LONDON — The managing director of Playboy TV U.K. wants the country’s adult broadcasting regulations changed to allow it to compete with the Internet.
Speaking at an industry event sponsored by broadcast operator Chello DMC and Broadcast magazine, Playboy’s Jeremy Yates said adult TV programmers are losing ground to the “anything goes, open Internet” and called the current 9 p.m. TV cut off time for adult “nonsense.”
According to Digital Spy, Yates maintained that adult providers are handcuffed and once IPTV services like Google TV hits the U.K.’s “small screen” in force, it will be a “bit odd” to regulate TV.
Strict rules for adult TV content are now in place and regulated by Ofcom that carry harsh penalties for violators.
Playboy TV and its subsidiary Just4Us TV were fined $175,000 in November for broadcasting ads for its adult chat services. And in May, the broadcaster lost its bid to make two hardcore adult video websites exempt from the U.K’s VOD regulation after Ofcom ruled in favor of watchdog ATVOD.
“I'd like to see a change that allows us to compete with the Internet. If someone who is a responsible adult who wants to watch our content at 5 p.m. in the afternoon, why shouldn't they?," Yates said.
The executive stressed that Playboy takes parental control "extremely seriously," but feels that there should be more options available to keep the company competitive
Yates proposed that adult content shown during the day could be given a second PIN number on digital TV to increase security, but noted that getting approval would be difficult.
"I'll keep banging the drum anyway," Yates said.
