BBC Admits To Premium Rate Phone-In Problems; Pays $246,000 To Charity
By Dianne See Morrison - Fri 09 May 2008 11:59 AM PST
The UK’s premium rate phone-in scandal rumbles on. The BBC admitted today that £106,000 ($212,000) raised for charity through a premium rate fundraising phone-in was in fact kept by Audiocall, a subsidiary of the corporation’s commercial division. The broadcaster said it would pay the sum plus interest--£123,000 ($246,000) to the charity Children In Need and that it would be disciplining staff involved in the mishap.
An independent review by Pricewaterhouse Coopers found that Audiocall, which runs the vast majority of the broadcaster’s fundraising phone-ins, had kept viewer money that had rolled in after the phone lines had been closed. It also found that “communication problems” during the show Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2007, which determined the UK’s entry into the Europe-wide music contest, meant that viewers had called in before the phone lines were open for voting. Not only did their votes not count, but the £6,000 that they paid in premium phone rates was kept by Audiocall. The BBC has since handed it over to charity. Some two dozen other shows had been affected between October 2005 and September 2007, although the BBC has refused to name them. BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons also ordered the broadcaster to make an on-screen apology.
The news comes just one day after regulator Ofcom fined ITV (LSE: ITV) a record 5.7 million pounds ($11.14 million) for fixing the results of polls and contests in which viewers were charged premium rates when they called in their votes.
BBC Statement | PWC Report | Ron Neil Report to the BBC Trust
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