ITV has been fined a record £5.68m by Ofcom for its abuse of premium rate phone competitions. The network has also been ordered to broadcast a summary of Ofcom's findings on six separate occasions.
Last year a report found that viewers of programmes including Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and Soapstar Superstar, had spent millions on unfair competitions.
So, what do you think of the fine? Is it fair? Is it enough? Should anyone at ITV have been held personally accountable? And will you ever trust TV phone-ins again? We’d love to hear your thoughts…
The TV Show will be filmed this Saturday (May 10) in London – if you’d like to take part in a live debate on this issue* please email thetvshow@princessTV.com
*Please be aware, a debate on this topic is not yet confirmed, but if you'd be interested to contribute to the discussion, The TV Show would love to hear from you
If we, as individuals, perpetrated such a scam, we would expect to spend years in the slammer. These guys have received barely a slap on the wrist: A percent or so of annual profit?
It's no worse than a speeding fine.
String 'em up, I say.
What time is it, Mr Woolf? Time to mend your ways, for the end is nigh.
What does C4 care what anybody thinks about anything?
Once there were forums where debate was possible - about news, politics and the like. They now resemble ruins with tumbleweeds rolling around in a foul smelling breeze.
It remains unclear, due to a complete inability on the administration's part to communicate on the issue, whether this is an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence or, and I suspect this is the more likely, that it is the result of frankly poor management and individuals combining their employment with some sort of perverse "sport".
Originally posted by wolfram: What does C4 care what anybody thinks about anything?
Once there were forums where debate was possible - about news, politics and the like. They now resemble ruins with tumbleweeds rolling around in a foul smelling breeze.
It remains unclear, due to a complete inability on the administration's part to communicate on the issue, whether this is an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence or, and I suspect this is the more likely, that it is the result of frankly poor management and individuals combining their employment with some sort of perverse "sport".
Behind the facade of corporate responsibility the decision to do this must've been taken by some individual (or individuals) and approved by others. Surely they should be identified and punished too.
The same applies to the BBC and the £106,000 they stole from charity.
They deserved more FAR MORE; This was nothing more than sheer delibrate greed and deception (RE ant and dec- how could a vewiwer in scotland ever get to the giggy bank in London before the end of the programme- a delibrate Con!) the fine is partilly refelective of the call costs, does Not take into account the Real PROFITS made from each programme (ie advertising reveue). They should be fined a huge percentage of that too, otherwise they have effectivly been fined NILL; Note the process to 'reclaim' your call costs (sending in an itemised phone bill!!) actualy makes a mockery of the whole OFCOM sham. They should be hit Very HArd, this isnt even the first offence!! Broadcasting Standards where? if anyone else pulled this scam, they would be in jail.
Originally posted by wolfram: What does C4 care what anybody thinks about anything?
Once there were forums where debate was possible - about news, politics and the like. They now resemble ruins with tumbleweeds rolling around in a foul smelling breeze.
It remains unclear, due to a complete inability on the administration's part to communicate on the issue, whether this is an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence or, and I suspect this is the more likely, that it is the result of frankly poor management and individuals combining their employment with some sort of perverse "sport".
Either way it's a damned shame.
Seconded.
Thirded, the same goes for the wider process, so-called democracy and the "due process" which is just as weighted against the less than equal.
Originally posted by wolfram: What does C4 care what anybody thinks about anything?
Once there were forums where debate was possible - about news, politics and the like. They now resemble ruins with tumbleweeds rolling around in a foul smelling breeze.
It remains unclear, due to a complete inability on the administration's part to communicate on the issue, whether this is an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence or, and I suspect this is the more likely, that it is the result of frankly poor management and individuals combining their employment with some sort of perverse "sport".
Either way it's a damned shame.
Ouch! As Viewers’ Editor, I care a great deal about what viewers think of Channel 4 and its programmes. We welcome comment on anything we do, and our forums are here to facilitate debate. Any criticisms posted on here are read, and I ask the Commissioning Editors and production companies to join in on any forum debates that spring from the programmes they have made. I’ll also ask them to reply directly to any criticisms posted on The TV Show website. All comments sent to our Viewer Enquiries address get copied to the senior managers and the Heads of all the Channels, as well as a summary of what people are discussing on our forums. I am very open to suggestions for how we could do better, so please don’t hold back!
Originally posted by wolfram: What does C4 care what anybody thinks about anything?
Once there were forums where debate was possible - about news, politics and the like. They now resemble ruins with tumbleweeds rolling around in a foul smelling breeze.
It remains unclear, due to a complete inability on the administration's part to communicate on the issue, whether this is an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence or, and I suspect this is the more likely, that it is the result of frankly poor management and individuals combining their employment with some sort of perverse "sport".
Either way it's a damned shame.
Ouch! As Viewers’ Editor, I care a great deal about what viewers think of Channel 4 and its programmes. We welcome comment on anything we do, and our forums are here to facilitate debate. Any criticisms posted on here are read, and I ask the Commissioning Editors and production companies to join in on any forum debates that spring from the programmes they have made. I’ll also ask them to reply directly to any criticisms posted on The TV Show website. All comments sent to our Viewer Enquiries address get copied to the senior managers and the Heads of all the Channels, as well as a summary of what people are discussing on our forums. I am very open to suggestions for how we could do better, so please don’t hold back!
OK number 1 suggestion on how you could do better - Forums back to 24/7 write access with 24/7 mod cover.
Ouch! As Viewers’ Editor, I care a great deal about what viewers think of Channel 4 and its programmes. We welcome comment on anything we do, and our forums are here to facilitate debate. Any criticisms posted on here are read, and I ask the Commissioning Editors and production companies to join in on any forum debates that spring from the programmes they have made. I’ll also ask them to reply directly to any criticisms posted on The TV Show website. All comments sent to our Viewer Enquiries address get copied to the senior managers and the Heads of all the Channels, as well as a summary of what people are discussing on our forums. I am very open to suggestions for how we could do better, so please don’t hold back!
Thanks for your prompt response Paula. I'll certainly have some thoughts over the weekend, as, I'm sure, will others.
I'm particularly grateful that what was a rant of frustration has, at last found constructive eyes even if the purpose of this thread is for something else. Could I suggest that for the News forum a start would be to cease the practice of deleting entire threads on the strength of one post being perceived as unsuitable.
Look forward to your futher thoughts Wolfram. I will have a chat to the mods about the deleted threads issue, as I think you make a valid point. I suspect the 24/7 opening suggested by Poslpe is a budget constraint, so may not be as easy to address
I have been posting here for years and had occasional posts deleted because they probably stepped over the 'robust' debate line.
Recently, I and others have had many posts deleted that could not in any way be considered objectionable. Even a post thanking for pointing out why a link didn't work was deleted.
When posts and threads that are deleted there is absolutely no explanation of what was wrong. The mods exercise absolute and arbitrary justice with no explanation, justification or redress. No you think this is appropriate and more importantly do you think it reflects the core values of C4?
Originally posted by wolfram: What does C4 care what anybody thinks about anything?
Once there were forums where debate was possible - about news, politics and the like. They now resemble ruins with tumbleweeds rolling around in a foul smelling breeze.
It remains unclear, due to a complete inability on the administration's part to communicate on the issue, whether this is an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence or, and I suspect this is the more likely, that it is the result of frankly poor management and individuals combining their employment with some sort of perverse "sport".
Either way it's a damned shame.
Well said.
We as forum users are treated like children, users are banned with very little explanation, threads are pulled on the whim of whoever is the mod of the day, when you e mail them for an explanation 9 times out of 10 you just receive the standard reply back.
Yes, I could go somewhere else but why should Channel 4 be allowed to behave in this fashion, this from the channel that championed the alternative view on so many issues.
It's very disappointing
Open The Forum Up 24/7 Like It Used To Be. . . . .Please!
I agree with you, the fine should be more and you should pay back the money witch you took from the inocent vievers
quote:
Originally posted by fantasy and comedy are all my joy: The fine should be more, they scammed the votes off peoples' money. That's just not right- it's illegal isn't it?
They should be fined and banned from running them for several years, after which they should have to pay around £5M before they can start running them again.
Originally posted by wolfram: What does C4 care what anybody thinks about anything?
Once there were forums where debate was possible - about news, politics and the like. They now resemble ruins with tumbleweeds rolling around in a foul smelling breeze.
It remains unclear, due to a complete inability on the administration's part to communicate on the issue, whether this is an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence or, and I suspect this is the more likely, that it is the result of frankly poor management and individuals combining their employment with some sort of perverse "sport".
I believe they got away with it lightly they should have been fined more ,I never do these phone in's anymore as I dont trust any of them ,and yes I think there are people at ITV who should be held personally accountable
Originally posted by Paula C4: Ouch! As Viewers’ Editor, I care a great deal about what viewers think of Channel 4 and its programmes. We welcome comment on anything we do, and our forums are here to facilitate debate. Any criticisms posted on here are read, and I ask the Commissioning Editors and production companies to join in on any forum debates that spring from the programmes they have made.
What about when Mods delete posts and active threads with no notice or reason - Just how is that conducive to debate? It has happened on numerous occasions and if you query why your post/thread was deleted you just get some standard (and idiotic) reply that they cannot actually tell you because now that they have deleted it they cannot check.
If they decide to delete something then surely they know the reason why and could inform the poster so they don't make the same mistake again. Likewise if you are unsure (such as in potential copyright infringement issues) you could ask the poster about it. Mods on most decent fora manage to do this so why can the Mods here not do the same?
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Never argue with stupid people. They just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
