Decision by Ofcom - ESPN
| Published date | 23 May 2014 |
| Issuer | Office of Communications |
Sanction 93(13)
1
Sanction: Decision by Ofcom
To be imposed on ESPN (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Limited
For the levels of audio description1 provided between 1 January 2012 and 31
December 20122.
Ofcom’s consideration of a
Sanction against:
ESPN (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Limited (the
“Licensee”) in respect of its service ESPN (TLCS-1384).
For:
The level of audio description provision across the channel,
which was found to be in breach of Ofcom’s Code on
Television Access Services3 (the “Code”) in respect of:
Rule 94:
“…broadcasters are required to meet the targets
set out below:
Anniversary
of relevant
date
Subtitling
Signing
Audio
Description
First
10%
1%
2%
Second
10%
1%
4%
Third
35%
2%
6%
Fourth
35%
2%
8%
Fifth
60%
3%
10%
Sixth
60%
3%
10%
Seventh
70%
4%
10%
Eighth
70%
4%
10%
Ninth
70%
4%
10%
Tenth
80%
5%
10%
…"
In the period:
1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012.
Decision:
1. To impose a financial penalty of £120,000 (payable to
HM Paymaster General); and
2. To direct the Licensee to broadcast a statement of
Ofcom’s findings, on a date and in a form to be
determined by Ofcom
1 Audio description is an access service provided for visually impaired consumers constituting a
separate audio track inserted amongst the normal audio track in which visual elements of the
programme, such as facial expressions and gesticulations, are audibly described.
2 See the level of audio description provided by ESPN throughout 2012, found to be in breach of the
Code on Television Access Services, detailed in Broadcast Bulletin 235, dated 5 August 2013 (“the
Finding”). http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/enforcement/broadcast-
bulletins/obb235/obb235.pdf.
3 See the Ofcom Code on Television Access Service
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/tv-access-services/code-tv-access-
services-2013/
4 During most of the period of the breach, this was referred to as Rule 8. The revised Code published
on 18 December 2012 renumbered it as Rule 9, but made no substantive change.
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