The Great British TV Phone In Swindle

In recent weeks over here, there has been a lot of controversy over TV phone ins.

It all started with Richard and Judy on Channel 4. On the show they have a game called You Say, We Pay. In order to possibly become a contestant on the game, viewers are urged to phone a premium rate phone line and answer a question (usually along the lines of What colour is Manchester United’s home top? a) Red, b) Silvery or c) Greece).

Then a leaked email from the company that runs the phone in to the shows production company gave the details of possible contestants and was sent at about 5:10 (the show is on 5 – 6pm). Not long after, viewers were yet again urged to phone in to take part. The game has been suspended on the show pending a full enquiry (there are rumours that the problem stretches back at least 2 years).

Hot on the heels of this it was the BBC’s turn. On their show Saturday Kitchen, viewers were invited to phone in to speak to the chef. Despite the show having been pre-recorded. Viewers were also given the chance to phone in to be in the audience for the next weeks show. Admittedly, the show where that opportunity arose was live. The show they were being invited to, however, was recorded straight after. This, too, is being investigated.

Now we move to ITV, where The X Factor got dragged into things. This time it was not the phone in part of the show but the interactive ‘red button’ voting where it was discovered that viewers voting in this way were overcharged. ITV have given full refunds, made a donation to Childline and voluntarily suspended all phone in votes until it could be established that everything was above board.

Back to Channel 4 and the racing programme The Racing Line, where callers were being charged for calls made after the lines had closed. This quiz has also been suspended.

And Channel 5 got involved after its afternoon show Brainteasers was discovered to have invented winners of their viewer phone in competition in cases where none of the viewers got it right. (Incidentally, having seen the show these cases must have been pretty rare as their phone in quiz is usually incredibly easy.) Five reacted the same way as ITV and suspended all phone ins pending the results of an internal enquiry.

There have also been allegations about ITV shows Saturday Night Takeaway, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! and Soapstar Superstar. So it seems to be quite a far reaching problem.

But surely there are some shows that can easily be above suspicion. Surely the nation’s longest running and best loved children’s TV show can’t possibly get caught up in the whole thing?

Blue Peter sorry over fake winner

The hosts of BBC children’s programme Blue Peter have apologised to viewers after the results of a competition were faked last November.

A technical problem meant viewers calling for the Whose Shoes contest did not get through to the studio.

Instead, a visiting child was asked to pose as a caller, and won the prize.

Host Konnie Huq said: “We’d like to say sorry to you because when this mistake happened we let you down.” The BBC did not profit from the calls.

BBC Children’s controller Richard Deverell called the incident a “serious error of judgement”.

The contest, on 27 November, was raising money for children orphaned by Aids in Malawi.

Callers were asked to phone in and identify a mystery celebrity’s shoes. More than 13,800 people entered, with calls costing 10p each, including 3.25p for the Unicef charity.

But an “unavoidable technical difficulty” meant producers were unable to access the callers’ details and so found a stand-in. The winner could select a prize from a list of children’s toys.

The child they found was already in the studio because she had won a separate competition.

Premium phone line regulator Icstis is investigating the incident, which was discovered when another visitor to the programme set, Mona Zahoor, wrote to the BBC’s Have Your Say messageboard.

Falling short

“We were all quite horrified when it happened,” she told the BBC News website.

An internal investigation confirmed the error and a separate independent review will be carried out into the circumstances surrounding the competition.

“This edition of the programme fell short of the high standards Blue Peter viewers quite rightly expect,” Blue Peter editor Richard Marson said.

“We are very sorry for the way this competition was conducted.”

The competition has been re-run, with a new winner chosen from the original callers. The problem will “never happen again”, viewers have been told.

“I would like to apologise unequivocally to viewers, to all the children who took part in the competition,” Mr Deverell said.

“We have already apologised directly to the child involved and her family for this incident.”

Mr Deverell called the faking of the competition an “exceptional incident”, and said the person responsible had acted “in a panic”.

But speaking to Radio Five Live, he refused to rule out the possibility that staff would be sacked over the incident.

A freephone number – 08000 565 363 – is available for viewers who took part in the competition and would like more information.

Viewers can also find information on the Blue Peter website.

But Ms Zahoor, whose information led to the discovery, said she thought the BBC’s reaction was “silly”.

“I didn’t realise that it would be blown out of all proportion,” she said, adding that she had refused to lodge a formal complaint about the show.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/6449919.stm

Published: 2007/03/14 18:15:42 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Or maybe not.

Will