BBC fined $383,000 over 'Sachsgate' affair

The BBC has been handed its largest ever fine for infringing decency after Ofcom ruled that prank phone calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand to the Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs were "gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning".

The media watchdog ordered the corporation to pay 150,000 pounds (NZ$383,000) yesterday after highlighting a catalogue of editorial and managerial failures which the watchdog said had resulted in the interests of Brand being given greater importance than the need for the BBC to comply with broadcasting rules.

In language which left no doubt about how dimly the regulator viewed the "Sachsgate" affair, a report into Brand's Radio 2 programme said the host and his guest Ross had "unwarrantably and seriously" invaded the privacy of the actor and his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, and the six-figure fine was necessary to reflect the "extraordinary nature and seriousness" of the BBC's failures.

Five months after the two broadcasters left explicit voicemail messages about Brand's sexual relationship with Ms Baillie, the move by Ofcom should draw a line under the unedifying saga.

The fine is the biggest ever imposed on the BBC for breaking decency rules on an individual programme.

The highest financial penalty ever levied on the corporation was the 400,000 pounds it paid last summer for its part in the scandal over viewer and listener competitions.

The money from the latest fine, funded by licence-fee payers, will be returned to government coffers via the Paymaster General.

Ofcom said the BBC had undermined its ability to control Brand's "high risk" live Saturday night radio show by giving a senior producer from the comedian's own company, who had not been trained in the corporation's decency code, responsibility for compliance with those rules.

The watchdog said: "The presenter's interests had been given greater priority than the BBC's responsibility to avoid unwarranted infringements of privacy and minimise the risk of harm and offence and to maintain generally accepted standards."

The row began after a pre-recorded segment of Brand's show was broadcast on 18 October last year in which the gauche comic and Ross, the BBC's highest paid performer, left messages referring to Brand's sexual exploits with Ms Baillie. It ended with Brand singing an explicit "apology" to Sachs.

Although only two complaints were made in the immediate aftermath of the broadcasts, the subsequent media feeding frenzy led to 44,790 complaints.

Brand resigned along with Lesley Douglas, the controller of BBC Radio 2, and Dave Barber, its head of compliance. Ross was suspended without pay for three months.

Ofcom said the corporation had broadcast, "highly personal, intimate and sensitive" information about Ms Baillie without obtaining her consent nor that of Mr Sachs.

It said: "This not only unwarrantably and seriously infringed their privacy but was also gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning."

The BBC said it accepted that the material should never have been broadcast and apologised unreservedly.

A spokesman said: "The BBC has since taken comprehensive action to deal with what were unacceptable failures in editorial judgement and compliance which led to the broadcast."

- INDEPENDENT