Media Lunch sex ruled too explicit

A satirical item on TV2 featuring two semi-naked news readers having sex broke the good taste and decency standard, the Broadcasting Standards Authority says.

The Eating Media Lunch item, broadcast at 10pm last November 15, drew formal complaints from viewers Andrew Morrish and Rod Valenta, who took offence at a scene showing a woman masturbating and having oral sex with a man while he was presenting the weather.

The complaints were upheld by the authority, which found the item was "unnecessarily lengthy and gratuitously explicit".

TVNZ's complaints committee had earlier rejected the complaints, saying Eating Media Lunch, fronted by Jeremy Wells, often delivered its satirical messages in such an outrageous and flagrant manner that it obviously intended to encourage laughter rather than revulsion.

"The programme would not be to everybody's liking, but no television humour can amuse all viewers all of the time ... In the past Monty Python similarly pushed the boundaries of community conventions of its time, but would now be regarded as a trail-blazer."

TVNZ also argued the programme was so outrageous it made fun of the very concept of taste and decency. The time of the broadcast, the programme's adults-only classification, warnings and expectations of the target audience were also relevant.

The authority said there were limits to what could be accepted, even in a satirical context.