OTTAWA – The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has ruled that a promotional spot for a reality show airing on Discovery Channel was not too violent for daytime viewing.
The CBSC examined a spot promoting The Devils Ride, a reality program about two warring motorcycle gangs in San Diego. Discovery’s promo, which aired on April 18, 2013 at 1:13 PM ET, consisted of clips from the program edited together to create a fast-paced, chaotic montage. It included scenes of individual gang members making threatening comments towards the rival gangs, as well as scenes of fist-fighting and a blowtorch being wielded in front of a screaming man.
The CBSC received a complaint from a couple who said that their 10-year-old child had been very disturbed by the promo and that Discovery should not air this type of violent content in afternoon timeslots during family-friendly programs. Discovery said that it would not air the promo again.
The CBSC’s National Specialty Services Panel examined the complaint under the provision of the CAB Violence Code that deals with the scheduling of promos. The majority of the Panel concluded that, while the promo was understandably disturbing to younger viewers and was not entirely appropriate for an afternoon timeslot, the violence was implied rather than actually shown and therefore was allowed to be broadcast before 9:00 PM.
One Panel Adjudicator disagreed and stated that he would have found a breach of Article 3.2 of the CAB Violence Code. The Panel also commended Discovery for its decision to remove the promo from broadcast rotation.
