London DAB station says sorry for sexual tracks

Ofcom has upheld a complaint from a listener to 883 Centreforce after the station played two tracks unsuitable for children.

The specialist dance music station played offensive language and “the sounds of a woman having an orgasm” in two music tracks between 12:00 and 13:00 during Lunch with Lewi on 30 August 2018 (half term), according to the complainant.

The two tracks are:

• French Kiss by Lil Louis, which was broadcast at 12:28 and included prolonged sounds of sexual moaning (lasting approximately 3 minutes and 20 seconds); and

• Baby Wants to Ride by Frankie Knuckles was broadcast at 12:38 and included the lyric “fu*k me”, as well as some sexual moaning sounds.

At the end of the second track (Baby Wants to Ride), the presenter said: “Do apologise about the last track. Thought I was playing the radio edit. Tut tut Lewi. Apologies to everyone on the last one”.

Centreforce owner, Festiva, said Baby Wants to Ride, had been incorrectly “labeled as a radio edit” and had therefore been played in error. Festiva also stated that the presenter “apologised profusely” after the track was played. It said that it had addressed the matter with the presenter directly.

The Licensee also said that it now requires all presenters to supply a tracklist no later than 24 hours before their show. In addition, it reported that a notice had been issued to “each member of the team” listing certain “potentially risky tracks” which should not be played between 07:00 and 21:00. Festiva provided the text of this notice, which said that any presenter who played one of the “risky tracks” on the list would “receive a 28-day broadcasting ban”.

Ofcom’s research on offensive language states that the word “fu*k” is considered by audiences to be an example of the most offensive language and therefore the station has been found in breach of Ofcom rules.