ACMA finds Prime’s broadcast of MKR final breached broadcast act over captioning

The media watchdog has ruled that regional broadcaster Prime Seven was in breach of the Broadcasting Services Act after the grand final of My Kitchen Rules initially went to air without captions.

An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) last month has found that during the broadcast of the final, which was watched by 3.7 million viewers nationally, deaf and hearing impaired viewers were left unable to comprehend what was taking place during the first ten minutes of the finale broadcast before captions resumed.

“The ACMA’s finding is that the licensee has breached subsection 130ZR(1) of the BSA by failing to provide a captioning service for the program”, concluded ACMA.