BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Summary  

[This summary does not form part of the decision.] 

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a promo for Love Island USA, broadcast during an episode of America’s Got Talent, breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards. While Love Island USA is rated 16-LC, the Authority found the promo’s content was consistent with the G classification for America’s Got Talent. Any content that may have been viewed by some audience members as potentially suggestive or sexual was brief and inexplicit, and child viewers were unlikely to be unduly alarmed or distressed by the promo.

Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children’s Interests

The broadcast

[1]  On Saturday 23 August 2025, a 30-second promo for Love Island USA was shown during an advertisement break for America’s Got Talent, which screened at 7.30pm and was classified G. Season 7 of Love Island USA, the season promoted in the broadcast, is rated 16-LC on TVNZ+.

[2]  The promo contained the following dialogue:

Love Island narrator:            Welcome to Love Island USA! 

Contestant #1:                       [Smiling and waving] Heeeey!

TVNZ voiceover:                   Summer has never looked so good. 

Contestant #2:                       [To the camera] Don’t play with fire because you might get burned, baby. 

Contestant #3:                       [To the camera] My mom raised me to be the king I am today. 

Voiceover:                             These singles are ready to mingle. 

Contestant #4:                       [To another contestant] Love Island USA, girl! Let’s do it! 

Contestant #5:                       They look good as hell.

Contestant #6:                       What’s up, party people? 

Love Island host:                  Islanders, it’s time to get you coupled up. Girls, the power is in your hands. 

TVNZ voiceover:                   Love Island USA, streaming now on TVNZ+. 

[3]  The promo comprised a montage of short clips, including:

a)  people dancing inside and on the roof of a bus, with the men either shirtless or wearing unbuttoned shirts

b)  two separate clips of a woman in a bikini and a shirtless man, smiling while dancing by a pool

c)  slow-motion footage of a:

i)  woman in a bikini blowing a kiss

ii)  contestant running his hand over his abdominal muscles

iii)  contestant in a bikini, smiling and biting her finger while moving her hips

iv)  contestant smiling and rubbing his hands together while shirtless

d)   a rapid montage, lasting around three seconds, comprising three clips of individual contestants posing in swimwear  

e)   an approximately 10-second montage of footage from one of the show’s couple selection ceremonies, with women dressed in gowns and men in suits and showing:

i)  a contestant kissing another contestant’s hand

ii)  two other contestants embracing to kiss before the shot cuts

iii)  two contestants kissing.

The complaint

[4]  Rafael Malthus complained the promo breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards of the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand. It featured ‘[women] wearing barely anything and behaving seductively during family viewing hours’.

[5]  On referral to the Authority, the complainant said people wearing swimwear may not ‘in and of itself be considered “sexually suggestive”’. However, when coupled with images of (for example) contestants rubbing their abdominal muscles or moving their hips while biting their finger, ‘I believe it falls squarely into that category’.

[6]  The complainant also noted they considered this to be ‘a common occurrence’ (showing inappropriate content during family viewing times). Under the Broadcasting Act 1989, we can only assess complaints in relation to specific broadcast(s).¹ On this basis, our decision is limited to the promo for Love Island USA specified by the complainant.

The broadcaster’s response

[7]  Television New Zealand Ltd (TVNZ) did not uphold the complaint. It considered the promo ‘observed the interests of children’ and ‘was unlikely to have caused widespread undue offence among likely viewers’. While Love Island is not appropriate for children and is classified accordingly, the promo did not contain ‘material that could be considered inappropriate or potentially harmful for children’ or that was ‘outside the reasonable expectations of the G classification’ for America’s Got Talent:

• It ‘did not contain any sexual material, nudity, or other content likely to cause widespread, undue offence’. ‘The contestants were not shown participating in sexual activity, and the promo did not contain sexual references.’ The promo ‘largely comprise[d] adults posing or dancing in swimwear or greeting each other in the introductory stages of the show, all in non-sexual contexts’.
• ‘Some of the contestants were shown in brief shots posing or dancing for the camera… None of these shots could reasonably be considered sexual in nature. We hesitate to describe any of the shots as “provocative”, but any such categorisation would only register dimly at the very mildest end of that scale.’
• ‘All contestants featured in the promo were either clothed or wearing swimwear. We do not agree that there is anything inherently inappropriate about people wearing swimwear, particularly in a pool or beach setting as were the settings depicted in the promo.’
• ‘The Love Island format is well-established and very popular. It is likely that many viewers would already be familiar with it, and as such would find the promotion of a new series relatively unremarkable.’

The standards

[8]  The purpose of the offensive and disturbing content standard (standard 1) is to protect audiences from viewing or listening to broadcasts that are likely to cause widespread disproportionate offence or distress or undermine widely shared community standards.² The standard states:³

• Broadcast content should not seriously violate community standards of taste and decency or disproportionately offend or disturb the audience, taking into account:
  • the context of the programme and the wider context of the broadcast, and
  • the information given by the broadcaster to enable the audience to exercise choice and control over their own, and children’s, viewing or listening.

[9]  The children’s interests standard (standard 2) is related to the offensive and disturbing content standard. Both standards consider the same contextual factors but differ in focus, with the children’s interests standard directed towards harm potentially unique to children rather than the audience generally.⁴

[10]  The purpose of the children’s interests standard is to enable parents and caregivers to protect children from material that disproportionately disturbs them, is harmful, or is likely to impair their physical, mental, or social development.⁵ The standard states:⁶

Broadcasters should ensure children⁷ can be protected from content that might adversely affect them.

Our analysis

[11]  We have watched the broadcast and read the correspondence listed in the Appendix.

[12]  When we consider a complaint that broadcasting standards have been breached, our starting point is the right to freedom of expression – which includes the broadcaster’s right to offer a range of content to a broad audience, and the audience’s right to receive that content. We must weigh the value of the broadcast as an exercise of the right to freedom of expression, against any harm potentially caused by the broadcast. We may only intervene where the level of harm means that placing a limit on the right to freedom of expression is reasonable and justified.⁸

[13]  America’s Got Talent, the ‘host programme’ in this case, was rated G – approved for general viewing. Programmes rated G exclude material likely to be unsuitable for children. They may not necessarily be designed for child viewers but should not contain material likely to alarm or distress them.⁹

[14]  Season 7 of Love Island USA, which was promoted in the broadcast as being available to stream on TVNZ+, carries a 16-LC rating.¹⁰ ‘16’ means people under 16 should not view, and the ‘L’ and ‘C’ advisory labels indicate ‘language’ and ‘content’ may offend. Individual episodes from the series carry a mix of 16-LC, 16-L, and M-L classifications (‘M’ meaning suitable for mature audiences 16 years and over).¹¹

[15]  Guideline 1.6 to the offensive and disturbing content standard states promos should comply with the classification of the programme during which they screen (the ‘host programme’). The key question for the Authority is therefore whether the promo for Love Island USA complied with the G classification of America’s Got Talent.

[16]  The context in which the broadcast occurred, and the wider context, are important considerations when assessing whether the broadcast has breached either the offensive and disturbing content, or the children’s interests standard.¹² For the reasons that follow, we do not consider the promo went beyond the host programme’s G classification.

[17]  Love Island USA is clearly targeted at an adult audience, and TVNZ advised America’s Got Talent ‘targets a wide audience. It is not targeted specifically to children.’ The promo in question was 30 seconds long and did not contain any sexual innuendo, nudity or explicit sexual content.¹³ Any content that may have been viewed by some audience members as potentially sexual or suggestive (eg contestants dancing and blowing kisses at the camera; contestants kissing) was brief and not graphic.¹⁴ We have previously found mild and inexplicit sexual references, and revealing swimwear or clothing, unlikely to unduly distress or alarm child viewers and therefore consistent with the G classification.¹⁵

[18]  For these reasons, we do not consider the general audience of America’s Got Talent would have been disproportionately offended or disturbed by the promo, or that the promo seriously violated community standards of taste and decency. Nor do we consider the promo would have unduly disturbed or adversely affected any children watching.

[19]  Accordingly, we find no breach of either standard and no harm at a level justifying restriction of the broadcaster’s freedom of expression.

For the above reasons the Authority does not uphold the complaint. 

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Susie Staley
Chair
18 March 2026  

Appendix

The correspondence listed below was received and considered by the Authority when it determined this complaint:

1  Malthus’s original complaint – 1 September 2025

2  TVNZ’s decision – 23 September 2025

3  Malthus’s referral to the Authority – 14 October 2025

4  TVNZ’s confirmation of no further comments – 15 October 2025

5  Malthus’s further comments – 18 January 2026

6  TVNZ’s confirmation of no further comments – 20 January 2026

¹ Section 6(1)(a)
² Commentary, Offensive and Disturbing Content, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 8
³ Standard 1, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁴ Commentary, Children’s Interests, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 10
⁵ Commentary, Children’s Interests, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 10
⁶ Standard 2, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁷ A ‘child’ is under the age of 14 years
⁸ Introduction, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 4
⁹ Guideline 1.4
¹⁰ TVNZ+ “Love Island USA” (9 February 2025) <tvnz.co.nz>
¹¹ TVNZ+ “Love Island USA” (9 February 2025) <tvnz.co.nz>
¹² Guidelines 1.1 and 2.3
¹³ For a similar finding, see Quirke and Discovery NZ Ltd, Decision No. 2021-094 at [14]
¹⁴ For similar findings, see Kittel and Television New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2017-024 at [12]; Ryan and Television New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2023-026 at [13]
¹⁵ Sta. Lucia and MediaWorks TV Ltd, Decision No. 2019-048 at [33]