GMTV fined £2 million

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Ofcom has fined GMTV £2 million for misconduct in its premium rate phone competitions.

This follows the £250,000 fine premium rate regulator ICSTIS levied on GMTV's phone service provider Opera earlier this week.

Ofcom's fine is the largest financial penalty to be imposed against a broadcaster to date.

The regulator said that the financial penalty would have been higher had GMTV not put in place an extensive programme of "reparations and remedies" including refunding viewers, the introduction of free prize draws, donations to children’s charities and the resignations of GMTV managing director Paul Corley and head of competitions Kate Fleming.

But it added that "GMTV’s disregard for the need to operate any reasonable compliance procedure, verification, oversight or management of the arrangements for the conduct of these competitions over such a long period of time could not, in the Committee’s view, be described as anything other than gross negligence".

Ofcom estimated the revenue GMTV received from premium rate competitions during August 2003 and February 2007 at around £63.6 million.

GMTV was found in breach of two broadcasting rules which state that "competitions should be conducted fairly" and that "the licensee must retain control of and responsibility for the service arrangements" during the use of premium rate services.

Ofcom's investigation found that in some cases, competition finalists had been picked before lines had closed, meaning substantial numbers of viewers who entered the competition stood no chance of winning.

The regulator also identified the use of what it called the "15/5 method" where 15 competition finalists had been selected between 6am and 8.30am and the remaining five at 9am after the lines had closed. Viewers calling between 8.30 and 9am had significantly less chance of being selected as a finalist than those who entered before 8.30am.

There were also incidents of what it called 'Final Five', where the final five competition finalists were selected up to three minutes before the lines had closed, leaving out those callers who entered in the final minutes.

In addition to the fine, which will be paid to the HM Paymaster General, Ofcom will require GMTV to broadcast a statement of Ofcom’s findings on its service in a form to be determined by Ofcom on three specified occasions.

Ofcom's investigation was launched following viewer complaints and allegations made in BBC One's Panorama in April, which claimed Opera’s staff were deliberately picking competition finalists before lines closed.

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