News flash: Can we trust TV?

The reputation of British broadcasting has been dragged through the mud in the last year. And it would be fair to say that the situation is spiralling out of control.

Viewers across the nation have been conned out of money for entering competitions which they could not have won in a month of Sundays.

Last year ITV morning programme GMTV was fined £2 million for duping viewers of a staggering £40 million over four years.

Meanwhile, the BBC is set to receive a hefty fine for ripping viewers off on shows including Comic Relief, Sport Relief, Children in Need and Blue Peter.

The BBC have been accused of pledging £100,000 to charity and keeping the money to itself.

So you think that’s bad enough. Think again. When you thought it just couldn’t get any worse, a new scam has come to light.

In 2005, Geordie duo Ant and Dec were handed a prestgious award at the British Comedy Awards. However, their show, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, did not actually win the viewers’ vote. In fact, the vote was won by the Catherine Tate Show.

In a separate investigation, ITV has been also been fined for ripping off viewers on shows including Ant and Dec’s Saturday Takeaway, Gameshow Marathon and Soapstar Superstar.

So it appears viewers have been duped yet again.

Apparently pop star Robbie Williams would only appear on screen if he handed the award to his chums Ant and Dec.

So a desperate ITV, obviously thinking about ratings and nothing else, decided to give in to Robbie’s demands at the expense of their viewers.

It’s a crying shame that broadcasters today believe filling their pockets is more important than giving paying customers value for money.

What’s equally disappointing is that broadcasters are placing the cult of celebrity above integrity.

However, at least regulator Ofcom has shown a willingness to clamp down on such idiocy. ITV were handed a hefty fine of £5.7 million - and rightly so.

Stiff penalties must be imposed to prevent broadcasters from even thinking about ripping viewers off.

Furthermore, according to a report released by the Daily Mail today, there is a possibility that the fraud police will step in to investigate the matter.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards warned that it “certainly isn’t the end of the matter”. Perhaps further disciplinary action could be taken against ITV.

This remains unclear but politcians from opposing parties have voiced their discontent.

Conservative MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, said: “It is extraordinary that they ever thought this type of behaviour was acceptable.”

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat Culture spokesman Don Foster said: “To hear that a major awards show has been potentially fiddled comes as the final straw with the public’s confidence in broadcasting.”

The final straw indeed. So this brings me to on the ultimate question arising from this ongoing farce: Can we trust TV?

At the present moment in time, the answer is no. The evidence against broadcasters has been piling up.

But as ITV and the BBC attempt to recover from their battered reputations, they arguably have little choice but to put viewers first in the near future.

If the fines being dished out become heavier, there may be no escape route for British broadcasters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: television, broadcasting, BBC, ITV, Daily Mail, Ofcom, Ant and Dec, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway