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Hain wades into ITV phone-ins row Police may probe ITV's phone-ins
(about 7 hours later)
Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain has described the phone-in problems at ITV as "almost daylight robbery". Police could investigate ITV over the latest series of premium rate phone-in scandals, Scotland Yard has said.
His comments follow a review of ITV phone-ins which identified a "serious cultural failure" within the company. Shows including Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway rigged competition winners in what an audit branded a "serious cultural failure".
Shows including Ant and Dec's Gameshow Marathon and Saturday Night Takeaway were among those involved, an audit of ITV's output has found. ITV chairman Michael Grade insisted on Radio 4's Today programme no evidence of criminal behaviour was found.
ITV executive chairman Michael Grade described the findings as "horrible" and "inexcusable". But Scotland Yard said it would consider investigating ITV if it was asked to by Ofcom, the media watchdog.
Speaking on BBC1's Question Time, Mr Hain said: "People were tricked and conned into getting rid of millions of pounds on an absolutely false prospectus." "If we receive a request from the regulatory authority then we will consider whether to investigate," a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.
ITV SHOWS SINGLED OUT Soapstar Superstar - Production team put wrong contestants up for eviction and over-rode song choices chosen by viewersAnt and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway - Contestants supposedly chosen at random were selected on basis of geographical convenience and other factors, including their health and fitnessAnt and Dec's Gameshow Marathon - Winners picked on basis of geographical convenience and whether they would be entertaining on screen, not at randomThe X Factor - Some votes cast via red-button voting and SMS text during 2005 final and three episodes of 2006 series arrived too late to be includedDancing on Ice - Some red-button and text votes received late on one occasionI'm a Celebrity... - Voting promoted for three and a half minutes on one edition after lines had closed Send us your comments
"We have not received a request at this time."
Mr Grade said he was happy to hand over all of the evidence to the police, if required.
But he added: "We had lawyers watching this all the way through the Deloitte's process, and they have advised there is no evidence to support allegations of criminal behaviour."
Ofcom has already launched an investigation into the programmes highlighted by the report.
The audit, which was carried out by city firm Deloitte, identified "serious" failings within ITV after the company made £7.8 million from uncounted votes.
Some 10 million telephone calls were affected by the premium rate errors, and more than eight million callers are now eligible for refunds.
Any money not claimed will be donated to charity.
Mr Grade described the report findings as "horrible" and "inexcusable", adding that he would be happy to talk to the politicians who levelled criticisms.
Speaking on BBC One's Question Time, Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain described the phone-in problems at ITV as "almost daylight robbery".
"People were tricked and conned into getting rid of millions of pounds on an absolutely false prospectus," the MP said.
"I think the public who were robbed of their money will want to know that this will never happen again, and that those who are responsible, including on the Ant and Dec show, will be nailed.""I think the public who were robbed of their money will want to know that this will never happen again, and that those who are responsible, including on the Ant and Dec show, will be nailed."
Let's not dance around words and semantics: this is wrong Michael Grade
He added: "I think the people that paid their money in on the basis of what they believed was the case and found their money was being smuggled away and robbed from them - that's very serious indeed."He added: "I think the people that paid their money in on the basis of what they believed was the case and found their money was being smuggled away and robbed from them - that's very serious indeed."
'Extremely disappointed Shadow home secretary David Davis added: "Someone made a dishonest decision. It must be possible for ITV to find this person and they should pay with their job."
Speaking on the same programme, shadow home secretary David Davis said: "Someone made a dishonest decision. It must be possible for ITV to find this person and they should pay with their job." And former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said: "I'm not sure that the regulatory bodies have got enough teeth. They are too much the creatures of their industry. And ex-Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said it was "incredible" that nobody had been sacked.
"I am surprised that Michael Grade has not come in with a much harder line than he has. It seems incredible that nobody takes a walk." Mr Grade said he "understood" why the politicians had reacted in the way they did.
"I would ask them please to read the Deloitte findings and I am happy to discuss it with them to explain exactly how we've got here," he said.
Ant and Dec said they had not been aware of the problems
Asked if it amounted to fraud, Mr Grade added: "Let's not dance around words and semantics: this is wrong. W-R-O-N-G wrong.
"[But] the motivation was not to induce greater revenues, the motivation was to cut corners and make better shows and disregard the contract they had made with viewers."
Ant McPartlin said he and co-host Dec Donnelly were "extremely disappointed" their Takeaway show was singled out.Ant McPartlin said he and co-host Dec Donnelly were "extremely disappointed" their Takeaway show was singled out.
"We'd like to make it clear that we had no idea these problems existed," he continued. "We'd like to make it clear that we had no idea these problems existed," he added.
"Ant and I are now reassured that strict measures have been put in place to ensure that these kind of incidents can never happen again," said Donnelly.
Although both he and McPartlin have an executive producer credit on Saturday Night Takeaway, he said they had "no direct involvement in the phone line process".
ITV made £7.8 million from uncounted votes. Mr Grade said the company would reimburse those who were misled - a decision McPartlin said he and Donnelly were "100% behind".
Jobs safe
Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has launched an investigation into the programmes highlighted by the report.
Some 10 million telephone calls were affected by the premium rate errors, and more than eight million callers are now eligible for refunds.
Any money not claimed will be donated to charity.
Ant and Dec said they had not been aware of the problems"I've never been involved in anything as grisly as this or anything that's damaged broadcasting as much as this," Mr Grade said.
Nobody has been sacked as a result of the findings.
Mr Grade said the motivation of staff involved had been "to get a better show" which was "misguided but not corrupt".
ITV has been accused of "burying bad news" by releasing the Deloitte report's findings on the same day BBC announced programme and staff cuts.
The date of the BBC announcement has been known for several weeks.
Lucrative business
But Mr Grade said they had chosen today to release the report because it was the "first available opportunity" since its findings had been finalised.
He said "all energy will go into... restoring public trust".
ITV SHOWS SINGLED OUT Soapstar Superstar - Production team put wrong contestants up for eviction and over-rode song choices chosen by viewersAnt and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway - Contestants supposedly chosen at random were selected on basis of geographical convenience and other factors, including their health and fitnessAnt and Dec's Gameshow Marathon - Winners picked on basis of geographical convenience and whether they would be entertaining on screen, not at randomThe X Factor - Some votes cast via red-button voting and SMS text during 2005 final and three episodes of 2006 series arrived too late to be includedDancing on Ice - Some red-button and text votes received late on one occasionI'm a Celebrity... - Voting promoted for three and a half minutes on one edition after lines had closed
"It is only by understanding how things went wrong in the past, and being open about them, that we can be sure that we get them right now and in the future," he added.
ITV suspended all premium-rate phone-ins, interactive competitions and votes in March while the auditors conducted their six-month review but phone-ins were later reinstated.
But Mr Grade has now announced the immediate suspension of all SMS and red button voting during live shows.
"We are not satisfied that our providers can guarantee us that their systems are robust. Until we can get absolutely certainty that their systems can deliver what we need them to deliver, the suspension will remain," he said.
Telephone competitions are a substantial source of revenue for commercial TV channels.
Meanwhile, ITV has lifted the temporary ban on new commissions from production company RDF.
The broadcaster halted new shows from the company after RDF accepted blame for a promotional film it made for a BBC documentary about the Queen which was edited out of sequence.