Preliminary Investigation Report No. 3104
ACMA file reference / ACMA2013/1304Licensee / TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd
Station / TCN, Sydney
Type of Service / Commercial Television Service
Name of Program / Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia
Date of Broadcast / 12 August 2013
Relevant Legislation/Code / Broadcasting Services Act 1992
· section 149
Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010
· clause 2.4 (Classification of Other Material)
· clause 2.20.3 (Consumer Advice for Certain Programs)
Decision Date / 3 October 2013
Investigation conclusion
· No breach of clause 2.4 (Classification of Other Material) of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010.
· No breach of clause 2.20 (Consumer Advice for Certain Programs) of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010.
The complaint
On 4 September 2013, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) received a written complaint, via email, about an episode of the program Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia. The episode was broadcast by TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd (TCN) on Monday, 12 August 2013 at 7.30 pm.
The complaint alleged that the PG-classified program contained footage of animal cruelty. The complainant alleges that, due to the distressing nature of the content, the episode required consumer advice.
Not satisfied with the response provided by the licensee, the complainant forwarded the matter to the ACMA for investigation.
The program
Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia is a six-episode comedy series. The episode which is the subject of the complaint is Episode 5. The program is described on the Channel Nine website in the following terms:
[..]
Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year Asia, will feature the boys’ travels and escapades throughout the continent and will be broadcast weekly from their new favourite Bangkok bar, called ‘The Raintree’.
Whether it’s being served by Monkey Waiters in Tokyo, running on water with Shaolin in China, or helping clear live landmines in Cambodia, Hamish & Andy are ready for anything and everything Asia has to throw at them.[1]
Assessment
The assessment is based on a copy of the relevant broadcast provided to the ACMA by the licensee and submissions from the complainant and the licensee.
Relevant Provisions
The Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010 (the Code) contains the following provisions that are relevant in the matter raised by the complainant:
Classification of Other Material
2.4 All other material for broadcast: Subject to Clauses 2.3 and 2.4.1, all other material for broadcast must be classified according to the Television Classification Guidelines (set out in Appendix 4) or, where applicable, the stricter requirements of Section 3: Program Promotions and Section 6: Classification and Placement of Commercials.
[…]
Consumer Advice for Certain Programs
2.20 Consumer advice provides viewers with information about the principal elements that contribute to a program’s classification, and indicates their intensity and/or frequency. It is intended to help people to make informed choices about the programs they choose.
[…]
2.20.3 A licensee must also supply consumer advice with any PG classified program broadcast between 7.00pm and 8.30pm on weekdays or between 10.00am and 8.30pm on weekends that contains material of a strength or intensity which the licensee reasonably believes parents or guardians of young children may not expect.
APPENDIX 4: TELEVISION CLASSIFICATION GUIDELINES
The Parental Guidance Recommended (PG) Classification
3. Material classified PG may contain careful presentations of adult themes or concepts but must be mild in impact and remain suitable for children to watch with supervision.
[…]
3.6 Themes: The treatment of social and domestic conflict and other themes that are directed to a more adult audience should be carefully handled and mild in impact.
Complainant’s submissions
In correspondence to the licensee, received on 21 August 2013, the complainant submitted that:
· even accounting for cultural differences, the snake was killed in an inhumane way
· the killing amounted to animal cruelty and should not have been shown in Australia
· to the show’s credit, footage of the snake being killed was not broadcast
· there should have been a warning about this content at the start of the program.
In correspondence to the ACMA, dated 4 September 2013, the complainant submitted that:
· the ‘Cultural Eating’ segment featured Andy eating the still-beating heart of a snake and drinking a glass of the snake’s blood
· there was no warning and there should have been a warning as some people would have been upset by the footage
· they were distressed watching the segment.
Licensee’s submissions
On 27 August 2013 the licensee submitted to the complainant that:
· the program has been classified PG and must comply with the Code
· the PG guidelines say that ‘material classified PG may contain careful presentations of adult themes or concepts but must be mild in impact and remain suitable for children to watch with supervision.’
· during the story’s introduction, Andy narrates:
In Vietnam, every part of the snake is used in various dishes, but it is the snake’s heart that’s revered as a delicacy.
The licensee further submitted that:
Eating snake in Vietnam is a cultural tradition, as is the case in many Asian countries. The story is set in a restaurant that specialises in snake dishes, and the snakes are bred for the very purpose of eating. At no time was any vision shown of the snake being killed or prepared by the Chefs or restaurant staff and likewise, nor is there any indication or evidence shown in the story, that the snake had been killed cruelly or inhumanely.
The snake’s heart, which was still beating, and can do for up to several minutes after death, was served to Andy as a restaurant dish in the tradition of being reserved for the most honoured or VIP guest at the table.
While we understand that this segment caused you distress we believe for the above reasons, our segment complied with the PG guidelines in the Code.
Finding
The ACMA finds that TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd’s broadcast of the program Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia at 7.30 pm on 12 August 2013 did not breach clauses 2.4 and 2.20.3 of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010.
Reasons
The Code states that PG classified programs may contain careful presentations of adult themes or concepts but that these presentations must be mild in impact and remain suitable for children to watch with supervision.
The 12 August 2013 broadcast of Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia identified by the complainant was broadcast at 7.30 pm, a time zone suitable for the broadcast of programs classified PG.
The episode features a variety of segments and includes the hosts visiting a snake village in Thailand, a martial arts kick-boxing ring in Bangkok, and a company in Vietnam that specialises in collecting and preparing human hair for wig and hair extension manufacture. Within the segments, the hosts participate in a variety of local activities such as snake racing, kick boxing, unusual beauty treatment therapies (face and buttock slapping) and visiting a restaurant that specialises in Vietnamese cuisine.
Given the complainant’s concerns, the classifiable element that is relevant in terms of considering whether the program has been appropriately classified, is ‘themes’, specifically the treatment of animals.
Themes
At approximately 46 minutes, within a segment titled ‘Cultural Eating’, Andy is challenged by Hamish to eat a part of a snake – specifically, the beating heart of a freshly-killed snake.
After an introduction by the hosts, footage shows Hamish and Andy arriving at the ‘Nha hang’ restaurant, which specialises in serving snake dishes. The segment includes an interview with staff members. This interview provides information about the cultural significance of this type of cuisine for the Vietnamese.
The segment highlights that the heart of the snake is the most expensive part of the snake and is considered a special treat, reserved for very important guests. The segment also establishes how the snake heart is traditionally served.
The next scene shows Andy swallowing a beating heart, which is served in a small glass of snake blood.
The segment does not show the snake being killed, and does not include footage of the heart being removed from the snake. The scene is edited to cut from footage of a live snake, to Hamish saying ‘sometimes you see things that you can’t unsee’, to the beating heart on a plate.
The Code states that themes that are directed to a more adult audience should be carefully handled and mild in impact. In this regard it is noted that there is no detail that exceeds the mild impact. The content is carefully edited and includes very restrained verbal references about the extraction of the snake’s heart.
This segment, and its presentation of animal slaughter, does not have an impact greater than mild and remains suitable for children to watch with supervision.
In general, adult themes or concepts were handled with care and the segment was contextually justified.
For the reasons considered above, the handling of this theme in Episode 5 of the Hamish & Andy Gap Year Asia can be accommodated within the PG classification.
Consumer Advice for Certain Programs
Clause 2.20.3 of the Code states that a licensee must also supply consumer advice with any PG classified program broadcast between 7.00 pm and 8.30 pm on weekdays that contains material of a strength or intensity which the licensee reasonably believes parents or guardians of young children may not expect.
The ‘Gap Year’ series featuring Hamish and Andy is promoted as a comedy, with the humour arising from placing the hosts in challenging situations.[2] The ‘Gap Year’ series attempts to highlight the cultural differences between Australians and other nationalities and, in doing so, place the hosts in difficult or confronting situations.
The licensee has confirmed that Episode 5 of Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia, which was broadcast by the licensee on 12 August 2013, was broadcast with the voiceover: [3]
The following program is classified PG. It contains mild violence. The Nine Network recommends parental guidance for young children.
Additionally, the licensee confirmed that the consumer advice was also displayed on screen with an image of the PG classification symbol displayed throughout the consumer advice.
For the reasons considered above, the material in the ‘Cultural Eating’ segment was not of a strength or intensity that would require an additional consumer advice.
ACMA Investigation Report – Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia broadcast by TCN on
12 August 2013 1
[1] http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8673464 [accessed 3 October 2013]
[2] Including Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year and Hamish & Andy’s Euro Gap Year
[3] Email dated 20 September 2013