Record Fine for Five

LONDON, June 26: British broadcaster Five has been hit with a £300,000 ($600,000) fine by regulator Ofcom over the daytime game show Brainteaser, which on several occasions announced fake names as winners or had production staff pose as winners.

News of irregularities at the game show, produced by Endemol U.K. subsidiary Cheetah Television, came to light in March and Five promptly yanked the series from its schedule.

In addition to paying the fine, Five will have to broadcast Ofcom’s findings on two separate occasions—once during Brainteaser’s 12:30 p.m. former slot, and once in prime time.

Responding to Ofcom’s ruling, Five’s chief executive, Jane Lighting, noted: “Five has always accepted that breaches occurred with regard to Brainteaser. However, we are disappointed with the very high level of the financial penalty imposed, especially as we believe Five took all reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure the program complied with the Ofcom Code.”

Lighting continued: “We welcome Ofcom’s acknowledgment that: Five acted in good faith at all times; did not intend to deceive the audience and took comprehensive steps to remedy harm and that it was not Five’s intention to cause financial harm to viewers nor procure greater financial gain. It was Five who notified Ofcom of these issues and we have co-operated fully with the regulator since. We have also conducted our own review, as the relationship of trust between a broadcaster and its audience is absolutely paramount to us.”

A statement from producers Cheetah Television acknowledged that mistakes were made—16 of about 4,000 competitions were not properly resolved. “We have now found and paid winners for all but one of the affected quizzes. We expect this final competition to be resolved shortly.”

Brainteaser will not be returning to the channel’s schedule. Five and Endemol are donating all profits from these competitions to a cancer charity.