Blue Peter Fakes Winner, Joins Phone-In Blacklist
Flagship BBC One children’s programme, Blue Peter, has joined the ever-growing list of shows to be immersed in the premium rate phone-in scandal.
It has emerged that the classic TV format faked the winner of a viewer competition to raise money for the Blue Peter Appeal in aid of Unicef, after the phone lines failed.
A technical failure meant the production team was unable to access viewer calls, and a member of staff asked a child visiting the studio to phone the programme and give the answer on air. She was then awarded the prize.
The BBC Children’s controller, Richard Deverell, has admitted that the decision was a serious error of judgement.
“I would like to apologise unequivocally to viewers, to all the children who took part in the competition, and we have already apologised directly to the child involved and her family for this incident,” he said.
“BBC Children has a deep and genuine commitment to our audiences, and our relationship with them is built on trust.
“Whilst I am satisfied that there was no premeditated attempt to deceive or mislead viewers, the decision to put a child on air in this way was a serious error of judgement, and does not conform to either the BBC’s own guidelines or the high standards we set ourselves in Children’s programmes.
“Part of our commitment to a relationship built on trust requires us to disclose this error and try to put it right, which we are now doing. It is very important that Blue Peter takes action to do this, and to ensure that lessons are learned.”
The BBC said an apology would be broadcast to viewers in today’s edition of the show. It has launched an immediate review of all live competitions on Children’s BBC, and set up a freephone number (08000 565 363) for viewers who took part in the competition and want more information.
The Corporation will conduct a senior level independent review of the incident, whilst a new winner will be randomly selected from the original competition entrants in a process overseen by an independent solicitor to verify the process to premium phone-line regulator, Icstis.
Earlier today, it was announced that ITV Play, the broadcaster’s lucrative quiz channel, had been axed to become ITV2+1 (see ITV Axes Quiz Channel).
Last week the unfolding controversy saw ITV admit to overcharging red button users by a combined total of £200,000 on eviction votes for The X Factor, whilst Channel 4’s Richard and Judy ‘You Say We Pay’ (see Richard & Judy Phone Quiz Controversy Takes New Twist) and BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen also came under scrutiny (see Saturday Kitchen Goes Live After Phone-In Mistake).
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