Following on from last week’s report that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is seriously considering cancelling 2DayFM’s licence after its ill-fated ‘Royal Prank’ comes news that station bosses have banned presenters from making any mention whatsoever of the birth of the new royal baby due any minute.
According to reports in the News Limited press, 2Day bosses have called for a total blackout on any Royal baby news due to the ongoing legal fallout from 2012’s ‘prank’ call that led to a London nurse committing suicide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMq9Xo3u8Z8
Bosses of the parent company, Southern Cross Austereo, have reportedly sent a company-wide memo to staff stating that the pending birth of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William’s second child is completely off limits.
The ban comes after last week’s ACMA report into the now infamous prank call. ACMA is now deciding on what punishment to impose on the station with an option to pull the station’s broadcasting licence a real possibility.
ACMA has never revoked the licence of a TV station or radio network in its history and most pundits believe the regulator will impose some sort of hefty fine on station bosses via the Federal Court rather than pull it off air completely.
Michael Christian – one of the two DJs involved in the prank call – still works for the station in an on-air role in Sydney. However, Christian’s offsider at the time, Mel Greig, has said the incident all but destroyed her career and she is still unable to find media work because of it.
