The Saint radio station, owned by Southampton Football Club, breached Ofcom’s news and current affairs code after a news bulletin promoted the club’s season tickets on air.
The media regulator found against the station after a listener complained that a sports news bulletin on 30 April that included an interview with an SFC staff member promoting season tickets, was not impartial news.
The item in the sports news started with, “it’s the last chance to get a ticket bargain here at St Mary’s today; 5.30 is the deadline for the early bird discount…”
According to the code, all news – including bulletins and general coverage of news events – must be accurate and duly impartial.
“The commercial link between the licensee and the football club made the content of the news item unacceptable,” Ofcom said in its ruling.
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