Ann Coffey

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Ann Coffey Submission to Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on Call TV Quiz Shows

Submission to Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into Call TV Quiz Shows 

I warmly welcome the inquiry into phone-in television quiz shows that has been announced by the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport. These programmes and channels are a source of concern to me and to my constituents.

The Select Committee has, of course, got its own lines of inquiry but I hope you will allow me to highlight in writing some of the issues that are causing me worry; some of the areas where I feel not nearly enough is known; and some of the questions which I feel the television companies and regulators must answer.
 
The most important question to me is whether viewers are honestly and fairly given an understanding of what happens when they spend 75p or more by calling up and what their chances are of participating and winning.
 
From my research into the programmes, I am far from satisfied that the viewer is being treated properly.
 
Linked to this is whether the television broadcasters are fulfilling the duty of care they owe to audiences, which have come to trust and rely on them. Television, in this country, has a special trusted status stemming from several traditions and practices. One is impartiality, which is established in law and taken for granted in such programming as news and current affairs.  Another tradition is that of "viewers' champion", established by countless consumer interest and investigation shows.

In other words, when people turn on their TV, they are used to being able to relax their guard; to trusting what is in front of their eyes. Can a viewer trust these quiz shows? Are the great traditions of broadcasting being honoured?  Some of the shows, like Make Your Play and the Mint, are broadcast on ITV at about midnight to coincide with pub closing time, when viewers may have their guard down or when lonely and vulnerable people cannot sleep.
 
My research has found mysterious "gaps" during Call TV quiz programmes, when no viewers appear able to get through. The presenter will repeatedly exhort viewers to phone in while sounding amazed that no one has yet got through and answered the simple question. They will go for 30 to 40 seconds without saying anything to build up tension. Yet, when my researcher tested the system by phoning in to Channel 4’s Quiz Call during these strange gaps, the reply has always been: "Sorry, you have not been selected on this occasion." In other words, the shows give a misleading appearance. The viewers think they alone have the answer when, presumably, many hundreds or thousands are all being charged 75p a call without actually getting through. The number of calls must shoot up during these periods. Are these "gaps" deliberately created by the programme makers to generate excitement? If so, what distinguishes them from trickery?

Watching Quiz Call, my researcher also found that, twice in an hour, a caller came on saying: "It's such-and-such again."  Were these really callers who had got through twice?  If so, they were remarkably lucky as I have heard evidence of people running up huge bills trying to get through without any success at all! It is not unusual for people to spend more than  £100 a night trying to get through and one lonely and vulnerable lady from Manchester, whose favourite game was ITV The Mint, claims to have spent £3,000 in a year and yet has never been connected to the studio. What are the odds on someone getting through twice in a night?  What would it typically cost them in phone calls?  Could it have been "actors" or members of the production team trying to build up excitement? Is every single call genuine? Would it break any law if some were not?
 
How many callers phone compared with the number who get through?  What are the odds of participating? What are the odds of actually winning? How do they select which calls get through? How much is made in revenue compared with what is spent in prizes?  How does this compare with other forms of gambling such as the National Lottery, charity scratchcards or horse racing? What is the procedure for handling calls?
 
Some, if not most, of these phone-in quiz shows are in my view lotteries masquerading as prize competitions. The skill level required is at best minimal - actually, it is usually laughable - but what really defines them as games of chance is that it is pure luck whether or not callers get through to stand a chance of answering the question. I believe that these quizzes will fall foul of the Gambling Act 2004, Subsection 14 (3) on complex lotteries, which comes into operation next September. That would mean they will have to stop operating altogether or operate under the provisions relating to lotteries, including the requirement to obtain a Gambling Commission licence and that at least 20 per cent of the proceeds must be contributed to a good cause.
 
Interactive television quiz shows are a phenomenon that has suddenly taken over our screens at certain hours and on certain channels.  They have spread so quickly that the regulatory authorities or the Government have not yet established which laws they fall under and how they should be treated. Neither do viewers have an adequate understanding of whether they stand a real chance of winning before they pay their "stake" by ringing up. Are repeated phone calls really any different to pulling the handle of a one armed bandit? What research or polling have the companies themselves undertaken into the viewers understanding of whether these games represent good value for money?
 
The rapidity of their spread suggests that they are making very high profits. Their production values are low, so they are probably cheap to make. But estimates like £20 million profits for ITV Play suggest that the income from phone-ins is extraordinarily high. The shows do not have advertising breaks, which implies they are more profitable without advertisements than with!

It is time they explained how much they are making and how their shows really work. They owe it to their viewers.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to give my views to your committee.
Good Luck with your inquiries.