WCR FM found in breach for playing song with single swear word

Ofcom has found Wolverhampton Community Radio WCR FM in breach of its licence for broadcasting a song with one instance of the F word in it.

Best Day of My Life by Tom Odell was played during Drive Time with James Levett on 9th November 2022, at 16:35.

The station said the song “slipped through the net” of its rigorous checking procedures but that it did “not believe there was any potential for offence to the listeners generally”.

It added that its target audience is primarily over-30s, but that its “content is still chosen and managed with regard to the potential for a child listening at any time”. It further added that, upon being notified of the complaint, it “listened to the broadcast several times and was unable to perceive the word” and that even after reading the lyrics, the word was “still obscure”.

Nevertheless, it added that it “will always comply in line with our regulator’s requirements”, and the version was “censored” immediately when it became aware of the complaint.

The Licensee also said that the content of the song did not comply with its “considerations with regard to decency” and that it would only have been played on a couple of occasions before being flagged, given that it was “included as a spot play for one week”.

The presenter of the show has since left the station.

WCR FM concluded that the complainant “must have been aware of the record from another context and noticed [the Licensee] had played an uncensored version”.

Ofcom said it listened to the song and disagreed that the F word wasn’t noticeable and noted the station did not broadcast an apology because the show was not live.

In Ofcom’s view, the broadcast of the most offensive language at 16:35 on a weekday during term time, a time when children were particularly likely to be listening, was clearly capable of causing offence to listeners, putting WCR FM in breach of Rule 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code.