Channel 4 Hit with £1.5 Million in Ofcom Fines

LONDON, December 20: British regulator Ofcom has levied two fines, totaling £1.5 million, against Channel 4 for call-in irregularities on Richard and Judy and Deal or No Deal.

The £1 million fine for Richard and Judy was levied for breaches during the You Say We Pay competition. Ofcom found that some finalists were selected before the phone lines had closed, and that the show had a selection process whereby those who called later had a smaller chance of winning. Eckoh, which provided the phone services for the show, has already been fined £150,000 by the premium-rate services regulator.

The £500,000 fine for the Deal or No Deal call-in competition, meanwhile, is also for a “staggered selection” process in which later entrants had a lower probability of being short-listed as a potential winner. The service provider for that competition, iTouch, received a £30,000 fine earlier this year by the premium-rate services regulator Icstis.

—By Mansha Daswani