Broadcasters including Sky are seeking a rule change so that more adult TV could be shown pre-watershed if protected by a PIN.
The proposals being put forward by the Commercial Broadcasters’ Association, a lobbying group for cable and satellite broadcasters including BSkyB.
Currently peak-time dramas and comedies are not allowed to be shown before the watershed, unless they are cut to remove swearing, violence and sex. However, pay-per-view programmes and content on premium film subscription channels are allowed before the watershed because viewers have to key in a pin code before they can watch them. Such a system is already in place for online catchup TV services.
The group representing broadcasters including Sky, UKTV and MTV, has asked the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for regulations to be changed to extend this pin protection system to cover all other shows on cable and satellite channels.
It is understood that audiences would have to enter the pin every time they wanted to watch a peak-time show before the watershed.
The Coba executive director, Adam Minns, said:
The system of pin protection is well established in the UK. It has proven to be effective technically and is something with which audiences are familiar — it is now used on a range of services. At the same time, it provides consumer protection that is arguably more effective than the watershed regime. Extending such a regime to other services could potentially encourage innovative new forms of content delivery.
It is expected that such a move would need a consultation by Ofcom as it would require changes to the TV censor’s broadcasting rules
