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No probe into phone-in scandals | No probe into phone-in scandals |
(10 minutes later) | |
The Serious Fraud Office will not be carrying out an inquiry into TV phone-in scandals, it has said. | The Serious Fraud Office will not be carrying out an inquiry into TV phone-in scandals, it has said. |
The SFO said it considered that "none of these meet the criterion for acceptance for investigation". | The SFO said it considered that "none of these meet the criterion for acceptance for investigation". |
The organisation looked at allegations including those relating to GMTV competitions and voting in the BBC's Eurovision Song Contest selection. | The organisation looked at allegations including those relating to GMTV competitions and voting in the BBC's Eurovision Song Contest selection. |
ITV was fined a record £5.67m by Ofcom earlier this year after details of a phone-in scandal were made public. | ITV was fined a record £5.67m by Ofcom earlier this year after details of a phone-in scandal were made public. |
TV shows Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Gameshow Marathon and Soapstar Superstar were all found to have "serious editorial issues". | TV shows Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Gameshow Marathon and Soapstar Superstar were all found to have "serious editorial issues". |
The SFO also decided not to investigate Big Game TV, which ran a phone-in quiz channel. | The SFO also decided not to investigate Big Game TV, which ran a phone-in quiz channel. |
Last year, GMTV was fined £2 million by Ofcom for failings in its phone-in quizzes. | Last year, GMTV was fined £2 million by Ofcom for failings in its phone-in quizzes. |
The fine was imposed after it emerged many callers had no chance of winning competitions over a four-year period. | The fine was imposed after it emerged many callers had no chance of winning competitions over a four-year period. |
Misleading audiences | Misleading audiences |
In May, the BBC was fined £400,000 by Ofcom for misleading its audiences by "faking" phone-ins. | In May, the BBC was fined £400,000 by Ofcom for misleading its audiences by "faking" phone-ins. |
Ant and Dec have always insisted they knew nothing about their shows' issues | |
Telethons to raise money for the Children in Need and Comic Relief charities were involved in the scandal, along with children's show TMi, several 6 Music programmes and Radio 1's Jo Whiley show. | Telethons to raise money for the Children in Need and Comic Relief charities were involved in the scandal, along with children's show TMi, several 6 Music programmes and Radio 1's Jo Whiley show. |
In the case of Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2007, a presenter mistakenly told viewers to vote when phone lines had not yet opened. | In the case of Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2007, a presenter mistakenly told viewers to vote when phone lines had not yet opened. |
The SFO also considered allegations against Audiocall, a now-closed subsidiary of BBC Worldwide which handled phone-ins for broadcasters, and Opera Telecom - which did the same job for GMTV - before deciding not to investigate. | The SFO also considered allegations against Audiocall, a now-closed subsidiary of BBC Worldwide which handled phone-ins for broadcasters, and Opera Telecom - which did the same job for GMTV - before deciding not to investigate. |
The Serious Fraud Office says it does not take on every referred case of suspected fraud, and that its resources must be focussed on major and complicated fraud. | The Serious Fraud Office says it does not take on every referred case of suspected fraud, and that its resources must be focussed on major and complicated fraud. |