|
BBC fined 400,000 by Ofcom |
|
|
|
|
Written by Telly Addict
|
|
Wednesday, 30 July 2008 |
The BBC has been fined £400,000 by media watchdog Ofcom for misleading its audiences by "faking" phone-in competitions.
Sport Relief, Comic Relief, Children in Need, Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show and Liz Kershaw's show on BBC 6 Music were all found to have deceived their audiences by faking winners of competitions and deliberately conducting competitions unfairly.
The £400,000 penalty is a record for the BBC.
Ofcom found that viewers were urged to call some BBC programmes after contestants had already been chosen. Other shows had been pre-recorded, so nobody could win apparently "live" competitions.
The shows were fined individually as follows:
Television
- Comic Relief (BBC One, March 2007) - £45,000
- Sport Relief (BBC One, July 2006) - £45,000
- Children in Need (BBC One Scotland, November 2005) - £35,000
- TMi (BBC Two and CBBC, September 2006) - £50,000
Radio
- Liz Kershaw Show (BBC 6 Music, May 2005 to January 2006) - £115,000
- Jo Whiley Show (BBC Radio 1, 20 April to 12 May 2006) - £75,000
- Russell Brand (BBC 6 Music, April 2006) - £17,500
- Clare McDonnell Show (BBC 6 Music, from September 2006) - £17,500
In July 2007, Ofcom fined the BBC £50,000 after Blue Peter falsified the results of a contest during a live show.
The BBC later suspended all competitions after an inquiry unearthed a fresh batch of faked phone-ins the same month.
|
