Saw a 7Bravo promo for “Botched” which had an MA15+ bug and the promo was for a 7:30pm timeslot (tonight). Is this not in breach of the ACMA Code, I thought 8:30pm was the earliest time?
Also, as TelevisionAU has mentioned a bit recently, that seperate promo/end-tag emphasing the day/time had a different classifition bug M, Seven have done this a lot over the years, I always interpreted it as the promotion footage itseelf contains content that’ll be an MA15+ scene, but the one in the end-tag with no footage will be what the actual episode/program is classified (“Home and Away” ones a frequent example of this).
So perhaps Botched airs on another night in a later tiemslot and they use the same promo but with different end-tags, depending on which timeslot they’re promoting.
It’s a bit complicated and confusing actually… it appears series 6 is MA rated but the earlier series are only M.
Nine have the current rights to the latter half of series 6, and they’re shown in a 10.30pm time slot once a week.
7Bravo are currently showing series 5 in that 7.30pm Sunday slot (M-rated), and series 2 in a late-evening time slot. But 7plus has the first half of series 6, on top of a couple of earlier series… so if they’re promoting content from 7plus too (as they tend to), there is some MA-rated content there.
What a mess. But the promo was for 7Bravo (channel) technically, but all promos now include a 7Plus add-on (as do all networks), so you’ve got a point.
And this once again gets back to non-exclusive licencing, these days evident pretty much across the board (all suppliers and mediums), apart from a couple. Take Sony making/renewing deals last year with Seven, Disney (including Disney Plus), Foxtel (which includes Binge), Stan (which includes Nine) and Netflix in 2021. Example: a few “Spider Man” films are currently available on demand on like 5 different streamers if you take a look (Netflix, Disney Plus, Stan, Binge/GO and 7Plus)
It would fall under what would’ve been previously referred to as “Mature Themes” on a PG-rated show or movie (as opposed to “Adult Themes” on an M)… sounds like there’s a push (at the Classification Board level, not just at Free TV’s censors, looking at recent decisions of the former) to be more detailed about what those “themes” actually are.
It has been used for years now, including on Seven (regularly seen during Family Guy on 7mate / 7flix) since the ACMA Code changes at the end of 2015.
Correct, that (along with “Blood and Gore” / “Suicide Themes” / “Sustained Threat” etc etc and pretty much any consumer advice descriptor that isn’t one of the classifiable elements comes under Themes AKA ‘thematic’). And yes previously, both Classification Board/OFLC and ACMA, used to just have the generic “Adult Themes” at every classification level, which they’d probably argue today was too vague and doesn’t indicate at all what that could mean, unless a title’s genre/synopsis/title indicates what might be involved.
If you visit the CB website, in recent years in the title search bar, each classification decision includes a table indicating which level each elemeny sits, as well as a drop-down written explanation for each.
The CB Classification Act and ACMA Code’s also contain definitions as to (e.g.) “themes” and examples, as well as at each level.
Nah, previously it was just the lower version of “Adult Themes” that was used on a PG program (or more so a PG movie), although “Mature Themes” in itself is a more recent invention.
Both have since been broadened out for the purposes of the long-form consumer advice, as @Sully mentioned above, with “themes” in general being kept as an all-encompassing factor as an “impact category” for determining the rating as a whole.
AFAIK, “Adult” and “Mature” Themes are the exact same thing, it’s just the latter is the more modern term used today, adopted first by the OFLC in the early 2000s and officially in mid-2005 and later by networks once the ACMA’s Prescribed Consumer Advice were dropped at the end of 2015 (that is networks can essentially make-up whatever they want as long as it acutely describes the most impactful elements that contributed to that classification) - Seven being the only network that have chosen not to do this, largely still folllwing the old ACMA phrasing with the odd exception such as “Scary Themes” or “Horror Violence”.
I’ll try to check, but in the later of the old ACMA Code I’m pretty sure “Crude Humour” was one they prescribed for use under the “[A]” (Adult Themes) category. The use of square brackats with a cons. advice. category was of course always required in small watermark and then coloured bug upon return from each commercial break, however this was also dropped at the end of 2015, meaning viewers can only see the classification and not what type of content contributed to it unless they check guides which provide the cons. advice symbols.
It’s a bit confusing, but yes I’ve seen some networks use both too, as they’re allowed to now (with what I mentioned above about the cons. advice category/symbol now longer being required - which could only then be used once and as such the ‘thematic’ descriptor with the largest impact superseded the lesser, for example if the crude humour was then that would be used instead of adult themes - but it doesn’t mean seperate adult/mature/themes are not in that program either. Another example used to be “[S]” (Sex). “A Sex Scene” / “Sex Scenes” / “Strong Sex Scenes” (the old ACMA prescibed phrasing) usually always superceded “Sexual References” - but often they would also occur in that same program - but it was up to the viewer to assume they might or might not be included (sometimes inextricably linked) with the sex scenes. You often see for instance on Nine both terms are used together in classifications now.
I think since the end of 2015 it’s better, as like Cynic’s caps, they are allowed to provide multiple cons. advice from the same category.
SBS World Movies airing an R18+ movie from 2014 tonight containing actual sex, Nymphomaniac: Vol 1, surely they’ll modify this?
The network has got away countless times not editing R18+ movies (which is actually a breach of the Code - although a different one to the Commercial - it’s just nobody reported it), however much of these were rather old titles and ones prior to the current Classification Scheme in early 1993 which introduced the MA rating. SBS have edited R18+ titles as well, usually more modern titles and in recent years seem to be doing for all, maybe ACMA found out and had a stern word.
SBS have rated the film: “MA: s n l v a”. Their guide (from TVT) also says this is a premeire and at time of publication their classifiers hadn’t reviewed/edited/classified the film yet as it was blank (their rating now available on Foxtel Guide). However, of course there’s no R rating on TV at all even Pay (except their World Movies channel of it still exists and required a special pin to unlock), that didn’t stop SBS from previously airing unedited R movies but saying they were MA. So we’ll have to see…
7mate airing the OG Death Wish with Charles Bronson tonight from '74, they showed it a decade ago. It’s still classified R18+ (but hasn’t been re-classified since the 1980s and may be more an MA in today’s standards). Their classifition is MA15+: Language, Violence and Adult Themes, previous airings Themes was substituted with Sex. I’m guessing they’ll edit or completely remove the infamously brutal rape scene with a very young Jeff Goldblum.
update
Quickly took a look and to my surprise that scene appeared unedited, I must be wrong though or another scene(s) must’ve been edited, as a commercial would definitely not breach the Code knowingly and broadcast a completely unedited R18+ content.
You’re probably not wrong. Luckily for the networks nobody complains to ACMA anymore. Just two investigations so far this year compared to over 100 in 2013.
If it took a review to downgrade The Suicide Squad from R18+ to MA15+ then it would be pretty game for 9go to air the movie without edits considering ACMA’s supposedly more restrictive guidelines.
