Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Call-in quiz television shows border on the fraudulent and should be reclassified as gambling, MPs have concluded. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee condemned the "unscrupulous practices" of some of the quiz shows, which have been criticised for misleading viewers. Up to a million people a night watch shows in which presenters invite viewers to call a premium-rate number and answer a simple question for rewards of up to £100,000. The revenue raised from the calls is considerable, with ITV set to make £20 million in profit this year from its quiz show division, ITV Play. The committee was told of allegations of shabby practices by producers and broadcasters, including suggestions that call handling procedures had, in the past, been manipulated to deny callers a chance to answer. In one episode of The Mint, an ITV1 show, 400,000 callers phoned over four hours, but only one in 400 had a chance of getting through. Viewers have also complained about overly cryptic questions. Ofcom, which is investigating the shows, recently ruled that Quizmania, on ITV Play, was in breach of the broadcasting code for posing a question about items commonly found in a women's handbag. Answers included a balaclava and Rawlplugs. The committee report, issued today, is expected to conclude that "any practice of misleading viewers about call volumes or of blocking calls would be more than unfair: it would be fraudulent and should be punished under criminal law. It would also be a disgrace to the Call TV quiz industry." It says: "We believe that Call TV quiz shows generally look and feel like gambling, whether or not they will fall within the definition of gambling under the Gambling Act 2005." The committee will urge the Government to examine this as a matter of urgency. If quizzes are reclassified as lotteries, regulators could insist on at least 20 per cent of sales going to good causes. The MPs concluded that there was a lack of transparency in the phone-in process. They recommended that "viewers must be given more information allowing them to have a reasonable understanding of the odds of getting through to the studio". Odds of getting on-air could be displayed on screen, they said, adding that a study should be made of how addictive the shows were. Some callers made 60 attempts within eight minutes. Icstis, the premium-line regulator, should make it a requirement for broadcasters to tell callers how much they are spending, the MPs said. They also called on Ofcom to "require broadcasters to inform viewers that solutions may not be as simple as they seem". Ministers want Ofcom to draw up proposals for a new regulatory framework. Shaun Woodward, the Broadcasting Minister, said: "There are serious issues to be addressed." Both he and the committee accepted that the quizzes were popular with viewers and were likely to become a vital source of revenue for commercial broadcasters. Yet the committee noted that "it is doubtful whether anyone would describe them as high-quality programming and they are certainly not creative television".