Adjudication of the Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee - ITV2 Limited, in respect of its service ITV2+1
| Published date | 08 May 2008 |
| Issuer | Office of Communications |
Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee
Consideration of
sanction against ITV2 Limited (“ITV2 Ltd” or the “Licensee”), in respect
of its service ITV2+1.
For Breaches of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (the
“Code”) of:
Rule 2.2: “Factual programmes or items or portrayals
of factual matters must not materially mislead the
audience.”
Rule 2.11: “Competitions should be conducted fairly,
prizes should be described accurately and rules should
be clear and appropriately made known.”
Relating to the following conduct:
1) Failure to inform viewers on 28 occasions that
interactive competitions had concluded in repeat
broadcasts of four interactive quiz show
programmes (Playalong, The Mint, Make Your Play
and Glitterball).
2) Failure to inform viewers of three repeat
broadcasts of an interactive dating programme
(Playdate) that the programme was not live and
interactivity was no longer available.
Between 12 December 2006 to 24 October 2007 (inclusive)
Decision To impose a financial penalty (payable to HM
Paymaster General) of £275,000.
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Summary
1.1 For the reasons set out in full in the Decision, under powers delegated from
the Ofcom Board to Ofcom’s Content Sanctions Committee (the
“Committee”), the Committee decided to impose a statutory sanction on ITV2
Ltd in light of the serious nature of its failures to ensure compliance with the
Ofcom Broadcasting Code (the “Code”).
1.2 This adjudication under the Code relates to 31 repeat broadcasts of Playdate,
Playalong, The Mint, Make Your Play and/or Glitterball on ITV2+1 between 12
December 2006 and 24 October 2007 (inclusive).
1.3 Playdate, Playalong, The Mint, Make Your Play and Glitterball (each a
“programme” and together the “programmes”) were all broadcast live on ITV2
on various occasions between 12 December 2006 and 24 October 2007 (the
“relevant period”). ITV2+1 re-broadcasts all of ITV2’s output with a delay of
one hour. Therefore, one hour after broadcast on ITV2, the programmes were
repeat-broadcast on ITV2+1, when they were no longer live. Normally, when
programming involving a time-critical vote or competition element or some
other form of live interactivity is broadcast on ITV2+1, it is captioned to inform
viewers that the output is not live and that telephone lines are closed (and/or
the telephone number is obscured).
1.4 During the relevant period, on 31 occasions, one of the programmes was
broadcast on ITV2+1 without, in each case, a caption indicating that the
relevant programme had been broadcast earlier on ITV2 and that the viewer
interactive competitions (in the case of Playalong, The Mint, Make Your Play
and Glitterball) or live interactivity (in the case of Playdate) had already
concluded. However, the PRS entry routes to participate in the programmes
remained open and anyone who called was still charged.
1.5 Ofcom launched an investigation after a viewer contacted Ofcom in relation to
the broadcast of Make Your Play on ITV2+1 on 16 March 2007, without the
necessary “lines closed” caption. After calling the number on screen, he had
heard a recorded message informing him that the lines were closed but that
he would still be charged for the call.
1.6 ITV2 Ltd admitted that the usual caption had not appeared in the broadcast of
Make Your Play on ITV2+1 on 16 March 2007, due to human error. Following
further investigations, ITV2 Ltd informed Ofcom of 30 further occasions on
which the usual caption had not appeared in repeat broadcasts of Make Your
Play and the other programmes on ITV2+1
Summary of the Committee’s Findings
1.7 On 31 occasions, programmes that repeatedly and very frequently invited
viewers to pay to interact had been repeat broadcast by ITV2 Ltd on ITV2+1.
On these occasions, ITV2 Ltd failed to adequately inform viewers that the
viewer interactive competitions had included or that live interactivity was no
longer available. On the basis of ITV2 Ltd’s estimates, approximately 2,400
viewers had called or sent SMS or MMS messages in response to the repeat
broadcasts of the affected programmes, without any chance of winning or
interacting.
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