Record Fine for Botched Call-In Quiz on Richard & Judy Show

LONDON, July 6: Eckoh, which services the “You Say, We Pay”
quiz on Channel 4’s Richard & Judy show,
has been fined £150,000 by watchdog ICSTIS, which has called on Ofcom to launch
its own investigation into the matter.

Richard & Judy
was commissioned by Channel 4 Television and produced by Cactus Television.
Eckoh UK was deemed the service provider under its contract with 4 Ventures.

ICSTIS, the premium rate services regulator, says that
viewers were misled when they were encouraged to enter the competition even
after potential winners had been selected. ICSTIS is referring the case to
Ofcom, which may examine the incident to see if the Channel 4 series also
violated the Broadcasting Code. This is the largest ever fine imposed by
ICSTIS, which has also ordered Eckoh to reimburse viewers who called in to
participate.

ICSTIS Chairman Sir Alistair Graham said: “The size of the
fine reflects the very serious nature of the breach of our Code of Practice.
The Hearing Panel found clear evidence of fundamental failings in the winner
selection process. Winners were being chosen before the competition-closing
deadline, whilst millions of additional viewers were still encouraged to phone
in and pay to enter competition but were denied the opportunity of fair
consideration. Such reckless disregard for viewers is unacceptable.”

Eckoh says it is considering an appeal, which must be filed
within 20 days. The company said in a statement that it had been made a
“scapegoat… We accept that mistakes were made with “You Say We Pay” but it
seems clear that all three parties [Channel 4, Cactus and Eckoh] could and
should have spotted the problem much earlier. It was Eckoh who ultimately
identified it and tried to take action. What this adjudication does highlight
is the important point that, in our opinion, the regulations governing premium
rate services linked to television programs are fundamentally flawed. Under the
current ICSTIS Code of Practice, the Service Provider is exclusively
responsible for any breaches of compliance, irrespective of who is actually
responsible or how this came about. It is for this reason that only Eckoh has
been fined today.”

The statement continued: “In our view, where a television
program has misled the public in promoting calls to a premium rate service it
would seem appropriate that either the broadcaster or production company, or
both, should also be brought before the regulator.”