X Factor criticised over swearing
A live instalment of The X Factor has been criticised as “unacceptable” by British TV watchdog Ofcom after viewers heard Frankie Cocozza swear on-air.
The teenage contestant, who was later axed from the show because of his behaviour, sparked more than 100 complaints when he embraced his mentor Gary Barlow and responded: “F***ing have it. Get in there” when he was told that he had got through to the next round.
ITV did not apologise for the slip for 44 minutes, and then on a different channel – The Xtra Factor on ITV2 – because no-one in the studio or production gallery heard the outburst.
Ofcom said that the word, which was broadcast on the Sunday evening live results show, was “clearly audible to viewers who were watching the programme at approximately 20 minutes before the 9pm watershed.
“This was particularly unacceptable in the context of a programme that attracts a substantial family audience,” it said.
Programme-makers admitted that they only became aware of the swearing “through monitoring online social media activity” towards the end of the broadcast.
Channel TV, which compiles the show for ITV, blamed its “delayed response” - apologising on The Xtra Factor – on the fact that it “had to investigate whether or not” the contestant had sworn and whether the language was broadcast.
It said it had briefed judges, contestants and guests about offensive language and it “deeply regretted” Cocozza’s “unexpected and unprompted outburst”.
Nobody in the production gallery heard the swearing, and that “due to the noise of the audience ... it is extremely unlikely that anyone in the studio (the judges, presenter, contestants and audience) would have heard Frankie’s comment either,” it said.
When it reviewed the footage, it found it was “just about discernable in a quieter domestic setting”, it said.
As a result of the error, it now has one member of its team watching the ITV1 feed of the show in a quiet environment.
Ofcom said that the language was “unacceptable before the watershed, whatever the audience profile of the channel”.
It found the show, which aired in October last year, in breach of the broadcasting code and said that programme-makers did not have good enough systems in place to monitor the live show.
Ofcom said it “was particularly concerned that a high-profile live programme such as this did not already have adequate systems in place to monitor the transmission output of the programme as it was broadcast.
“We considered that in this instance the offensive term was clearly audible to viewers,” it added.
“Had there been suitable compliance procedures in place the broadcaster could have responded in a more timely and appropriate fashion.”
Cocozza, from Brighton, made an impact in the early stages of last year’s series when he flashed his bottom at the judges after he boasted that the names of some of his many lovers were tattooed there.
