TELEVISION bosses are sending a new distress warning to viewers – of swearing heard during Gaelic football coverage.
BBC Alba issued a new disclaimer because they claimed they don’t have time to edit colourful language used by fans and footballers during pre-watershed games.
The announcement comes after the Gaelic Beeb channel just last month secured a new broadcast deal for live match-coverage with the Scottish Premier League.
For the 2013/14 season the broadcaster will show three live SPL matches per season with Gaelic language commentary – starting with the derby between Ross County and Inverness on Wednesday 2 January.
Vivienne Pattison from television watchdog Mediawatch, said: “You can see why BBC bosses are being careful and it’s a wise move but I really wish they didn’t have to do this.
“It’s sad when it becomes normal to hear swearing during a match on live TV.
“Footballers should be aware this can be picked up by children in the ground and watching at home.”
Peter Foot, chairman of the National Campaign for Courtesy, said: “I go to football most weeks and I’ve complained to people to stop swearing – usually they are able to stop easily.”
A spokesman for BBC Alba said: “It is required of the channel to warn viewers of the presence of offensive language within a broadcast which we do not have time to edit out before transmission.”
In October this year BBC Breakfast presenter Susanna Reid have to apologise to millions of viewers after a technician blurted out “What the f*** is that?” live on air.
The red-faced presenter said: “Now a little earlier on in the programme we realise that there was a technical error and a microphone may have been open and unfortunate language may have been broadcast in the programme.
“If you heard that this morning we do make an apology for that. Unfortunately people who presume that their microphone is closed may talk a little bit more freely than they should.
“So apologies if you were offended by that and we are just going to look into correcting that technical problem and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
