British media watchdog Ofcom has fined ITV a record €5.68 million today for cheating viewers over phone-in competitions on some of its most popular shows.
Viewers had been encouraged to call premium rate phone lines to enter competitions they could never win, or to cast votes that were never counted.
Ofcom said the fine reflected not only the seriousness of the failures but also the repeated nature of the offences. ITV admitted the findings made for "sorry reading" and said it would pay €7.8 million pounds to recompense viewers and make a donation to charity.
The watchdog highlighted offences that took place on three of ITV's top shows:
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway;
Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathonand
Soapstar Superstar.
It found viewers had been conned because finalists for competitions had been chosen before phone lines were closed. Other winners were selected on the basis of where they lived and their suitability for television rather than at random.
Michael Grade, Executive Chairman of ITV, said the company had taken a number of disciplinary measures and had overhauled its editorial and training procedures to safeguard against any future breaches on interactive viewer competitions.