2007 British premium-rate phone-in scandal

Last updated

The 2007 British premium-rate phone-in scandal, sometimes referred to in the press as simply the phone-in scandal relates to a series of controversies regarding the use of premium-rate telephone numbers (or PRS) by several British television and radio broadcasters. The first revelations began in February 2007 regarding the Channel 4 television programme Richard & Judy . However, over the following weeks, more allegations emerged regarding misconduct by major British broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The programmes affected included phone-in competitions and public votes conducted over several years, dating back to 2001. As a result, adjudicators Ofcom and ICSTIS (now known as Phone-paid Services Authority) conducted several investigations, resulting in millions of pounds worth of fines and a reform in the use of PRS by broadcasters.

Contents

Background

Pre-2007

There had been some investigations into the use of PRS in television programmes in the years leading up to 2007. In 2005, Ofcom found two broadcasters to be in breach of their licensing conditions for failure to maintain recordings of quiz programmes following complaints about their handling of competitions. [1] In October 2006, ICSTIS received 2,635 complaints regarding the seventh series of Channel 4's reality television show Big Brother , after a contestant that had been voted off the show by paying viewers was then allowed back onto the programme, resulting in fines of almost £50,000 for the phone service providers. [2] Between late 2006 and early 2007, Ofcom recorded breaches against broadcasters regarding the fairness of television quiz shows and competitions, including TWC, [3] Channel 4, [4] [5] ITV [6] [7] and Channel 5. [5] In January 2007, Gamecast UK was issued a fine of £100,000 for its broadcast of pre-recorded competitions inviting viewers to call a premium rate number when they had no chance of winning, in addition to other serious code breaches regarding the broadcast of pornographic material and other unauthorised broadcasts. [8] Gamecast's licence was ultimately revoked in April 2007 after failing to pay the fine. [9]

February 2007

On 18 February 2007, the Mail on Sunday reported that it had received leaked emails regarding the television programme Richard & Judy , which was broadcast nightly. In each programme, a competition named You Say We Pay ran, in which viewers were invited to call a premium-rate phone number for the chance of being randomly selected to play a game with the presenters. On 14 February 2007 at 5:09 pm, nine minutes into the programme, Eckoh (the telephone service provider) emailed Cactus TV (the production company) a list of 24 potential winners, from which one winner would be chosen. However, ten minutes later, a second message was broadcast inviting viewers to continue to call in, even though nobody calling after Eckoh's email was sent had any chance of being entered. [10] The report also clarified that it had no evidence that the show's presenters, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, had any knowledge of the issues. [10] On 22 February, following Channel 4's admittance that several series of the programme could have been affected and a claim from a contestant that the problems existed in 2002, ICSTIS announced their intention to conduct an inquiry into the programme. [11] On 28 February, Eckoh pulled out of its contract with Cactus TV.

Following the allegations regarding Richard & Judy, ICSTIS began to investigate the BBC's cookery show Saturday Kitchen - also produced by Cactus TV - after it was alleged that nine editions of the programme had invited viewers to call a PRS - also provided by Eckoh - even though the broadcasts were pre-recorded and viewers' calls had no chance of being put through. [12]

On 28 February, it was also reported that ITV had admitted to overcharging viewers via its "red button" voting service during the third series of The X Factor - resulting in £200,000 in extra charges to viewers - and had reported their findings to ICSTIS. [13]

March 2007

On 1 March, ICSTIS chairman Sir Alistair Graham invited senior executives of the UK's leading broadcasters to a meeting to discuss the emerging allegations, stating: "My concern is that these problems are resulting in a loss of viewer trust in participation TV and in the premium-rate payment mechanism." [14] On 6 March, ITV suspended all premium-rate telephone services, [15] though certain services resumed on 13 March. [16] Though the BBC and Channel 5 initially stated that they had no plans to suspend PRS, [17] Channel 5 did so on 8 March, reporting that on five separate occasions, after their programme BrainTeaser had failed to find a winning contestant to their competitions, broadcast fictitious names as "winners", including one incident where a member of the production team posed as a "winner". [18] Channel 4 suspended PRS following revelations of a "glitch" preventing callers from being entered into a competition on the racing programme The Morning Line . [19]

The first radio stations were named in the controversy on 12 March, after Virgin Radio admitted to inviting viewers to call a pre-recorded programme, and LBC being investigated for allegedly not revealing the price of phone calls to listeners. [20]

On 13 March, Eckoh announced that they were referring the scandal to the police, following allegations that it mishandled votes relating to the sixth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here. [21]

The BBC revealed that two of its children's programmes were affected: Blue Peter had faked a competition winner after a technical fault prevented callers from getting through; and pre-recorded repeats of Smile had invited viewers to call in when they had no chance of getting through. [22]

Other ITV programmes that were named as being investigated included Soapstar Superstar , Dancing on Ice , Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? , Gameshow Marathon and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway . [23] [24]

In March 2007, ITV appointed Deloitte to conduct a "comprehensive review" into the broadcaster's use of PRS in its programming. [25]

April 2007

On 23 April, BBC's Panorama broadcast a show which investigated the use of PRS in multiple programmes, including GMTV and its competitions, which Opera Telecom provided. [26] [27]

September 2007

The Observer revealed that a crisis meeting had taken place on 26 September by the heads of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Mark Thompson, Michael Grade, Andy Duncan and Jane Lighting were all in attendance to discuss their attempt to "restore public trust in broadcasting".

October 2007

The results of the Deloitte review were published in a report on 18 October. Described as "the most comprehensive review carried out into the use of PRS by any UK broadcaster", the report identified "serious or concerning issues in a limited number of ITV programmes". [25] The report stated, regarding the various issues:

ITV has taken specialist legal advice in respect of each of the specific issues set out in this document and is advised that the evidence does not support any allegation of criminal behaviour. ITV has identified and will take appropriate action in relation to each aspect of the findings of the review. [25]

Investigation

Ofcom revealed that they had 23 open investigations against broadcasters, while ICSTIS had a further 15. [22] On 22 March, Ofcom announced its intention to investigate the use of PRS on television, with an inquiry led by Richard Ayre. [28] In a statement, Ofcom's chief executive Ed Richards said:

"Widespread concern about the use of premium rate telephone lines by broadcasters and editorial standards in those programmes has raised serious questions about trust between broadcasters and viewers. Ofcom has been monitoring the issue closely and has launched a number of individual investigations since the start of the year. However it is clear from the number of cases underway that a broader set of issues need to be examined as a matter of priority. This inquiry will seek to establish the root cause of the compliance issues which have emerged over recent weeks, and inform key decisions about protecting consumers." [28]

Though it was reported in October 2007 that the Serious Fraud Office would be investigating the scandal, [29] they later announced that the cases did not "meet the SFO criterion for acceptance for investigation". [30]

Between June 2007 and October 2009, Ofcom published the findings of their investigations into breaches of its Broadcasting Code about the use of PRS. This resulted in over £11 million of fines and statutory sanctions on networks.

In September 2007, ICSTIS found service provider Opera Telecom to be in breach of its code regarding its provision of competitions for GMTV. [26]

Methods used and errors made

Over several years, broadcasters, service providers, and programme producers breached Ofcom's Broadcasting Code in various ways. Some were foreseeable errors, and others were deliberate interventions to alter results.

Fake competition winners

One of the most prolific methods used by programmes during this period was using fake winners in competitions. Between 25 July 2005 and 17 March 2007, ten different programmes announced fictitious names and winners of their contests. This included eight BBC programmes, [31] Channel 5's BrainTeaser , [32] and GCap's Secret Sound, which was broadcast on 30 different radio stations. [33] Some of the entries to the competition were fabricated by the production team, and, in a few instances, members of the production staff appeared on the programme posing as winners. [34] [35] [36] On one occasion, during the broadcast of Blue Peter, a child visiting the studio was asked by a researcher to pretend to be a competition winner, which they did. This resulted in an additional recorded breach against the BBC for failing to protect the welfare of children. [37]

Early finalising and overriding of public votes

The 2004 and 2005 National Comedy Awards both featured two pre-recorded half-hour segments inviting viewers to vote for the recipient of the People's Choice Award. In real-time, the award had already been presented on both occasions, but viewers were still asked to vote. [38] : 1.4(i) : 1.4(ii)  During the 2005 awards, a decision was taken to override the public vote for the People's Choice Award. Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway was named the winner, whereas the show with the highest number of votes was actually The Catherine Tate Show . [38] : 1.4(iii)  The reason for the switch has never been identified, though Ofcom investigated two theories. The first theory was that Robbie Williams, who presented the award, would appear on the programme only if he could present it to Ant and Dec; [38] : 4.9  the second theory was that employees of ITV instructed the switch (Takeaway was an ITV show, whereas Catherine Tate was broadcast on BBC One). [38] : 4.10  Ofcom expressed its "[disappointment] at the lack of cooperation it received" from members of the production. [38] : 4.11 

Similar breaches were also recorded against the programme Soapstar Superstar. On 5 January 2007, senior producers finalised the vote two minutes before the lines had closed, while presenter Zoe Ball continued to invite viewers to vote. [39] After the vote closed, the last (11th) placed contestant in the vote was eliminated. However, instead of the 9th and 10th placed contestants being put forward to the overnight vote to evict, the actual results were disregarded. The 7th and 8th placed contestants were put forward for the vote instead. [39] Another aspect of voting for the show involved the public voting for which song they would like the contestants to sing. On at least eight occasions, the production team overrode the vote and decided for themselves which songs the contestants would sing. [39] ITV acknowledged that junior members of staff who objected to these actions were "firmly sat upon" by senior producers. [39] : 1.12  Ofcom opined that the programme-makers "showed their total contempt for ITV1’s audience" [39] : 1.20  in manipulating the votes in this way, and described their behaviour as "absolutely reprehensible". [39] : 1.20 

Ofcom also recorded a breach against ITV relating to the programme I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! after it emerged that, on 30 November 2006, voting had closed three and a half minutes early, meaning that over 20,000 votes cast during this period were not counted. On this occasion, however, no statutory sanction was imposed. [40]

Unfair selection of competition finalists

Ofcom described in their reports several unfair methods used to select competition winners in particular programmes, overriding the "random" selection requirements. These included:

  • Early selection - where competition finalists were being selected before the lines had closed, resulting in later callers having no chance of being selected [41] [42] [43]
  • Staggered selection - where several shortlists of competition finalists were produced before the lines had closed, resulting in later callers having a lower statistical chance of being selected [41] [42] [43] [44]
  • Geographical selection - entrants being unaware that the competition was not being conducted in their area, meaning they stood no chance of winning [42]
  • Editorial selection - where winners were chosen based on their "suitability to be on screen", [42] [45] or where staff deliberately selected entrants who had guessed the answer incorrectly, to prolong the competition [33]
  • Denying prizes to genuine winners - in the case of The Clare McDonnellShow, some entrants who had guessed the correct answer were refused the prize, as they had already won previous competitions on BBC 6 Music [46]

Inclusion of competitions in pre-recorded programmes

On several occasions, Ofcom sanctioned broadcasters for broadcasting competitions and other services "as live", whereas the programmes were pre-recorded, and anyone who called to use the services offered had no chance of doing so. These included five editions of Tony Blackburn, [47] eight editions of Dermot O'Leary [48] and 31 different broadcasts on ITV2's timeshift service, ITV2+1, broadcast an hour later. [49] Though a breach was recorded against ITV regarding a similar incident during a repeat of People's Court, no sanction was issued. [40]

The BBC were sanctioned for repeating a falsified competition from Blue Peter (see above) on CBBC. [37]

Non-inclusion of SMS entrants

In the case of Gameshow Marathon, ITV was sanctioned for its"lack of clarity" regarding whether people entering competitions via SMS had been included. [45]

Flawed logic competitions

In two of ITV2's competitions - The Mint and Glitterball - incorrect answers had been announced as correct. In The Mint, the answer to a wordsearch-style game was announced as "TUNA", despite the grid not containing the letter U. In a Glitterball word-making game, the answer "HATCH" had been derived from the word "ENCHANTED", despite rules stating that letters could only be used once, and only one letter H was available. Though Ofcom recorded breaches, no sanctions were issued. [40]

List of breaches recorded by Ofcom

Below is a table containing a list of breaches and, where relevant, sanctions imposed by Ofcom, including the broadcaster's name and the programme it related to.

BroadcasterAffected programmeSanction (fine)Date of findingSource
Channel 5 Brainteaser £300,00026 June 2007 [32]
BBC One, CBBC Blue Peter £50,0009 July 2007 [37]
GMTV GMTV £2,000,00026 September 2007 [43]
Channel 4 Deal or No Deal £500,00020 December 2007 [44]
Channel 4 Richard & Judy £1,000,00020 December 2007 [41]
Granada Soapstar Superstar £1,200,0008 May 2008 [39]
ITV2 Playalong, The Mint, Make Your Play and Glitterball £275,0008 May 2008 [49]
LWT Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway £3,000,0008 May 2008 [42]
LWT Gameshow Marathon £1,200,0008 May 2008 [45]
LWT I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! None8 May 2008 [40]
ITV People's Court None8 May 2008 [40]
ITV2 Playalong, The Mint and Glitterball None8 May 2008 [40]
GCap Media One Network £1,110,00027 June 2008 [33]
BBC 6 Music Russell Brand £17,50030 July 2008 [50]
BBC One Children In Need 2005 £35,00030 July 2008 [51]
BBC One Comic Relief 2007 £45,00030 July 2008 [52]
BBC 6 Music The Liz Kershaw Show£115,00030 July 2008 [36]
BBC Two, CBBC TMi £50,00030 July 2008 [34]
BBC 6 Music The Clare McDonnell Show£17,50030 July 2008 [46]
BBC One Sport Relief 2006 £45,00030 July 2008 [35]
BBC Radio 1 The Jo Whiley Show £75,00030 July 2008 [53]
BBC London 94.9FM Tony Blackburn£25,0008 December 2008 [47]
BBC Radio 2 Dermot O'Leary£70,0008 December 2008 [48]
Channel TV British Comedy Awards 2004, British Comedy Awards 2005 £80,0002 October 2009 [38]

Aftermath

Presenters

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, presenters of the first identified problematic programme, apologised to their viewers on their programme while denying any knowledge of wrongdoing on their programme. Finnigan stated: "Richard and I knew nothing about this until late on Friday afternoon - we were very shocked and also angry on your behalf. We're very sorry." [54]

After the Deloitte report was published in October 2007, Ant and Dec, who presented two of the affected programmes, expressed "disappointment" at the findings of the investigations, making it clear that they had "no idea" that compliance failures were occurring. [55] This was seconded by director of ITV Michael Grade, describing the pair's credits as executive producers as "kind of a vanity credit". [56] Ant and Dec confirmed in a statement that any profits from the next series of Saturday Night Takeaway would be donated to charity. [57] Later, in May 2008, they stated that they would be returning their wrongfully awarded British Comedy Award from 2005. [58] Catherine Tate, whose comedy sketch show was the rightful winner, explained on an episode of The Graham Norton Show that she had finally received her award, and joked about confronting Declan Donnelly in a supermarket. [59]

Ofcom

As a result of the scandal and the subsequent investigations and sanctions that followed, Ofcom announced its intention to raise the maximum fine that they could impose on ITV and its regional networks, stating that the current guidelines did not "provide sufficient incentives for the licensees to maintain broadcasting standards for the protection of members of the public from the inclusion of offensive and harmful material". [60]

Further incidents

In December 2020, Ofcom found ITV to be in breach of the Broadcasting Code and their competition licensing conditions. ITV made Ofcom aware that, following mandatory third-party verification of its competitions, 40,000 postal entries into six competitions between 2016 and 2019 had failed to be included. Postal entries are free to enter (excluding delivery costs). Ofcom opined that: "ITV failed to properly implement and execute procedures that are fundamental to ensuring compliance with rules regarding the operation of its broadcast competitions and the relevant licence conditions." On this occasion, no sanction was imposed. [61]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV (TV network)</span> TV network in the United Kingdom

ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is branded as STV. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition, eliminating what had hitherto been the monopoly of BBC Television. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freeview (UK)</span> British digital terrestrial television platform

Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. It was launched on 30 October 2002, taking over the licence from ITV Digital which collapsed that year. The service provides consumer access via an aerial to the seven DTT multiplexes covering the United Kingdom. As of July 2020, it has 85 TV channels, 26 digital radio channels, 10 HD channels, six text services, 11 streamed channels, and one interactive channel.

Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITN</span> British-based news and content provider

Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C.

Teletext Ltd was the provider of teletext and digital interactive services for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 in the United Kingdom.

Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the United Kingdom's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television set. The majority of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services, including the five former analogue channels, are broadcast free-to-air, and a further selection of encrypted pay TV services are also available. Freeview is the only DTT service since Top Up TV closed in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friendly TV</span> Defunct British television channel

Friendly TV was a British television channel, owned by Hi2 Limited. Much of the channel's output was made up of interactive programmes and games which allowed user participation by phone or mobile phone using SMS messaging. The channel was widely regarded as a pioneer in the low budget user generated content that accelerated the transition to online tv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phone-paid Services Authority</span> Regulatory body In the UK

The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), known as PhonepayPlus until 1 November 2016, is the regulatory body for all premium rate phone-paid services in the United Kingdom. These are the content, goods and services that consumers can buy by charging the cost to their phone bills and pre-pay phone accounts.

<i>Richard & Judy</i> British chat show

Richard & Judy is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 August 2008, but later moved to digital channel Watch from 7 October 2008 to 1 July 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CITV</span> British free-to-air TV channel for children

CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged 6–12. It replaced the earlier Watch It! branding and introduced networked in-vision continuity links between programmes. These links were originally pre-recorded from a small London studio up until 1987, when Central won the contract to produce live links from their Birmingham studios. In 2004, presentation of CITV was relocated to Granada Television in Manchester, which saw the demise of in-vision continuity. Nine years later, the operations moved to ITV Granada's MediaCityUK studios in Salford.

ITV Play was a short-lived 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued as a strand on the main ITV Network until December 2007.

A quiz channel is a television channel that focuses on phone-in quizzes. The quizzes usually focus on puzzles, such as filling in blanks, identifying subjects, or other forms of word puzzles. The channels make money by encouraging viewers to call a toll phone number for the chance to play.

itv.com is the main website of ITV plc, the UK's largest commercial television broadcaster which operates 13 out of 15 regions on the ITV network under the ITV1 brand. The website offers the ITVX streaming service, with sections for ITV News, certain ITV1 programmes and competitions. STV, Which runs the only regions not owned by ITV plc, have their own separate website at stv.tv.

Babeworld was a British adult chat television broadcaster on Sky from 2006 until 2011. Both the channel and programme were named Babeworld.

<i>Right to Reply</i> British TV series or programme

Right to Reply is a British television series shown on Channel 4 from 1982 until 2001, which allowed viewers to voice their complaints or concerns about TV programmes. It featured reports, usually presented by a viewer, and interviews with the programme-makers concerned.

<i>Lookaround</i> British regional TV news programme (since 1961)

ITV News Lookaround is a British television news service produced by ITV Tyne Tees & Border and broadcasting to the ITV Border region.

The Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed & Designated Events is a series of regulations issued originally by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) then by Ofcom when the latter assumed most of the ITC's responsibilities in 2003, which is designed to protect the availability of coverage of major sporting occasions on free-to-air terrestrial television in the United Kingdom.

Adult chat television channels and programs are a format of phone-in live television programming that has developed in Europe since 2002, often having elements similar to webcam modelling and softcore pornography.

This is a timeline of the history of ITN, a British production company providing news programmes for British broadcasters.

This is a timeline of the history of ITV News on the British television network ITV.

References

  1. ↑ "Ofcom broadcast bulletin 46" (PDF). Ofcom. 2005-10-24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  2. ↑ Sweney, Mark (2006-10-05). "Big Brother poll misled viewers, rules watchdog". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  3. ↑ "Broadcast Bulletin Issue number 71" (PDF). Ofcom. 2006-10-16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  4. ↑ "Broadcast Bulletin Issue number 72" (PDF). Ofcom. 2006-10-30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  5. 1 2 "Broadcast Bulletin Issue number 81" (PDF). Ofcom. 2007-03-26. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  6. ↑ "Broadcast Bulletin Issue number 73" (PDF). Ofcom. 2006-11-13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  7. ↑ "Broadcast Bulletin Issue number 76" (PDF). 2007-01-15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  8. ↑ "Adjudication of Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - Gamecast UK Limited in respect of its service You TV2 (TLCS 918) and also in respect of the material broadcast as "You TV3"" (PDF). Ofcom. 2007-01-17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  9. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (2007-04-10). "Free-to-air channel You TV2 loses licence after phone-in fiasco". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  10. 1 2 Morris, Steven (2007-02-19). "Richard and Judy show faces inquiry over quiz". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  11. ↑ Sweney, Mark (2007-02-22). "ICSTIS looks into Channel 4 phone-in problem". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  12. ↑ "Regulator to investigate BBC cookery show". The Guardian. 2007-02-27. Archived from the original on 2014-10-02. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  13. ↑ Deans, Jason (2007-02-28). "ITV overcharges X Factor voters". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  14. ↑ Deans, Jason (2007-03-01). "Icstis chairman says viewers' trust is at risk". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  15. ↑ Gibson, Owen; correspondent, media (2007-03-06). "ITV halts phone-in shows for charges review". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  16. ↑ Gibson, Owen (2007-03-13). "ITV's premium-rate quizzes given all clear". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  17. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (2007-03-06). "TV channels clear phone-in shows". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  18. ↑ Deans, Jason (2007-03-08). "Brainteaser drags Channel Five into phone-in crisis". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  19. ↑ Gibson, Owen; correspondent, media (2007-03-14). "TV phone-in shows hit by more woes". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  20. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (2007-03-12). "Phone-in row hits radio stations". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  21. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (2007-03-13). "Phone vote firm Eckoh to call in police". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  22. 1 2 Robinson, James (2007-03-18). "BBC faces huge fine in phones scandal". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  23. ↑ "Jowell takes serious line on phone-in cheats". The Guardian. Press Association. 2007-03-21. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  24. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (2007-03-26). "More ITV shows cleared in phone-in review". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  25. 1 2 3 "Use of Premium Rate Interactive Services in ITV Programming - Findings of Deloitte Review and ITV Investigation" (PDF). Deloitte. 2007-10-18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2020-12-14– via The Guardian.
  26. 1 2 "Opera Telecom - PhonepayPlus". PhonepayPlus. 2007-09-24. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  27. ↑ Panorama - TVs Dirty Secrets. Investigation in to Late Night Quiz Channels and Premium Rate Phone in , retrieved 2021-12-15
  28. 1 2 "Inquiry into premium rate telecoms services in television programmes". Ofcom. 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  29. ↑ Gibson, Owen; correspondent, media (2007-10-20). "ITV faces criminal inquiry over cheating viewers". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-19.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  30. ↑ "Serious Fraud Office | SFO not to investigate TV phone in programmes and competitions". sfo.gov.uk. 2008-10-06. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  31. ↑ Sweney, Mark; Holmwood, Leigh (2008-07-30). "BBC fined £400,000 over unfair phone-ins". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  32. 1 2 "Adjudication of Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd ("Channel 5") in respect of its service Channel 5 ("Five")" (PDF). Ofcom. 2007-06-26. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  33. 1 2 3 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - 30 of GCap Media plc's 'One Network' radio stations" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-06-27. Archived from the original on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  34. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its services BBC2 and CBBC - TMi" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  35. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its service BBC1 - Sport Relief" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  36. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its service BBC 6 Music - Liz Kershaw" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  37. 1 2 3 "Adjudication of Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation ("BBC") in respect of its services BBC1 and CBBC" (PDF). Ofcom. 2007-07-09. Archived from the original on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - Channel TV Ltd" (PDF). Ofcom. 2009-10-02. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - Granada Television Limited, in respect of its service the Regional Channel 3 service transmitted across the ITV Network on ITV1" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-05-08. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Broadcast Bulletin Issue number 108" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-05-08. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  41. 1 2 3 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - Channel Four Television Corporation in respect of its service, Channel 4" (PDF). 2007-12-20. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - LWT (Holdings) Limited, in respect of its service the Regional Channel 3 service transmitted across the ITV Network on ITV1" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-05-08. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  43. 1 2 3 "Adjudication of Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - GMTV Ltd in respect of its service the National Channel 3 service" (PDF). Ofcom. 2007-09-26. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  44. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - Channel Four Television Corporation in respect of its service, Channel 4" (PDF). Ofcom. 2007-12-20. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  45. 1 2 3 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - LWT (Holdings) Limited, in respect of its service the Regional Channel 3 service transmitted across the ITV Network on ITV1" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-05-08. Archived from the original on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  46. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its service BBC 6 Music - Clare McDonnell" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  47. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee – British Broadcasting Corporation, in respect of its service BBC London 94.9FM" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-12-18. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  48. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee – British Broadcasting Corporation, in respect of its service Radio 2" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-12-18. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  49. 1 2 "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - ITV2 Limited, in respect of its service ITV2+1" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-05-08. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  50. ↑ "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its service BBC 6 Music - Russell Brand" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  51. ↑ "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its service BBC1 Scotland - Children in Need" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  52. ↑ "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its service BBC1 - Comic Relief" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  53. ↑ "Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of its service Radio 1 - Jo Whiley" (PDF). Ofcom. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  54. ↑ "Richard and Judy 'shocked' by quiz scandal". The Guardian. 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  55. ↑ Conlan, Tara (2007-10-18). "Ant and Dec 'had no idea' of ITV phone-in problems". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  56. ↑ Holmwood, Richard Wray and Leigh (2007-10-18). "Ant and Dec unaware of call-TV problems, confirms ITV boss". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  57. ↑ "'Upset' Ant and Dec give profits to charity after phone-in scandal". The Guardian. 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  58. ↑ "Ant and Dec to return comedy award after botched phone vote exposed". The Guardian. 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  59. ↑ "Catherine Tate, James Nesbitt and The Kooks". The Graham Norton Show. Season 3. Episode 12. 2008-07-03. BBC. BBC One.
  60. ↑ "Review of ITV Networking Arrangements" (PDF). Ofcom. 2009-09-10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  61. ↑ "Ofcom Broadcast and On-Demand Bulletin, Issue 416" (PDF). Ofcom . 2020-12-07. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.