BBC receives record fine for misleading contest shows

Program-makers knew that callers had no chance of winning as contestants had already been chosen.

By JONNY PAUL, JPOST CORRESPONDENT IN LONDON
bbc 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
bbc 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
The BBC has been fined a record £400,000 by Ofcom, the independent regulator for the UK's communications industries, for faking winners and misleading audiences in its television and radio competitions. In a number of BBC programs, the public was urged to call in to compete in contests. However, program-makers knew that callers had no chance of winning as contestants had already been chosen. Other shows had been pre-recorded, so nobody could win the apparently "live" competitions. "Ofcom considered that these breaches of the broadcasting code were very serious. In each of these cases the BBC deceived its audience by faking winners of competitions and deliberately conducting competitions unfairly," the media watchdog said in a statement. Listeners were encouraged to enter, "in the full knowledge that the audience stood no chance of winning," Ofcam said, adding that in other cases, programs that faced technical problems simply made up the names of winners. "In some cases, the production team had taken premeditated decisions to broadcast competitions and encourage listeners to enter in the full knowledge that the audience stood no chance of winning," the regulator said. On one BBC1 program, a member of the production team posed as a winner on a phone-in competition. On BBC radio, a staff member posed as a competition winner in a pre-recorded show presented as "live." The BBC said that it accepted the findings but regretted the fine, which it said would lead to a loss of license fee payers' money. The BBC made a public apology last summer when the findings came to light and said it was committed to putting its house in order. It said the issues had been taken "extremely seriously," with apologies made and "an unprecedented action plan to deal with the matters raised." These plans included training for more than 19,000 staff members, new guidance to program-makers on the running of competitions and a stricter code of conduct, it said.