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Ofcom has rapped Sky for promoting a boxing match on Sky Box Office which had actually been cancelled.
In early April, Sky ran a cross-promotion on its linear TV channels for the Lord Of The Ring event, which was available via pay-per-view from Sky Box Office on April 3.
The trailer promoted a package of available fights to watch, including a clash between Lee McAllister and Ben Murphy. However, the fight had actually been cancelled over two weeks earlier.
A viewer complained to Ofcom that they had paid to view the event but the McAllister/Murphy fight was not featured as advertised.
In response, Sky said that the fight in question was "erroneously" included in the promotion after it had already been cancelled.
The satellite broadcaster apologised for the mistake, which was not picked up by its compliance team due to "human error". To rectify the situation, Sky said that it has offered an apology and a full refund to the complainant.
In its Broadcast Bulletin, Ofcom noted Sky's admission that the promotion contained incorrect information and its efforts to refund the complainant.
However, the watchdog ruled that the boxing promotion was in breach of Rule 5.1.1 of the TV Advertising Standards Code.
"When promoting the availability of pay-per-view content, we expect broadcasters to have adequate compliance procedures in place to ensure material does not materially mislead viewers," said Ofcom.
"In this case, a boxing match was advertised as being available to view over two weeks after it had, in fact, been cancelled.
"We expect the broadcaster to take greater care in future to ensure such material promoting content it is inviting viewers to pay for is accurate and up-to-date."
In early April, Sky ran a cross-promotion on its linear TV channels for the Lord Of The Ring event, which was available via pay-per-view from Sky Box Office on April 3.
The trailer promoted a package of available fights to watch, including a clash between Lee McAllister and Ben Murphy. However, the fight had actually been cancelled over two weeks earlier.
A viewer complained to Ofcom that they had paid to view the event but the McAllister/Murphy fight was not featured as advertised.
In response, Sky said that the fight in question was "erroneously" included in the promotion after it had already been cancelled.
The satellite broadcaster apologised for the mistake, which was not picked up by its compliance team due to "human error". To rectify the situation, Sky said that it has offered an apology and a full refund to the complainant.
In its Broadcast Bulletin, Ofcom noted Sky's admission that the promotion contained incorrect information and its efforts to refund the complainant.
However, the watchdog ruled that the boxing promotion was in breach of Rule 5.1.1 of the TV Advertising Standards Code.
"When promoting the availability of pay-per-view content, we expect broadcasters to have adequate compliance procedures in place to ensure material does not materially mislead viewers," said Ofcom.
"In this case, a boxing match was advertised as being available to view over two weeks after it had, in fact, been cancelled.
"We expect the broadcaster to take greater care in future to ensure such material promoting content it is inviting viewers to pay for is accurate and up-to-date."