As 2024 comes to a close, many use the time to reflect on the year we’ve had. Achievements, big events, life changes, there’s a lot to look back on.
And now Ofcom is joining in on the reflecting. Earlier this week it released the most complained about TV programmes of the year, so lets take a look at what they were and why they were complained about.
Ofcom revealed that in 2024 it received 69,080 complaints, with the top ten programmes making up 61% of those complaints. The regulator said it conducted 43 broadcast standard investigations and found 40 of these cases broke their rules.
Now for the most complained about programmes. Two episodes of Big Brother made the top ten list in positions ten and five.
One episode received 553 complaints about imagery on a contestant’s clothing related to Palestine. The regulator wrote, “Taking into account, among other things, that the prominence and duration of the image was limited, it was consistent with the individual’s right to personal expression, and it did not represent affiliation to a terrorist organisation, we did not find grounds to pursue further.”
The other complaint was made in regards to a joke made by housemate Sarah with racist connotations. Ofcom received 747 complaints and wrote, “We understood viewers’ concerns, but in our view, the potential for offence was quickly made clear by Big Brother and the contestant was warned about her unacceptable behaviour. We also took into account that Sarah later apologised during the broadcast.”
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer’sITV debate received 710 complaints about a range of concerns. Ofcom said: “In our view, both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer were given sufficient opportunity throughout the programme to respond individually to the policy questions raised. On the issue of Labour’s tax plans, Sir Keir was able to robustly challenge the veracity of Rishi Sunak’s claims.”
Love Island was the third most complained about programme of the year, with 1,882 complaints. Viewers complained about the behaviour of Joey Essex and Sean Stone. Ofcom wrote: “We recognised that emotionally charged or confrontational scenes can upset some viewers. But, in our view, negative behaviour in the villa was not shown in a positive light, and contestants were seen supporting or apologising to each other.”
A Good Morning Britain episode from August 5 received 16,851 complaints, making it the second most complained about programme of the year. There were two complaints, one in relation to MP Zarah Sultana, and another regarding Ed Balls interviewing his wife Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary.
Ofcom wrote, “Our assessment found that Ms Sultana was given ample opportunity to express her views and respond to the questions put to her. We also received around a thousand complaints about the same programme from viewers who objected to Ed Balls interviewing his wife, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary. We reminded ITV of the need to make such relationships clear to viewers and to take particular care over the compliance of any such interviews to ensure that due impartiality is preserved.”
Finally, the most complained about programme of the year was an episode of TalkTV from January 3. The complaints were made against Julia Hartley-Brewer during an interview with Dr Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative. Over 17,000 complaints were made. As a result Ofcom told TalkTV to “take extra care to ensure that potentially highly offensive comments are editorially justified.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Ofcom said they will start to change how major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ are regulated.