, not just for us but in the name of democracy.

Here we go again, it's up to the channels to stand up and fight, as if they haven't already.

I've said it before and I'll say it again it's not up to the channels at all. Things will only change if the most vocal and influential groups in society make it known that actually, they don't mind if a bit of porn and nudity is shown on the telly and that the sight of a bare pussy isn't likely to turn their kids into some kind of depraved monster should they stumble across it.

Ofcom are not acting on their own whims here, their stance is driven by the prevailing mood of the country and like it or not the attitudes are that many people don't want to see stuff like the babechannels on the telly.

Which is why any campaign needs to be directed at those people and not Ofcom themselves. It's the harm and offence issues that constantly crop up.

Until the vast majority of people make it abundantly clear they don't want to be nannied till kingdom come and that they are quite happy with the responsibility of making sure both they and their kids don't watch anything that may offend them, nothing will change.

Unfortunately, too many people seem to have become institutionalised into wanting and needing the powers that be to hold their hands 24/7.

(21-04-2012 10:24 )MARCCE Wrote:  don't allow these bastards to destroy our beloved channels, time for the channels as one to stand up and fight, not just for us but in the name of democracy.

Here we go again, it's up to the channels to stand up and fight, as if they haven't already.

I've said it before and I'll say it again it's not up to the channels at all. Things will only change if the most vocal and influential groups in society make it known that actually, they don't mind if a bit of porn and nudity is shown on the telly and that the sight of a bare pussy isn't likely to turn their kids into some kind of depraved monster should they stumble across it.

Ofcom are not acting on their own whims here, their stance is driven by the prevailing mood of the country and like it or not the attitudes are that many people don't want to see stuff like the babechannels on the telly.

Which is why any campaign needs to be directed at those people and not Ofcom themselves. It's the harm and offence issues that constantly crop up.

Until the vast majority of people make it abundantly clear they don't want to be nannied till kingdom come and that they are quite happy with the responsibility of making sure both they and their kids don't watch anything that may offend them, nothing will change.

Unfortunately, too many people seem to have become institutionalised into wanting and needing the powers that be to hold their hands 24/7.

That's a good post, overall. I do disagree with your views on the broadcasters stance, though.
As far as I know, there has been very little "balls" shown by the channels against the regulator. If I am totally wrong then I'l be the first to acknowledge it if the evidence presented shows that.

The rest of what you say, I concur.

Britain has always had a problem with a fear of sex.

Ofcon use this as a moral stance; the UK against "Dirty Johnny Foreigner". It's a bit pathetic, really, but they think they are achieving something.

Great post Scottish Bloke, I would love to see Ofcom read that.

That's a good post, overall. I do disagree with your views on the broadcasters stance, though.
As far as I know, there has been very little "balls" shown by the channels against the regulator. If I am totally wrong then I'l be the first to acknowledge it if the evidence presented shows that.

To be fair the only reason the channels are still in existence is because the channels themselves fought hard when Ofcom wanted them gone altogether. It's ended up with them being classified under teleshopping which has made them easier to sanction but at least they managed to stay alive.

Various channels have pushed the boundaries at times since then and have been slapped down. I don't think anybody can seriously think that a channel on the end of a massive fine from these zealots won't have looked into every option available to them in order to fight it. Even the channel that can't be mentioned backed down from their original "we'll fight them on the beaches" stance pretty quickly.

Ultimately the channels only interest should be keeping a viable business going whilst avoiding fines which could potentially wipe them out. And seeing as most of them have websites where harder content can be shown there's very little need for them to continue to wind up Ofcom. It's not the job of the channels to fight for the rights of you and I to watch what we want within our own homes.

When you consider that various governments are now turning their attention to policing of the internet, it's quite obvious that the supposed harmful effects and liability to cause offence are being considered a long way ahead of those rights at this moment in time.

The various moves being planned to police the internet could well be the best hope for people who want to be able to see harder content on tv actually. That's going to affect a lot more people than the relatively few people who watch the babe channels and therefore is likely to open up the question of people's rights to a much wider degree.

Some may say "cutting of your nose to spite your face" but all anyone can do if you want a change of attitude from the programme makers, Is to stop buying their product. From today, no one phone's the studio's. No one hands over their fivers or tenners for p.p.v, and by tomorrow I am sure they, ( the programme makers) will have pulled the plug and called it a day. Thus leaving the way open for someone a little more enterprising than the present shower. Lets face it, without these programmes in their present state would we really be losing anything of any value? Myself, I don't think we would. But I very much doubt that I belong to a majority, and this post will fall on deaf ears I'm afraid.

(22-04-2012 13:48 )RESPONSIBLE ADULT Wrote:  Some may say "cutting of your nose to spite your face" but all anyone can do if you want a change of attitude from the programme makers, Is to stop buying their product. From today, no one phone's the studio's. No one hands over their fivers or tenners for p.p.v, and by tomorrow I am sure they, ( the programme makers) will have pulled the plug and called it a day. Thus leaving the way open for someone a little more enterprising than the present shower. Lets face it, without these programmes in their present state would we really be losing anything of any value? Myself, I don't think we would. But I very much doubt that I belong to a majority, and this post will fall on deaf ears I'm afraid.

Who the fuck are you to tell me what I should do with my money that I've earned myself? If you think you know so much about what a good babe channel should be like, then start your own channel. Or maybe you can apply to be a producer. I'm sure they'd be falling over themselves to take you on.