OTTAWA – A prank telephone call broadcast on CKZZ-FM’s (Virgin Radio 95.3 Vancouver) afternoon show Kiah & Tara Jean did not violate privacy or explicit content rules, but the station still failed to obtain consent before broadcasting.
This according to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) which today released its decision concerning a show hosted by Kiah Tucker and Tara Jean Stevens. Last November 1 Tucker telephoned a dentist’s office and pretended that all of his teeth had fallen out after eating too much Halloween candy. At one point, he told the receptionist “I couldn’t bite you, but I could give you a serious suck.”
In its complaint to the CBSC the dentist’s office maintained that the name of the dental practice and the voice of their receptionist had been broadcast without informing them, or obtaining their permission. They also alleged that Tucker had made an inappropriate sexual comment to the receptionist. In its response letter, the station apologized for offending the complainant, but responded that the segment was meant to be humorous and no sexually explicit comments were made.
The CBSC’s British Columbia Regional Panel examined the complaint under various provisions of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code. The panel concluded that the “bite” comment was not necessarily sexual, but even if interpreted that way, it was not sexually explicit under Clause 9(b) of the CAB Code of Ethics.
The Panel also concluded that the broadcast did not violate the receptionist’s privacy because her name was bleeped out, but that the station should have obtained consent before broadcasting the segment. The failure to obtain prior consent constituted an improper presentation of the content under Clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics.
