“Smart Sign" in News Bulletins and News Programs

The Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of the Radio and Television Supreme Council Broadcasting Service ("Amendment Regulation") entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated June 13, 2024 and numbered 32575. As it is known, media service providers are obliged to inform audiences about the content of their program services in audio or written form by using the symbol system.

The Amending Regulation obliges organizations to encode pre-recorded images in news bulletins and programs in the same way as they encode TV series and movies, separately in a smart sign system.

The organizations will be obliged to broadcast all of the symbols required by the system after the credits at the beginning of the news bulletins and after each interruption during the program, as in other types of programs. In addition, if the system assigns a symbol or symbols related to a content group such as "violence/horror", "behaviors that may set a negative example", "sexuality" as a result of the coding of the pre-recorded images, the symbol or symbols determined by the system should be displayed permanently in an appropriate corner of the screen during the time the relevant news is brought to the screen.

Furthermore, if the system assigns the age group symbols "General Audience" or "7+", these symbols will not be required to be displayed on the screen during the broadcast of the news item; if symbols "13+" or "18+" are assigned, these symbols should be displayed in a suitable corner of the screen for the duration of the broadcast. As a result of the coding, the pre-recorded image determined to be broadcast with the symbol "13+" can only be broadcast after the hour 9.30 p.m., and the pre-recorded image determined to be broadcast with the symbol "18+" can be broadcast between the hours 12.00-5.00 a.m.

In conclusion, the new regulations introduced by the Amending Regulation introduce significant obligations for media service providers. The requirement to encode pre-recorded images and news bulletins with a smart sign system and to display these symbols in appropriate corners of the screen for a specified period of time aims to make broadcast content more transparent and audience-friendly.

Compliance with these regulations is critical for organizations to both fulfill their legal responsibilities and increase audience satisfaction.