(15-01-2017 19:06 )shankey! Wrote: not often i post here but i cant see what difference ofcom decides to do with the babe channels on tv now that perv cam is here, even if censorship was blown out the window the likes of babestation would not show the goods without charging for it first 
Can of worms!
... This goes directly to why I post in this section so you'll have to bear with me on this one...
Of course; this^ argument has been made many times (perhaps most thoroughly
here) but IMO, although well-observed, it only takes us so far with the issue. For me, it neglects to accomodate one very important influence on the shows: Competition... Competition in business is the often a major driving force for change.
Consider that the channels have found their way to their current state through this relatively bland vacuousness of the 900s - a situation created and maintained by Ofcom. Over time the regulator's rules and the remaining channels' ongoing tactics have limited the influence of competition in the Adult Section to what is currently a very closed cartel. It is the fewer operators the better as far as the survivors are concerned.
In other words, the channels don't exist in a vacuum and they have taken advantage of the vastly limited "adult" options on UK TV in order to do what they do.
So yes, like you, I believe that the resolute self-censorship of visuals that we see atm is a commercial decision founded in the on-going circumstances that I describe. For me though, this is response dictated by their situation not an absolute. Change the circumstances that surround the shows in the right way and a natural creep towards somewhat harder content would return. The end of Ofcom would be a particularly large change in circumstance for the channels.
If this meant a deregulation of the 900s (or whatever they became) the influence of competition would, I think, be particularly acute. Different, but similarly targeted, incoming business models (presumably various levels of porn programming with the larger brands offering fta channels promoting their paywalled content) would almost inevitably impact on the 900's status quo. Crucially these other options would only be a click or two away on your average punter's remote. The industry would have to respond to this in some way in order to not look out of place.
In addition, freed from the burden of existing overly censorious regulation,
internal competition between the operators would also begin to exert it's own pull on visual content once more. The carefully contrived balance of appealing to various niche fetishes and playing on the edge of viewers' sexual frustrations would be upset. The industry game would have changed once again - just as it did with the arrival of Ofcom's teeth.
You see, as things stand Ofcom acts as the ultimate limiter for the shows. It is Ofcom that keeps the current detente, stopping any one operator from stepping away from the standard tactics adopted by the industry and looking to grab some perceived advantage over their competitors by doing so. Their regulation is an industry pacifier... As such, it's surely a very different matter for a channel to maintain a largely consistent internal visual compliance whilst there is such a firm regulatory backstop, than it would be for them to do so were there to be none at all (or far less of one)...
Now I'm not saying that any operator would attempt an all out free-for-all pussy show post-deregulation - that would, quite obviously, be counter-productive from the channel's pov. No doubt full-on pussy play would, like nowadays, be reserved for a paywall of some sort (the pervcams on a PPV 'red' button anyone?!
). But, basically, it's a question of degrees with the visuals isn't it. I just think, a lot more would be up for grabs again without the absolute shackles placed on them by Ofcom.
Let's not forget that Ofcom block more than just body parts. The sort of stronger fta visuals that I'm imagining are actually more to do with performance, intensity, duration and/or positioning of camera angles than content per se. For me, this is the 'heat' that the removal of a stifling Ofcom would likely bring back to the shows (it is not all about pure skin is it).
I've already gone on far too long on this, so one simple example of where I going here will have to suffice:
Current regulatory rules forbid "intrusive and prolonged" crotch shots on the night shows right. They are reining in intensity here not just pure image. Now imagine a highly pressurised 900's with BS, to use your example, surrounded by semi-hardcore ad driven tease or some such (who knows what kind of alternative interactive competition might crop up for instance) featuring just this kind of imagery, and a re-stoked industry competition between the now unregulated shows bubbling in the background... Can you really envisage that BS would be able to stick to a non-prolonged crotch shots policy in their shows for any considerable period under such circumstances? No, I somehow don't see that as realistic; a different balance of visuals would need to be struck between the pay and fta platforms I feel.
I'm sure we could all come up with various similar examples of probable heat intensifiers too.
...
When all is said and done, something of the sort has happened a couple of times before on the channels - during the shows' first decade on air (years of greater competition note). Look how the standard visuals fluxed during that period of uncertainty. Things might prove different this time around of course, as it may be that circumstances have changed for the operators in ways that we are not privy to but, aside from some seemingly unlikely radical rethink by Ofcom, it is sure as hell only via the regulator's demise that we will ever find out!
So, fwiw, that's how I rationalise this thread... Ofcom limit what the channels can do; but just because the channels are most happy to play along with that doesn't make it inevitable that that's all there will ever be. It maybe a distant and theoretical prospect atm... but then the ITC probably thought they'd be around forever too!
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