UK RADIO BROKE RULES AFTER FALSELY ANNOUNCING KING CHARLES’ DEATH — OFCOM

A UK community radio station, Radio Caroline, breached broadcasting rules after accidentally announcing the death of King Charles III during a May broadcast, the UK communications regulator Ofcom has ruled.

The station, a former pirate radio broadcaster that now primarily plays rock music, mistakenly aired pre-recorded messages announcing the monarch’s supposed death and suspended its regular programming.

One of the messages stated that normal programmes had been suspended “as a mark of respect” following the alleged passing of King Charles III.

The station then played the UK national anthem and broadcast about 16 minutes of silence before regular programming resumed.

According to Ofcom, the presenter did not apologise until about 30 minutes after the false announcement was first broadcast.

The regulator, which received two complaints about the incident, said the broadcast contained a “very significant inaccuracy” and that the delay in correcting the mistake breached two broadcasting rules.

One rule requires news reports to be accurate and impartial, while another requires broadcasters to promptly acknowledge and correct significant mistakes made on air.

Radio Caroline explained that the incident happened when a staff member accessed pre-recorded audio files prepared for use in the event of the monarch's death while carrying out maintenance on a studio computer.

The staff member reportedly played the files “out of curiosity” while the programme was being streamed remotely, causing the presenter’s broadcast to stop and the pre-recorded material to go on air.

After realising the mistake, the staff member reportedly panicked and left the premises.

The remote presenter was unaware that the programme had gone off air because they were not actively monitoring the station's output through an internet monitor.

Radio Caroline said the staff member responsible had been reprimanded and had apologised.

The station has also removed the pre-recorded death announcement files from the studio computer to prevent a similar incident from happening again.