Ofcom Fines BBC £150k Over Prank Calls

The BBC has been fined £150,000 by Ofcom over prank phone calls made by Russell Brand (pictured) and Jonathan Ross to actor Andrew Sachs.

The sum related to the two episodes of the Russell Brand show broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on the 18 and 25 October 2008.

In its report, the media regulator found the broadcasts had breached it's Broadcasting Code.

Ofcom added the amount reflected "the extraordinary nature and seriousness of the BBC's failures" and the "resulting breaches" of its code.

Jonathan Ross had been given a three-month ban from all BBC broadcasting for 12 weeks, amid controversy surrounding prank phone calls made to 'Fawlty Towers' actor Andrew Sachs, on Russell Brand's radio show.

Ross - the BBC's highest-paid star with a three-year, £18 million contract - was suspended from his TV and radio shows without pay, until mid-January of this year.

Meanwhile, Russell Brand resigned from his BBC Radio 2 programme, saying he accepted "complete responsibility" for the incident, adding: "As I only do the radio show to make people laugh I've decided that, given the subsequent coverage, I will stop doing the show."

Ofcom said the BBC had broadcast explicit, intimate and confidential information about Mr Sachs granddaughter Georgina Bailie in the two programmes, without either of their consent.

Ross had told Mr Sachs that Russell Brand had "f***** your granddaughter" in one of the phone calls.

The watchdog said: "This not only unwarrantably and seriously infringed their privacy but was also gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning."

It added: "Creative risk is part of the BBC's public service role, however, so is the management of that risk.

"In this case, Ofcom's investigation revealed that despite the Russell Brand show being considered by the BBC to be 'high risk' prior to these episodes, the broadcaster had ceded responsibility for managing some of that risk to those working for the presenter, Russell Brand.

"The presenter's interests had been given greater priority than the BBC's responsibility to avoid unwarranted infringements of privacy and minimise the risk of harm and offence and to maintain generally accepted standards."

A BBC spokesman responded: "As we said last October, this material should never have been broadcast and we apologised unreservedly for that.

"The BBC has since taken comprehensive action to deal with what were unacceptable failures in editorial judgement and compliance which led to the broadcast."

Ofcom has also directed Radio 2 to broadcast a summary of its findings.

(JM/BMcC)