ITV has instructed auditors Deloitte to audit
all of its premium-rate services and said that none will go on air
until it has been cleared.
Meanwhile premium-rate phone regulator ICSTIS
(Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of the
Telephone Information Services) has welcomed the suspension and is
investigating two ITV shows. It will attend a meeting on Thursday
with all the affected broadcasters to discuss the issue.
The scandal began when teatime Channel 4 show
Richard and Judy was caught up in a row over its premium-rate
competition You Say We Pay. Viewers were encouraged to phone in to
be selected to play the show on air even after the shortlist of
potential contestants had been picked. Viewers were being asked to
pay £1 to enter a competition they had no chance of winning.
Several ITV shows have since run into similar
trouble. ICSTIS is investigating Ant and Dec's Saturday Night
Takeaway over its Grab the Ads competition. It will investigate
whether or not viewers of that show were also encouraged to call
the programme after contestants had been picked.
ITV also admitted last week that it had
overcharged Sky Digital viewers of its shows by £200,000 when they
were charged 50p instead of 35p to vote in last year's X Factor
karaoke competition show.
ITV owns and runs an entire channel dedicated
to premium-rate phone gaming, ITV Play. It has been suspended
pending internal investigations. ITV Play has already recently
undergone an internal audit into its systems.
The suspension of the lines will prove a
financial blow to broadcasters. ITV Play earned £26 million in the
last six months.
The BBC has also been caught up in the
scandal. Viewers were encouraged to phone in to Saturday Kitchen,
despite the fact that the show was pre-recorded.
"We believe that all programmes currently on
air are compliant," said ITV chief operating officer John
Cresswell. "However, in light of recent concern around this issue,
something affecting every major broadcaster, we are conducting this
independent review to ensure that ITV is meeting all relevant codes
and regulations."
"We've asked the auditors to report back to us
with some urgency. The interactive elements in each programme will
be re-introduced as they are independently signed off. We expect
the review of current programmes to be both swift and
thorough."
The review could affect this weekend's Dancing
on Ice programme, which depends on viewer voting for the selection
of losing ice skating celebrities.
"We believe that the industry has a major role
to play in ensuring that viewers can take part in TV shows with
confidence," said George Kidd, chief executive of ICSTIS. "Today’s
announcement by ITV is evidence of a broadcaster taking its
responsibility to viewers seriously. We look forward to receiving
the review’s findings.”
