GMTV Claims It Had No Idea Of Apparent Phone-In Problems
GMTV’s presenters have read out a statement saying the broadcaster had no idea of apparent irregularities by its phone line provider, Opera Interactive Technology, after BBC’s Panorama claimed tens of thousands of calls and texts had no chance of winning.
Andrew Castle and Fiona Phillips read out a statement saying: “GMTV knew nothing of this and is shocked to hear of these allegations.
“Just over a month ago GMTV instructed the city accountancy firm Deloitte to carry out a full, independent review of GMTV and Opera’s current interactive systems and processes,” they added.
“The review has now been completed and we are confident, on the basis of Deloitte’s findings and our own research, that our competitions are being operated fully in accordance with the codes – and that no finalists are being selected before lines have closed.
“We are investigating further but do anticipate bringing back our competitions as soon as possible.”
The allegations that are to be broadcast on tonight’s Panorama allege that Opera finalised shortlists of potential winners “long before” the phone lines closed and once they had been picked, subsequent callers had no chance of winning.
The BBC investigation said the amount of money people spent trying to enter the competitions was an estimated £45,000 a day, or £10 million a year.
The programme, which will be broadcast on BBC One at 8.30pm tonight, will also make several claims about the Richard and Judy Show and Blue Peter.
Premium-rate phone-line watchdog Icstis has launched a formal investigation into Channel 4’s Richard And Judy (see Richard & Judy Phone Quiz Controversy Takes New Twist), whilst Blue Peter has been involved in a similar phone-in debacle (see Blue Peter Fakes Winner, Joins Phone-In Blacklist).
BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen and ITV1’s The X-Factor have also experienced problems (see ITV Joins Vote Scandal List For X Factor Overcharging), whilst Five’s Brainteaser and Quiz Call have also been under the spotlight (see Breach Of Broadcast Code Adds To Phone-In Scandal).
ITV was so concerned by phone-in problems that it instructed auditor Deloitte to carry out a review of any shows which could be affected. Following the review, the broadcaster decided to axe its quiz channel ITV Play, replacing it with a time-shifted channel, ITV2+1 (see ITV Axes Quiz Channel).
Tough new rules for television quiz shows are set to be introduced by the premium rate phone lines regulator Icstis in about a month, which will include insisting on better pricing information and greater transparency about how likely calls are to get through (see Icstis Gets Tough With New TV Quiz Rules).
GMTV: www.gm.tv/