How TV deception cost broadcasters nearly £10m in fines

June 26, 2007: Media regulator Ofcom hits Channel Five with a £300,000 fine for faking the winners of a phone-in quiz on daytime show Brainteaser.

July 6: Premium-rate phone line watchdog Icstis, now known as PhonepayPlus, fines phone operator Eckoh £150,000 over the Channel 4 You Say We Pay competition.

July 9: Ofcom takes the unprecedented step of being the first media regulator to fine the BBC, slapping a £50,000 penalty on the corporation for a faked Blue Peter phone-in competition.

August 9: Icstis issues a £30,000 penalty to phone operator iTouch over Channel 4's Deal or No Deal.

August 9: Capital Radio's owner, GCap, is fined £17,500 by Icstis for code breaches during a competition on its One Radio Network.

September: Icstis informally settled the case against BBC1's cookery show Saturday Kitchen, in which viewers were encouraged to enter a competition during a pre-recorded episode, with the BBC agreeing to broadcast all future episodes live.

September 24: Icstis issues a record £250,000 fine over fraudulent phone-in competitions on GMTV which 18 million callers entered but had no chance of winning.

September 26: Ofcom fines GMTV a record £2m over the same scandal.

November 5: Ofcom ruled that BBC kids' show Smile was not in breach of the broadcasting code after allegations it misled viewers by asking them to phone in to take part in a game even though the show was pre-recorded.

November 19: Ofcom ruled it did not have enough evidence to proceed with a case against quiz channel Big Game TV!, which had been accused of ripping off viewers with its premium-rate phone games.

December 20: Ofcom fines Channel 4 a total of £1.5m for misconduct in the Richard and Judy viewer contest You Say We Pay and Deal or No Deal phone-in.

May 8, 2008: Ofcom fines ITV £5.675m - a new record financial sanction for a UK broadcaster - over the "abuse" of premium-rate phone lines in a host of hit shows including Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant and Dec's Gameshow Marathon and Soapstar Superstar.

Fines issued over TV deception in the past year now amount to £9,972,500.

Ofcom has three big investigations left relating to premium-rate phone competitions, and which are expected to be resolved within weeks.

The watchdog is investingating GCap Media's radio competition Secret Sounds; eight BBC shows including Comic Relief, Sport Relief, Children in Need and kids series TMI and the Liz Kershaw, Russell Brand, Claire McDonnell and Jo Whiley radio shows; and ITV's 2005 British Comedy Awards.

It is also still investigating Channel Five's Great Big British Quiz.

PayphonePlus said it had no further cases under investigation.

Source: guardian.co.uk 19-05-2008