The Broadcasting Content Complaints Council on Friday asked TV channels to air film award shows having double-meaning jokes and adult humour only after 11 pm.
The body has also asked TV channels to stop shows depicting animal abuse. The directives were issued after the regulatory body received several complaints from the general public regarding these issues.
The BCCC, a self-regulatory body for over 200 non-news TV channels in the country, said that while reviewing complaints, it was found that at times the content was found to be demeaning to women or some communities.
“The BCCC has found that many of these shows feature vulgar dialogues, double entendres and smutty puns from the anchors. The content of the so-called jokes is demeaning to women and other communities,” the BCCC said.
“It is not the BCCC’s intention to censor these shows, which are, after all, live events. But we believe that if the content is to include adult humour then the telecast of these shows should only begin after 11 pm,” it added.
In a separate advisory, the body noted that several TV programmes were exploiting animals, birds and insects for the sake of entertainment and asked them not to air such content.
The body headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi high court, Justice A.P. Shah, stated that many entertainment channels, especially those airing reality shows, were exhibiting content extremely harmful to animals. “Live insects are eaten to show courage in a manner that is distasteful and not conducive to health,” the BCCC said.