BBC fined $220,000 for Ross on-air prank

LONDON, April 3 (UPI) -- England's broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has fined the BBC $220,000 for Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross's infamous on-air prank call to actor Andrew Sachs.

Brand and Ross left sexually explicit messages about the 78-year-old "Fawlty Towers" actor's granddaughter on Sachs's voicemail during Brand's Radio 2 show in October.

The BBC suspended Brand and Ross, and Brand and the station's controller, Lesley Douglas, ultimately quit after the stunt drew thousands of complaints.

Ross publicly apologized for the incident, agreed to a three-month suspension from his own radio and TV shows, and recently returned to the airwaves.

"The BBC broadcast explicit, intimate and confidential information about Georgina Baillie, the granddaughter of the actor Andrew Sachs, in both programs without their consent," CNN quoted Ofcom as saying Friday.

"Ofcom found that this not only unwarrantably and seriously infringed their privacy, but was also gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning."