Sky has issued an apology after a swear word-filled episode of Game Of Thrones aired way before the watershed.
On August 19, an episode of the fantasy series was shown on Sky Atlantic at 7:35AM, with viewers not needing to enter a PIN code to watch it.
The episode in question “contained multiple use of offensive language, including ‘cunt’, ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’, according to TV regulator Ofcom, which deemed Sky to be in breach of the watershed rules.
In the UK, broadcasters are only allowed to show programming with swearing prior to the 9PM watershed if it is PIN code protected.
Ofcom acknowledged that an “unseen technical fault” had caused the episode to be shown without PIN code protection (via Deadline), and that “measures have been put in place to prevent a reoccurrence.”
In response, Sky said it “fully accepts strong content should not be broadcast before the watershed without the necessary mandatory PIN protection”, before offering a “sincere apology” to the customers who viewed the content.
“It is never our intention to offend or upset our viewers,” the company added.
A similar incident occurred in May last year, when Sky aired an episode of Veep – which contained the word “fuck” – before the 9PM watershed.
It was claimed that the issue occurred due to an “extremely rare” technical issue, with Sky blaming a “hardware fail leading to a loss of connection”
Ofcom said in a statement at the time: “Taking into account the action taken by the Licensee to ensure compliance in the future, including the use of additional measures within its broadcast system, which we understand should prevent this type of incident from reoccurring, Ofcom’s decision is that this matter is resolved.’
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