...at 3.30pm

A digital TV channel has been censured by watchdogs for broadcasting filthy stand-up routines in the middle of the afternoon.

Although swear words were bleeped out, comedians were seen miming sticking their fingers into a vagina and talking about porn stars, masturbation, incest and pubic hair.

The show, Battlecam Comedy, as broadcast on FilmOn.TV at 3.30pm – attracting the attentions of regulators Ofcom when one viewer complained.

The show was compèred by Alki David, the 45-year-old owner of the station and heir to a Greek shipping and Coca-Cola bottling empire, who is estimated to be worth £1.5 billion.

Described as an ‘extreme reality’ channel like ‘Jackass on steroids’, FilmOn.TV began airing on Sky Channel 292 in November, the same month the offending stand-up show was broadcast.

The names of the comics who took part in the show have not been released, but in its report ruling against the broadcaster, Ofcom noted the following routines.

• The first comic, while discussing what it would be like if he were a gynaecologist, mimed inserting his fingers into an imaginary woman’s vagina. He then tasted his fingers and said ‘Syphilis?’

• Later, he said: ‘Men, we love you ladies, but we just love your [bleep] a little bit more...if we could remove the [bleep] from the chick and just take it to work and just pull it out and use it during the day in our 15 minute break...we would.'

• A second comic said: ‘One time we were in bed and my last girlfriend noticed that my hair down here was thinning, right? So she says why don’t you get some of that Rogaine and rub it on and I did. Didn’t do a damn thing for me – but she grew one hell of a moustache.'

• The final comic said: ‘Maxim magazine...I’ve never had a need for it because it’s like women in bikinis posing on a beach and in my apartment I have an elaborate library of real pornography. It’s like, so you’re standing on a beach whilst this chick’s naked on all fours with a bottle in her [bleep]...you invested well...I guess your uncle didn’t [bleep] you.’

In response to the complaint, FilmOn – which broadcast no warning before the show aired –  said it was ‘truly sorry’ and blamed its own compliance team, which were told to make sure that any offensive words were bleeped out.

‘The problem [they] have taken that literally and instead of taking into account the tone and suitability of a programme they have just gone by our instruction and not used common sense,’ FilmOn added.

Ofcom said it was ‘concerned’ that these comments ‘reflected a lack of understanding’ of broadcasting rules.

The regulator said said that audiences would not expect material of this nature, to be broadcast before the watershed. It also said that although the bad language was censored, with 48 bleeps in 16 minutes the cumulative effect on viewers would have been ‘similar to the offence caused by repeated broadcast of the unedited offensive language’.

Film.On TV was therefore found in breach of the Broadcasting Code.

Published: 17 Feb 2014