About UTV

UTV Viewer Interaction Policy

UTV policy in relation to viewer comments

UTV welcomes and values interaction from our viewers. Getting in touch with us to make comments or complaints is simple and straightforward.

You can contact UTV by phone, email or letter.

By phone

All calls received are directed to the Communications Office during office hours and a UTV Viewer Interaction Form is completed for each one.  

Out-of-hours calls are handled by UTV reception or newsroom staff, depending on the number called.

Staff who handle these calls have been fully briefed by Communications and detailed guidelines have also been provided for their reference. In every case, a Viewer Interaction Form is completed and passed promptly to Communications the next working day.

Those callers requesting callbacks are advised that they will be contacted the next working day. In all cases, a senior manager is on-call who can be contacted if immediate action is required.

Newsroom reporters or producers will take calls directly if they are not issue-related: for example, an organisation querying why its event was not covered.

By email

A Viewer Interaction Web Form is available on our website u.tv under the Contact Us section. An automated response is immediately sent to the viewer to advise that it has been received. If particular information is requested by the viewer, a follow- up email will be sent by the Communications team.

By letter

Al letters received from viewers are passed to the Communications team who respond accordingly.

Social Media

UTV’s social media team monitors comments made on its own Facebook page. Those considered to be complaints and requiring action are forwarded by email to the Communications office and a response agreed, which is then posted below the original Facebook comment.

Comments about UTV made on Twitter are also regularly monitored by the UTV Communications team and any ‘tweets’ requiring follow-up contact are identified and responded to. 

If comments are made on external social media sites and brought to UTV’s attention, we make every effort to resolve issues promptly by directing the user to our online comment form.

How are viewer comments handled?

Feedback from viewers is very important to us; we take it seriously and act upon it as soon as possible.  All complaints are documented and passed to our senior management who take appropriate action as required.   We make every effort to answer queries or resolve issues promptly.

If we have to look into a matter further, we will advise the viewer (in the manner in which they contacted us : phone, email or letter) that a full investigation is underway and aim to respond to them within 5 working days. 

Should the matter take longer than this, we will endeavour to provide a timescale in which they can expect a response.

Monthly Report

Every month, UTV provides a report to the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom.  In this, we list all the calls, emails and letters we receive from viewers and the category of each complaint. This is a regulatory licence requirement. If we receive more than 12 complaints in relation to any specific programme, we advise Ofcom as to the nature of this complaint and our response to those viewers.

We strive to resolve 100% of issues raised by our viewers.  However, if a viewer is unhappy with how UTV has dealt with their complaint and we are unable to resolve the issue directly, then we will advise them to contact Ofcom and provide the appropriate contact details.

We aim to treat every complainant with politeness and respect.  In return, we ask for equal consideration to be shown to those UTV staff who handle calls and complaints.