Get the feed!
Spicing up Valentine's Day
Read the article / show / issue that provoked me to write a letter and my response below that or go straight to my response
Date Posted on this Site
February 20, 2007
Publication
SUN TV
Publication Date
February 9, 2007
Published Content
SUN TV aired a segment, during the dinner hour, with explicit sexual content.
My Response Letter
To whom it may concern:
I would like to file a formal complaint about a segment broadcast on SUN TV (CKXT-TV).
The incident in question occurred on Friday, February 9, 2007, between 6:30 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. during a news segment titled "Spicing Up Valentine's Day". I was watching television with my children, all under age seven. As I stopped briefly at this channel, I was appalled to find that the segment in question was devoted to sex toys. The material was explicit. At the moment I stopped, the host was holding up a see-through d*ldo? At 6:30 in the evening! Thank God the children were not paying attention. However, I am left to wonder about those children who were watching without parental supervision?
As a member of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, SUN TV has promised to adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Code of Ethics, specifically the first article of Clause 10, which states
a) Programming which contains sexually explicit material or coarse or offensive language intended for adult audiences shall not be telecast before the late viewing period, defined as 9 pm to 6 am.
SUN TV should exercise greater discretion, not least because of the proximity to channel 2, TVO, which airs children's programming at that hour.
I would ask that the council further investigate this matter and make a determination, as appropriate.
Jason Gennaro
Did I get a response?
Yes
Dear Mr. Gennaro,
Thanks you for your letter concerning the content on Canoe Live on February 9, 2007. It is through dialogue with viewers that we seek to improve our service and offer compelling programming for all viewers. The program “Canoe Live” is a current affairs and discussion program which targets adults 18-49 so some of the content is more mature in nature, such as the Pickton murder trial, or gang violence. However, we always strive to be sensitive in the graphic portrayal of such things.
Although the material shown in the segment entitled, “Spicing Up Valentine’s Day” was not intended to be titillating in any manner, we understand how it could be offensive to some viewers. This segment was designed to be comedic in tone while at the same time imparting new information about an event taking place in the city that weekend.
As one might infer from the segment’s title, the interview was timed as an advancer for Valentine’s Day. However, despite that billing the content really had nothing to do with how couples can use sex toys to spice up their love life. The segment was booked to promote the Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair, an exhibit at the Drake Hotel which featured the work of over two dozen local artists and craftspeople. As our guest pointed out on air, while some of these products are certainly suggestive, these hand-crafted objects (including the glass toy mentioned in the viewer complaint) are actual works of art, and their “functionality” as it were was secondary to their merit as works of art.
That said, based on your concerns, we have instituted a new policy for any future segments on our local programming that airs prior to 9pm, that no visual aids will be used to discuss sexuality or other more mature topics.
Again thanks for your comments. Please contact us anytime.
Don Gaudet
General Manager, Programming
SUN TV / Quebecor Media Inc.