REQUIREMENTS AS TO STANDARDS AND PRACTICE APPLICABLE TO THE FAMILY VIEWING AND LISTENING

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 350.18

REQUIREMENTS AS TO STANDARDS AND

PRACTICE APPLICABLE TO THE FAMILY

VIEWING AND LISTENING

22nd March, 2007

GOVERNMENT NOTICE 261 of 2007, as amended by Legal Notice 482

of 2020.

The title of these requirements is the Requirements as to

Standards and Practice applicable to the Family Viewing and

Listening.

1 These Requirements as to Standards and Practice have

been made by the Broadcasting Authority in virtue of article 20(3)

of the Broadcasting Act, Chapter 350 of the Laws of Malta.

1.2 It is the Authority’s aim to ensure, so far as possible, that

stations do not broadcast material unsuitable for children at times

w h e n l a rg e n u m b e r s o f c h i l d r e n a r e v i e w i n g o r l i s t e n i n g .

Constraints on this policy arise from two factors: first there is no

time of the evening when there are no children viewing or listening,

perhaps even in quite substantial numbers; and secondly, any

attempt to provide a wide range of programmes appropriate for

a d u l t s a n d i n c l u d i n g s e r i o u s s u b j e c t m a t t e r w i l l en t a i l t h e

broadcasting of some material that might be considered unsuitable

for children. The Authority does not accept that, because some

children are always likely to be present in the audience, there

should be no adult material included in the programme output of a

broadcasting station. The necessary compromise between these

constraints and the Authority’s general aim is embodied in the

Authority’s Family Viewing and Listening Policy for evening

viewing and listening.

1.3 The policy assumes a progressive decline throughout the

evening in the proportion of children present in the audience. It

expects a similar progression in the successive programmes scheduled

from early evening until closedown: the earlier in the evening, the

more suitable; the later in the evening, the less suitable. Within the

progression, 9:30 p.m. is fixed as the point up to which the audiovisual

media service provider will normally regard themselves as responsible

for ensuring that nothing is shown that is unsuitable for children. But it

is assumed that from 9:30 p.m. onwards, parents or guardians may

reasonably be expected to share responsibility for what their children

are permitted to see and listen to. Violence is not the only reason why a

programme may be unsuitable for family viewing or listening. Other

factors include bad language, innuendo, blasphemy, explicit scenes or

descriptions of sexual behaviour, and scenes or portrayal of extreme

distress.

Trailers

2.1 Programme trailers must themselves comply with these

Requirements. If it is decided to promote an 'adult' programme

before 9.00p.m., the trailer must be suitable for family viewing or

listening. Excerpts selected for trailing a programme containing

violent material should be chosen with care, and should not give

emphasis to violent incidents uncharacteristic of the programme as

a whole.

Requirements to be followed by Broadcasters

3.1 Bearing the above in mind, the Authority has thus drawn

up these requirments to be followed by broadcasters vis-à-vis adult

programming

i.

in the case of a television programme, each television

broadcaster is to ensure compliance with the

Television Programmes (Classification Certificates)

Regulations;

ii.

in the case of a television programme, television

broadcasters are to ensure that a responsible person is

appointed in terms of the Television Programmes

(Classification Certificates) Regulations, and that

broadcasters should inform the Authority of any

changes made;

iii. prior to the broadcasting of an adult related

programme, the viewer or listener is to be informed

that the said programme is suitable only for a mature

audience;

iv.

in so far as discussion programmes are concerned

which are directed to an adult audience, children

should not be invited on the panel or amongst the

audience;

v.

adult related programmes are to be broadcast only

after 9:30 p.m. Within the progression of successive

programmes scheduled from early evening until

closedown

i.

9:30 p.m. is fixed as the point up to which the

broadcasters will normally regard themselves as

responsible for ensuring that no audiovisual

media is broadcast that is unsuitable for

children;

ii.

after 9:30 p.m. audiovisual media services

designed for adults may be broadcast;

vi.

in audiovisual media services the classification signal

and the signal of potential harmful content must be

superimposed on the audiovisual media service, where

they are visible during the first 60 seconds and should the

programme be interrupted, during the first 30 seconds

following commencement of broadcasts of the said

programme after each break. In the case of a radio

programme, the broadcaster has to air a notice before the

beginning of the programme that the latter is addressed to

a mature audience and should the programme be

interrupted, before the following commencement of

broadcasts of the said programme after each break;

vii. no pornographic material may be broadcast in breach

of the Criminal Code;

viii. in so far as audiovisual media services are concerned,

service media providers should adopt the following

classification signage

U

for audiovisual media services suitable for persons

of all ages.

The letter "U" should be encircled in a green

colour.

PG for audiovisual media services which require

parental guidance as they may not be suitable for

young children.

The letters "PG" should be encircled in a yellow

colour.

12A for audiovisual media services suitable only for

persons of twelve years and over but younger

people may only see them if they are accompanied

by an adult.

The number "12A" should be encircled in an

orange colour.

12 for audiovisual media services suitable only for

persons of twelve years.

The number "12" should be encircled in an

orange colour.

15 for audiovisual media services suitable only for

persons of fifteen years.

The number "15" should be encircled in a brown

colour.

18 for audiovisual media services suitable only for

persons of eighteen years.

The number "18" should be encircled in a brown

colour.

ix.

in the classification process of audiovisual media

services in the manner prescribed in the preceding

paragraph, service media providers shall also decide

which signal or signals of potential harmful content

will be broadcast with the classification in accordance

with the procedure listed in paragraph (vi) of article

3.1. The signal or signals of the potentially harmful

content shall reflect that reason or reasons that have

led the service media provider to that particular

classification and this by determining whether the

audiovisual media service has content that includes

violence, fear, sex, discrimination, alcohol and / or

drug abuse or inappropriate language.

x.

Audiovisual media service providers shall use the

following potentially harmful content signalling

system

VIOLENCE

FEAR

SEX

DISCRIMINATION

ALCOHOL ABUSE AND / OR

DRUGS

INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE

For the purposes of these Requirements, the expression

"children" means persons who are under eighteen years of age.

A breach of any of the provisions of these requirements

shall constitute an administrative offence punishable by the

Broadcasting Authority in terms of Article 41 and the Fifth

Schedule of the Broadcasting Act".

The wording "audiovisual media service" and "media service

provider" shall have the same meaning as that provided in the

Broadcasting Act.