The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has reminded Crave that it cannot necessarily put the equivalent theatrical release rating on films it broadcasts on its discretionary television service.
The CBSC decision stems from a viewer complaint about three movies broadcast in morning or early afternoon timeslots this spring – Drive My Car, Dune and Survive. The viewer complaint questioned whether the sexual content, violence and coarse language in all three films warranted a post-9 p.m. timeslot, mention in the viewer advisories, and higher classification ratings.
The CBSC’s English-Language Panel examined the complaint under the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Code of Ethics and Violence Code, concluding that all of the broadcasts should have included the classification icon at the beginning of the second hour as per the requirement of Article 4.0 of the CAB Violence Code.
It also concluded that while acceptable for broadcast before 9 p.m., the advisory for the movie Drive My Car should have mentioned “sexual content” because “mature themes” was not specific enough under Clause 11 of the CAB Code of Ethics. The Panel also concluded that Dune was acceptable for broadcast before 9 p.m. and that a PG rating was acceptable. With respect to Survive, the Panel determined that the violence and presence of the unedited f-word necessitated a broadcast after 9 p.m. and a 14+, rather than a PG rating. It also found that Crave should have mentioned the coarse language in the advisory for Survive, because, again, “mature themes” was not specific enough.
Crave committed to providing more detailed viewer advisories in future broadcasts and to only broadcast the movie Survive after 9 p.m.
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