Deal Or No Deal Phone-In Operator Dealt £30k Fine

iTouch, the operator of the phone services for Deal or No Deal, has been fined £30,000 by Icstis, the premium rate phone line regulator, for misleading viewers.

Icstis issued iTouch with a formal reprimand after it found that the Deal or No Deal competition had mislead viewers because the show had been pre-recorded but the competition voting was live.

In its adjudication published today, Icstis said: “It was the opinion of the executive that at the point of calling viewers will consider that any one of the three amounts is available to be won and will enter the competition on this basis.

“However, as the show is pre-recorded, at the time when the invitation to call takes place, the programme-makers are already aware of which cash prizes will be won.”

Icstis ruled that the process used by iTouch to select a winner – which saw three potential winners chosen at 10 minute intervals during the programme and one name selected once the lines had closed – breached its code because those that entered earlier in the show had a higher chance of winning.

Channel 4 said that the procedures for picking a winner were changed before the Icstis investigation began.

Icstis will now pass on details of the ruling to Ofcom as part of its ongoing investigation.

At the start of the month, Channel 4 announced that it will be cutting all profit-making phone-in competitions with the exception of Deal or No Deal, where its share of future profits will go to charity from August 13 (see Channel 4 To Axe All Profit-Making Phone-In Comps).

In June, Icstis imposed its highest ever fine, of £150,000, on Eckoh, the service provider on Channel 4’s Richard & Judy ‘You Say, We Pay’ phone-in quiz (see Channel 4 Makes Richard & Judy Charity Payment).

Icstis today also fined phone line operator MX Telecom £17,500 for breaches of its code that occurred during a competition on the One Radio Network, owned by GCap Media.

As GCap Media is out of the regulator’s jurisdiction, it will be referring the matter to Ofcom.

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com