Ofcom imposed a financial penalty of £35,000 on Venus TV Ltd

On 4 December 2008 , Ofcom published its decision to impose a statutory sanction on Venus TV Ltd (“the Licensee”), in respect of its service Venus TV (“the Channel”). This was for serious and repeated b reaches of the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Television Advertising Standards Code (“the TV Advertising Code”), and in light of Condition 8 (4) of the Channel’s licence which requires the Licensee to ensure that Venus TV complies with the TV Advertising Code.

The sanction was for breaches of the TV Advertising Code recorded by the Advertising Authority (“ASA”) relating to broadcasts of five different advertisements shown on Venus TV over the period November 2006 and August 2007 :
Golden Bull Kastoori Capsules (a herbal remedy), adjudication published in April 2007;
Jorge Hane Weight Loss, published in May 2007;
Pandith astrology, published in October 2007;
Pundit Maharaj astrology, published in October 2007; and
Roopamrit (a face cream), published in October 2007.

The regulation of broadcast advertising standards is a function of Ofcom that has been contracted out by Ofcom to the ASA. In accordance with this contracting out arrangement, the ASA referred Venus TV Ltd to Ofcom for consideration of a statutory sanction for these repeated and serious breaches of the TV Advertising Code.

In summary, Ofcom concluded that a statutory sanction was appropriate in this case because the breaches of the TV Advertising Code were serious in that:
they raised significant issues of consumer protection, particularly in relation to the health of viewers. For example, three of the infomercials claimed to offer remedies to various medical conditions but none were supported by sufficient evidence, thereby materially misleading viewers;
they demonstrated repeated and systemic poor compliance by Venus TV Ltd. There was clear evidence that the Licensee did not have robust compliance procedures in place before, and at the time of, the breaches; and
the advertisements were in the form of teleshopping items lasting up to several minutes, thereby increasing the likely negative impact of the advertising.

The breaches were also repeated.

For the reasons set out in the adjudication, Ofcom imposed a financial penalty of £35,000 on Venus TV Ltd (payable to HM Paymaster General) and directed it to broadcast a statement of Ofcom’s findings on Venus TV in a form to be determined by Ofcom on two specified occasions.

The full adjudication can be found: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/ocsc_adjud/venustv.pdf