Tristan O'Carroll, Media Week, 20 December 2007, 4:00pm

Ofcom fines Channel 4 £1.5m over phone-ins

LONDON - Communications regulator Ofcom has fined Channel 4 £1.5m for misconduct involving phone-in competitions around hit shows Richard & Judy and Deal or No Deal.

The penalty caps a year of fines relating to premium-rate phone-in competitions. In September, GMTV was fined £2m by Ofcom for breaching rules over premium rate phone-in competitions.

Ofcom's investigations found Channel 4 in breach of rules surrounding two types of misconduct.

Channel 4 was found to have picked competition finalists before lines had closed in the Richard & Judy “You Say We Pay” competition.

The broadcaster was also found to have operated a so-called “staggered selection” for selecting finalists in both the Richard & Judy “You Say We Pay” and the Deal or no Deal phone-in competitions.

Ofcom said this selection process had created unfair odds that meant viewers entering the competition were not given a fair and equal chance of winning.

In particular, later entrants had a lower statistical probability of being shortlisted as a potential winner, compared to those who entered earlier.