Ofcom Warns BBC After Expletives Heard During Sunday's Boat Race Broadcast

U.K. communications regulator Ofcom ruled that swearing broadcast during the BBC's live coverage of the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge "was inappropriate for viewers of a traditional sporting event shown on a Sunday afternoon," according to Jason Deans of the London GUARDIAN. The word "f***ing" was "broadcast live three times" during live BBC1 Boat Race coverage hosted by Clare Balding just before and after 5pm on March 31, "after it was picked up from the Oxford cox's microphone." Ofcom reminded the BBC and other broadcasters to take all "proportionate measures" to prevent swearing being transmitted during live coverage before the 9pm watershed. The BBC said that from next year, "a dedicated member of the production team will have sole responsibility to monitor the cox microphone feeds to identify any offensive language." More than one instance of offensive language "will result in the microphone being cut during the Boat Race" (GUARDIAN, 6/17).