UK watchdog: Radio station broke rules with false King Charles III death announcement

A UK watchdog has ruled that community radio station Radio Caroline broke broadcasting rules after accidentally announcing the death of King Charles III.

The station aired pre-recorded messages in May that falsely declared the monarch had died. These were followed by the national anthem and 16 minutes of silence before regular programming resumed. The presenter eventually apologized 30 minutes after the erroneous announcement.

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we have suspended our normal programmes until further notice as a mark of respect following the passing of His Majesty King Charles III

Ofcom, the UK's media regulator, received two complaints about the broadcast. It determined that the "very significant inaccuracy" and the "considerable length of time" taken to acknowledge and correct the mistake violated two of its rules: one requiring accurate and impartial news reporting, and another mandating prompt on-air corrections of significant errors.

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very significant inaccuracy

Radio Caroline explained the error occurred when a staff member accessed pre-recorded sound files, intended for use in the event of the monarch's death, while performing maintenance on the studio computer. The staff member played the files out of curiosity, inadvertently stopping the live stream and broadcasting the pre-recorded content. The individual then reportedly panicked and left the premises.

The station stated that the remote presenter would not have realized they were off-air unless actively monitoring their output online. The presenter, unaware of the mistake, did not immediately respond to calls from station personnel who had noticed the error. Radio Caroline confirmed the staff member responsible has been reprimanded and apologized, and the pre-recorded files have been removed from the computer.

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considerable length of time