ITV fined record amount for phone-ins

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - Media watchdog Ofcom fined commercial broadcaster ITV a record 5.68 million pounds on Thursday for cheating viewers over phone-in competitions on some of its most popular shows.

Viewers had been encouraged to call premium rate phone lines to enter competitions they could never win, or to cast votes that were never counted, the watchdog said.

Ofcom said the fine reflected not only the seriousness of the failures but also the repeated nature of the offences. ITV admitted the findings made for "sorry reading" and said it would pay 7.8 million pounds to recompense viewers and to charity.

"This was a thorough set of investigations which uncovered institutionalised failure within ITV that enabled the broadcaster to make money from misconduct on mass audience programmes," said Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards.

The watchdog highlighted offences that took place on three of ITV's top shows: "Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway"; "Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon" and "Soapstar Superstar".

It found viewers had been conned because finalists for competitions had been chosen before phone lines were closed. Other winners were selected on the basis of where they lived and their suitability for television rather than at random.

On Soapstar Superstar, programme makers ignored the viewers' votes and prepared results before the phone lines had closed.

"ITV programme makers totally disregarded their own published terms and conditions and Ofcom Codes," said Philip Graf, chairman of the watchdog's Content Sanctions Committee.