Comcast ‘Sorry’ for Accidentally Showing Porn Footage on Kid TV

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Kids in parts of New Jersey on Tuesday morning thought they were watching a TV show about a handyman named Manny who talks to his tools, when they were interrupted by a full-on display of pornography.

Joann Gazette told The Asbury Park Press yesterday that she heard her son calling to her, "Mom, there’s something wrong with the TV." When she went to check on him, she saw hard-core porn being acted out on the television. She thought her son had changed the channel, but when she investigated further she saw that it was indeed the Disney channel he had been watching.

Disney’s Playhouse, which includes the "Handy Manny" show, gears its programming toward children aged three to six years old.

Comcast spokesperson Fred DeAndrea spoke to the press: "It was an isolated issue in a local New Jersey facility. We automatically detected the issue and it was corrected promptly," adding that the error occurred within Comcast, not the Disney channel.

Another parent of a child who saw the program, Middletown dad Paul Dunleavy, told The New York Daily News, "It was two people doing their thing, it was full-on and it was disgusting. I couldn’t believe it." Comcast apologized directly to Dunleavy, but he was still upset. "We try to do the right thing to protect our kids from this stuff, and then they broadcast it on children’s TV," said the concerned father.

Karen Hobson, speaking on behalf on Disney, told reporters that the network giant was also disturbed by the incident, saying "We value the trust that parents have in our programming and certainly take yesterday’s regrettable program disruption extremely seriously. Comcast has taken full responsibility for this situation, and we understand that they are currently working to determine the root cause of the incident."

Comcast has agreed to meet with the Board of Public Utilities in New Jersey, which oversees the cable industry along with other utilities in the state, to determine how the error occurred and how it managed to get past parental monitors which screen out questionable programming.

Paul Dunleavy isn’t satisfied, adding, "If you can’t feel safe letting kids watch the Disney Channel, what can you do?"