MultiChoice's DStv BoxOffice service - the video-on-demand (VOD) service introduced a year ago - is not broadcasting, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has ruled after a complaint from parents that a promo for another movie, Paranormal Activity 3, scared their 3 year old child.
The BCCSA received a complaint from a couple who wrote that "The DStv ad on TV, where you have the choice to rent movies via the PVR - the latest movie is Paranormal Activity 3. My wife and I were watching this ad with our 3 year old daughter and she was terrified! There were no warnings whatsoever, and we didn't have the chance to switch it off. Where do we draw the line?"
MultiChoice said in its response to the BCCSA that although the advertisement was broadcast on the DStv platform, the material being promoted in the advertisement does not form part of the programming material offered by DStv".
The BCCSA said in its judgement of the case that "the electronic relay to a subscriber of a promo of a film or films, which the subscriber may then order for an individual screening does not amount to 'broadcasting' as defined in the Electronic Communications Act of 2005.
The BBCSA said that orders by subscribers of replays of films and available promos which accompany such choice do not amount to a broadcast and do not fall under the jurisdiction of the BCCSA.
