'Richard and Judy' quiz fined

The company behind The Richard and Judy Show's premium rate telephone quiz has been fined £150,000.

Eckoh UK Ltd, the company who ran the phone lines for the 'You Say We Pay' quiz on the Channel 4 show, was given the fine by premium rate services regulator Icstis.

It launched an investigation into the way the quiz was run and found that nearly five million viewers had entered the competition, which cost and an average of around 75p a call.

However, the watchdog found that 47% of the viewers who called in did so after the shortlist of winners had been chosen.

Icstis ruled that the competition had "seriously misled" viewers and has also ordered a sanction to provide refunds to all those affected.

Sir Alistair Graham, Icstis chairman said: "The size of the fine reflects the very serious nature of the breach of our Code of Practice. The Hearing Panel found clear evidence of fundamental failings in the winner selection process. Winners were being chosen before the competition closing deadline whilst millions of additional viewers were still encouraged to phone in and pay to enter competition but were denied the opportunity of fair consideration. Such reckless disregard for viewers is unacceptable. In this care, viewers were not only 'paying competition entrants', but also consumers who enjoy a high degree of consumer protection already provided by Icstis."

However, Eckoh suggested that it was being made a "scapegoat" because Icstis could not take action against Channel 4 or production company Cactus because they were outside their jurisdiction.

Mik Philpot, chief executive officer of Eckoh, said: "We accept that Eckoh made mistakes with 'You Say We Pay' but it seems clear to us that all three parties could and should have spotted the problem earlier. It was Eckoh who identified it and tried to take action.

What this adjudication highlights is the important point that, in our opinion, the regulations governing premium rate services linked to television programmes are fundamentally flawed.

"It is frustrating that, because Icstis can only adjudicate against Eckoh we are the only party to be sanctioned today whilst the fate of the broadcaster has to wait for any Ofcom investigation to conclude."

Mr Philpot said that the current regulation was "unpredictable and inconsistent", especially in view of the fact that Ofcom recently fined Five £300,000 after another case involving premium rate telephony. He said: "In our view, it would be far better for the industry and the public in cases like these if the regulators took a joined up approach and dealt with all the evidence and all the parties collectively in a clear and transparent manner."

The case is being referred to media regulator Ofcom for further investigation. Ofcom has said that it may wish to investigate the actions of the parties involved under the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

(KMcA)