OTTAWA – A November 2012 episode of the MusiquePlus show Cliptoman should have aired advisories coming out of each commercial break to warn viewers of the show’s content, according to a decision released today by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
Cliptoman, which features host comedian Mike Ward and his guests critiquing music videos, received a complaint from a viewer about a homophobic and inappropriate joke in an episode featuring videos of songs from selected films. During a video from the film Dirty Dancing, featuring the actor Patrick Swayze who died of cancer in 2009, Ward made the following comment: (translated) “I like Patrick Swayze. I really do. Good thing I’m not gay, because if I was gay I think I would dig him up and blow him.”
The CBSC also noted that the episode contained some swear words and jokes with sexual innuendo. MusiquePlus aired the challenged episode on November 7, 2012 with only one viewer advisory at the beginning of broadcast, in video format only, alerting viewers to the potentially shocking content, when it should have should have aired advisories coming out of every commercial break in both audio and video format. It also did not broadcast a classification icon.
The council’s Quebec Regional Panel examined the complaint and found no problems with the content of the show because broadcasters are allowed to air programming that criticizes and mocks public figures. It observed that, while the sexual comments were relatively mild, MusiquePlus appropriately aired the program after 9 p.m. due to the coarse language.
It added that since Cliptoman is a hybrid program composed of both talk segments and music videos, two categories of programming which are exempt from classification, there was no obligation to rate the program.
The CBSC ultimately concluded that the show’s content did not violate any broadcast codes. The panel did, however, find a breach of Clause 11 of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics for MusiquePlus’s failure to repeat the advisory coming out of all commercial breaks and for providing the advisory in video format only.
