More dodgy phone-ins cost BBC £400,000
Staff know not to rip the public off now
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The never-ending TV and radio phone-in scandal prompted more embarrassment at the BBC today, as Ofcom hit the corporation with fines totalling £400,000.
More than half a dozen shows are included in the latest round of wrist-slapping, including the charity fundraising drives Comic Relief and Children in Need. Broadcasting watchdogs levied their biggest penalty against 6 Music's Liz Kershaw Show, which cost licence fee payers £115,000 by repeatedly running pre-recorded "live" competitions between May 2005 and January 2006.
The investigation was launched after flagship kids' show Blue Peter was caught faking winners last year. The BBC briefly suspended all phone-in competitions, and trained 19,000 staff in how not to swindle viewers and abuse trust.
In response to today's fines, it said: "Ofcom has recognised that neither the BBC nor any member of staff made any money from these serious editorial lapses.
"Whilst we must never be complacent and must remain constantly vigilant, audience research suggests the comprehensive action we have taken is rebuilding the trust of viewers and listeners."
For its massively profitable bent competitions wheeze ITV was hit with a record £5.67m Ofcom fine earlier this year. ®
COMMENTS
my email to graham.howell@ofcom.org.uk
Dear Sir,
I read with interest today of the most recent (£400,000) fine levied at the BBC after yet more allegations proved to be correct. I must point out however, as it seems to have slipped your attention, that fining the BBC punishes only the viewer, not the company. It is licence fees that provide the cash to pay the fine, and who, I wonder, does that fine benefit?
Given what has occurred with television phone-ins of late, should not a more practical approach be adopted? I would think that to bring charges of fraud against individual programme directors and have them issued with 6 months prison (no suspended, no time off, no fines) would quickly wake the industry up and result in a swift and effective solution being implemented.
Obviously, my knowledge of the industry is somewhat limited. But I know a con when I see one.
yours faithfully,
No TV license in NZ
Our kindhearted Government abandoned the license years ago. They did however provide us with lots of adverts.
These tend to be more interesting than the programs.
So much so that I watch Sky whenever I do watch the goggle box.
So it's heads they win, tails you lose. Paris is nice to watch though.
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