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Broadcasting company Sky is stepping up its work on product
responsibility in its television and online services. The UK-based
business has brought in new technology that has increased the scope for
parental control of viewing by children. This includes features that
enable parents to restrict access after 8pm, remove adult channels from
programme event listings and a PIN system that limits access to
programmes recorded on Sky Plus personal video recorders.
Sky says that it will consider further improvements to parental control. It says stakeholder consultations in spring 2005 ‘told us [customers] would like even more control over the programmes their children can watch’.
Ben Stimson, director of corporate responsibility, said this was a ‘key strand’ of Sky’s CSR programme. He told EP: ‘We’ve provided parental control features for many years and they’re part of the fabric of the service, but customers have been telling us they want us to provide more aids to help them choose what they do want to watch and what they don’t. This is clearly something that won’t disappear off the agenda, not least as the routes for delivering media continue to develop and expand.’
The work on parental control will involve Sky’s two-year-old corporate responsibility steering group of senior executives, as well as its corporate responsibility task force, established last year, and a Sky employee forum. All have raised the question of parental control.
The steering group consists of Sky’s chief executive, chief financial officer, two independent non-executive directors and other senior executives. It meets quarterly to provide overall direction on corporate responsibility, while the task force, which also meets four times a year, aims to embed responsible business practices in the company. Task force members are senior operational managers in areas including technology, procurement, health and safety and investor relations. The forum of 67 Sky employees elected by staff raises issues on all aspects of the business and has pinpointed parental control as a prime concern. It adopted CSR as a regular agenda item in May 2005. Sky also runs annual CSR risk workshops highlighting parental control as an important issue.
In addition to its work on parental control, the company has introduced measures to counter problem gambling on the interactive betting channels operated by its Sky Bet subsidiary. Customers can now prevent themselves from playing on the channels for ‘cooling-off’ periods of up to six months. When customers have gambled solidly for an hour, a warning appears on screen. Most of the bets are placed on the outcome of sporting events.
A series of half-hour documentaries on CSR topics is being broadcast on
various television channels across the US. The first 13 programmes in
the series, created by TV production company Ethical Markets, are also
available online.
Sky says that it will consider further improvements to parental control. It says stakeholder consultations in spring 2005 ‘told us [customers] would like even more control over the programmes their children can watch’.
Ben Stimson, director of corporate responsibility, said this was a ‘key strand’ of Sky’s CSR programme. He told EP: ‘We’ve provided parental control features for many years and they’re part of the fabric of the service, but customers have been telling us they want us to provide more aids to help them choose what they do want to watch and what they don’t. This is clearly something that won’t disappear off the agenda, not least as the routes for delivering media continue to develop and expand.’
The work on parental control will involve Sky’s two-year-old corporate responsibility steering group of senior executives, as well as its corporate responsibility task force, established last year, and a Sky employee forum. All have raised the question of parental control.
The steering group consists of Sky’s chief executive, chief financial officer, two independent non-executive directors and other senior executives. It meets quarterly to provide overall direction on corporate responsibility, while the task force, which also meets four times a year, aims to embed responsible business practices in the company. Task force members are senior operational managers in areas including technology, procurement, health and safety and investor relations. The forum of 67 Sky employees elected by staff raises issues on all aspects of the business and has pinpointed parental control as a prime concern. It adopted CSR as a regular agenda item in May 2005. Sky also runs annual CSR risk workshops highlighting parental control as an important issue.
In addition to its work on parental control, the company has introduced measures to counter problem gambling on the interactive betting channels operated by its Sky Bet subsidiary. Customers can now prevent themselves from playing on the channels for ‘cooling-off’ periods of up to six months. When customers have gambled solidly for an hour, a warning appears on screen. Most of the bets are placed on the outcome of sporting events.
A series of half-hour documentaries on CSR topics is being broadcast on
various television channels across the US. The first 13 programmes in
the series, created by TV production company Ethical Markets, are also
available online.Super Featured
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