Dated: 17 May 2001
The Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has requested MediaCorp TV to schedule the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) programmes on its channel, City TV, after family viewing time. Family viewing hours on TV are from 6am to 10pm.
SBA's decision arose after its study of public feedback to the WWF series. SBA notes that while some adults regard wrestling as shown in WWF programmes to be 'fake or choreographed' violence, and view it simply as 'entertainment', others, especially parents, are concerned about the adverse impact such programmes may have on young audiences, especially children. There is also concern about the negative values being conveyed through the programmes. The examples cited are the wrestlers' behaviour towards women which is often demeaning, and their use of crude language.
SBA consulted five of its Programme Advisory groups --- namely, the Programme Advisory Committee;the Programme Advisory Committee for Chinese Programmes (ACCESS);the Malay Programme Advisory Committee;Children's Programme Advisory Subcommittee;and the Entertainment Programme Advisory Subcommittee.
Members of the five Programme Advisory groups observed that the WWF series is popular with children and some of the wrestlers are being viewed as 'heroic' figures. Any negative values of the series could therefore impact on children, especially the younger ones, who cannot distinguish between 'choreographed violence' and 'real violence'. This being the case, members of all five of the Programme Advisory groups recommended that WWF programmes be scheduled after 10pm.
SBA assesses that the concerns of parents are valid and has asked for the programmes to be rescheduled to a later timeslot.
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