A UK radio station – Radio Caroline – has been found to have breached broadcasting rules after mistakenly announcing the death of King Charles III on air.
The ruling was issued by the UK media regulator, Ofcom, following an incident in May in which the station broadcast pre-recorded messages falsely claiming that the King had died.
The announcement led to the suspension of normal programming, the playing of the national anthem and about 16 minutes of silence before regular programmes resumed.
Ofcom said the station breached two provisions of its Broadcasting Code, citing the significant inaccuracy of the report and the delay in correcting it.
The regulator said the presenter apologised about 30 minutes after the false announcement was broadcast.
Radio Caroline told Ofcom that the incident occurred when a staff member carrying out maintenance on a studio computer accessed pre-recorded files prepared for use in the event of the monarch’s death.
The staff member reportedly played the files “out of curiosity”, unintentionally interrupting the remote presenter’s programme and sending the false announcement on air.
According to the station, the employee panicked after realising what had happened and left the premises.
Radio Caroline said the staff member was subsequently reprimanded and apologised, while the sensitive pre-recorded files were removed from the studio computer.
Ofcom’s ruling has renewed attention on the need for stronger safeguards around pre-recorded emergency material, particularly as broadcasters increasingly rely on remote production systems.