British Phone-In Competition Scandal Continues

LONDON, July 25: The British media industry is continuing to
deal with the fall-out from botched call-in competitions on a number of
broadcasters, with GMTV chief Paul Corley resigning and Prime Minister Gordon
Brown telling the House of Commons that he wants the controversy to be resolved
“quickly.”

Paul Corley, the managing director of GMTV, is stepping down
from the ITV/Disney-owned breakfast TV station as part of a range of measures
designed to regain viewer trust. In April, the BBC’s Panorama current-affairs show first revealed that callers to
premium-rate phone competitions on the GMTV morning show had been defrauded out
of millions of pounds, with short-lists of winners being compiled before phone
lines had closed. In announcing his resignation, Corley said: “We would like to
apologize unreservedly again for the occurrence of these errors. It is
important that people take responsibility when mistakes are made that threaten
the trust of our viewers.”

Irregularities have been discovered on a range of other
shows since the GMTV scandal broke. Regulator Ofcom levied a fine of £50,000 on
the BBC for incidents on Blue Peter and
of £300,000 on Five over the daytime game show Brainteaser, which on several occasions announced fake names as
winners or had production staff pose as winners. Meanwhile, Eckoh, which
services the “You Say, We Pay” quiz on Channel 4’s Richard & Judy show, was fined £150,000 by ICSTIS, the premium-rate
services regulator.

According to BBC News, Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the
House of Commons he would discuss the recent spate of problems with Ofcom.
"This is a very serious matter because it affects the confidence that
people have in television stations," he said. "It is a matter for
these authorities to sort out and they should do it quickly.”

Ofcom recently issued the findings of its inquiry into premium-rate
telecoms services. The survey found that compliance failures were systemic and
that some broadcasters are “in denial about their responsibilities to ensure
programs delivered on the transactions they offered to viewers.” Furthermore,
the report cites an apparent “lack of transparency” in the supply chain between
telcos, producers and broadcasters, “resulting in a lack of clarity about
responsibilities.”

The report recommended that broadcasters’ licenses be
amended to include requirements for consumer protection in relation to call-in
services. Ofcom also wants licenses to mandate independent third-party auditing
of phone-in services.