Boom Radio rebuked by watchdog for broadcasting Alanis Morissette song featuring f-word
A radio station for baby boomers has been reprimanded by Ofcom for broadcasting an expletive, despite arguing that the over-55s are unfazed by the f-word.
Boom Radio accidentally broadcast an unexpurgated version of the Alanis Morissette song You Oughta Know at 4.15pm during the drivetime show.
The song contains the lyric: “Are you thinking of me when you f--- her?”
Ofcom received two complaints about the broadcast, with one listener objecting to hearing the lyric on the school run.
Boom Radio argued that it “proudly target[s] those aged 60-74”, that its under-18 audience “registers at zero”, and its “music and chat is highly unlikely to be of any appeal to children”.
Only six per cent of its listeners are under the age of 55.
In its submission to Ofcom, the station said: “Whilst some listeners may have been surprised to hear the word and we would not have chosen to air the version we did, we are not of the view that the broadcast is likely to have caused appreciable offence to Boom’s largely 55+ audience who, like most adults, are highly likely to encounter the word frequently in life nowadays.”
The station added that it has “a good grasp of what offends and what is unlikely to” regarding its listeners, and has conducted research “to help educate us in making the increasingly challenging decisions on playing oldies which might be received rather differently in today’s world”.
Canadian-born singer-songwriter Morissette, 50, released the song, which she wrote about one of her ex-boyfriends, in 1995.
Broadcast by mistake
Ofcom rejected Boom’s argument and ruled that broadcasting the f-word at 4.15pm “was a clear example of the most offensive language being broadcast at a time when children were particularly likely to be listening”.
The regulator said it had determined that during school run time “children are particularly likely to be listening, on the basis that there is a higher likelihood of children and their parents/carers being in the audience at these times and potentially coming across content unawares”.
Boom said the song had been incorrectly labelled and broadcast by mistake, and the station has reviewed its processes.
Since its launch in 2021 as a station playing music from the 1960s and 1970s, Boom has built an audience of more than 600,000, many of them disaffected Radio 2 listeners. Its presenters, including David Hamilton, Simon Bates and Sir Tim Rice, have an average age of 70.