The scheduling of trails

Last month Channel 4 received a flurry of comments from viewers who suggested that the on-air trails for shows including True Blood and Age 8 and Wanting a Sex Change had been broadcast at inappropriate times of the day. In order to find out more, I spoke to team responsible for scheduling our on-air trails and asked them to explain a bit more about their decision making process.

The role of the scheduling team is to ensure that promotional messages are communicated effectively to the right audience, and that all trails are tonally and editorially suitable for the slot in which they are placed.  The team explained that each trail is viewed by a lawyer prior to its transmission who will advise on any necessary restrictions (for example, post-watershed). If a trail is deemed to be unsuitable for children, it will not be placed in or around programmes that are aimed at children or have a high level of child viewing.

Often there will be two versions of a trail – a 40 second version and a 20 second version. In the case of the trail for Age 8 and Wanting a Sex Change (which attracted half a dozen complaints), the longer, more explicit trail was only shown after 8pm. The shorter trail was kept away from The Simpsons and early morning children’s programming, but was shown pre-watershed at other times of the day. Following a complaint from one viewer about the trail being shown around The Paul O’ Grady Show, the decision was made not to repeat the trail in that slot.

In the case of True Blood, the longer, more explicit trails were restricted to play only after 8pm, while the shorter version was kept away from any programmes aimed at children. The 20 second trail did appear around Hollyoaks and Friends but these programmes are aimed at and appeal to predominantly teenage and young-adult viewers rather than child audiences.

While the True Blood trail could be described as sexually suggestive in style as well as hinting at themes of violence, it was edited in such a way as to ensure that nothing unduly explicit or graphically violent was shown, and avoided any overt representations of sexual behaviour.

The on-air trails team reassured me they are very aware that viewers do not choose to watch trails in the same way as scheduled programmes and, as such, they try to ensure that trails are both appropriate and enjoyable. They do monitor viewer reaction carefully and – as shown in the case of Age 8 and wanting a Sex Change – will respond when it appears that the scheduling was not quite right.

See also Paula’s blog: Trails provoke an unusual reaction

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