insiderblmA radio station that played a song containing “prolonged sounds of sexual moaning” at breakfast time breached the broadcasting code, a watchdog ruled.
Caroline Community Radio played French Kiss by Lil Louis at a “time when children were particularly likely to be listening”, Ofcom said.
The communications regulator said the song was “not appropriately scheduled”.
Ofcom’s report said the Essex-based station’s licensee confirmed it was “undertaking a review of its database”.
The regulator said the song, which reached number two in the UK charts in 1989, contained no lyrics but included “prolonged sounds of sexual moaning lasting two minutes and 20 seconds”.
Caroline Community Radio broadcasts on FM to the Maldon area of Essex from studios in Burnham-on-Crouch, and is also available online.
The report said that “given the radio station’s target audience, the likelihood of children listening was low”.
The licensee said it had been in the process of transferring its music library from one computer system to another.
They added that “some scheduling restrictions that it had applied to songs had not been carried across to the new system”.
A report said the licensee “did not wish to offend its listeners and confirmed that it was undertaking a review of its database to ensure all song information is correct”.
Ofcom ruled that the broadcast was in breach of rule 1.3 of the Broadcasting Code, which states that “children must … be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them”.
Caroline Community Radio is an independent organisation, but its website said it had connections to the famous pirate radio station Radio Caroline, including use of its name.
