Channel 4 fined £1.5m over phone-in flaws

Britain: Channel 4 has been fined £1.5 million (€2.1 million) by the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom for breaking rules in two phone-in competitions.

Ofcom said yesterday the broadcaster breached regulations with the "You Say We Pay" quiz on the Richard and Judy show and ia viewer competition on Deal Or No Deal , the game show hosted by Noel Edmonds.

The fine follows a string of cases involving viewer deception that has shaken the television industry this year.

Ofcom said callers to "You Say We Pay" were urged to ring a premium rate number to take part in the competition, even after the finalist had been chosen.

They stood no chance of being selected and had wasted their call, which cost about one pound.

The Deal Or No Deal breaches amounted to "systematic deception", Ofcom said.

The phone-in system meant that viewers did not have an equal chance of winning the prize. Late callers were statistically worse off.

Channel 4 continued running the game for seven weeks after it became aware of the problems.

"The breaches constituted a substantial breakdown in the fundamental relationship of trust between a public service broadcaster and its viewers," Ofcom said in a ruling.

The watchdog told Channel 4 to broadcast a summary of its findings three times.

Channel 4 said it accepted the ruling, apologised to viewers and pledged to donate an extra £600,000 to a children's hospital.

Anne Bulford, its group finance director, said: "Channel 4 is no longer running any premium rate competitions and so we believe today's ruling brings this particular chapter to a close."

The broadcaster also announced it was starting legal proceedings to recover costs from Eckoh, the service provider for You Say We Pay.

- (Reuters)

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times