Examination of Witnesses (Questions 57-59)
MR DAVID
BROOK, MS
CAROLYN MAZE,
MR FREDERIK
FLECK AND
MR WILL
HOWELL-CORNES
28 NOVEMBER 2006
Q57 Chairman: Can I welcome representatives
of two of the operating companies in this area—David Brook
the Chairman and Carolyn Maze, Managing Director, of Optimistic
Entertainment, and Frederik Fleck, Managing Director and Will
Howell-Cornes, Senior Approver/Compliance of Ostrich Media. May
I also thank, on behalf of myself and my colleague Philip Davies,
Carolyn for hosting us last night when we represented the Committee
by paying a visit to the studio of Optimistic.
Ms Maze: It was our pleasure.
Chairman: Can I invite Mike Hall to begin.
Q58 Mr Hall: Good morning. We have
heard so far of the concern about the industry but the one critical
part of this inquiry is the way the calls are handled. Does anybody
want to add anything on the record to what has been said already
about call handling?
Mr Brook: I would like to make
a comment on behalf of Optimistic Media. This issue, of is it
a scam or not, we take very seriously. We have built our business
around call participation programming, which we see as the future
of quiz programmes and game shows. Even the established quiz shows
like Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Deal Or No Deal
are now offering a participation element of those shows. If what
we do is a scam or gambling then those shows are a scam or gambling
as well. We refute that. We have invested heavily in technology
and consumer safeguards, with the interests of consumers. If we
are building a business, a publicly quoted business, which depends
on bringing back viewers again and again, we are not going to
do that with a get-rich-quick mentality. We are in this for the
long-term. We are great believers in self-regulation, transparency,
to make it absolutely clear to all viewers who are participating
the cost of a phone call and the fact they might not get through;
and to make it very clear to have in place a set of safeguards
to ensure that everyone knows there is total transparency. We
have published our own code of conduct. We welcome the rest of
industry to follow suit. There is a very strict code of conduct
as far as how we operate with viewers is concerned, because we
believe it makes good business to do that.
Mr Fleck: As Ostrich Media, we
built our business on participation. It is a new kind of revenue
for broadcasters. We set up with eminent legal opinion, QC's opinion
and we have contacted Ofcom and ICSTIS, everybody, before setting
up the business. We also have a code of conduct which acts as
a main guideline to make it transparent to the viewer and to the
customer how the processes work with different levels of safeguard.
What we heard a lot about this morning is that we are misleading
customers and we are doing the opposite. We are informing them
well before the calls through the presenters, through constant
graphics which are on screen, and also on every call that it costs
75p whether they get through to the studio or not. If there are
higher volumes then we have warning messages in place and even
call high volume customers. What I would like to add are some
facts because it is working very well. On average every customer
makes 13 calls a month which cost £10 a month and for the
vast majority of customers this is working very clearly and they
understand what they are doing. There are a few who might call
a couple of times too much and we look after those with warning
messages and also calling them to inform them of their levels
of spend.
Q59 Mr Hall: You have said you are
interested in transparency and customers are advised they might
not get through, but some of the evidence we have heard this morning
is that at certain times you have got no chance of getting through.
Is that true?
Mr Brook: We can only comment
on our service. I think it was one of the questions the Chairman
asked, are there common practices across the industry; and there
are not common practices across the industry. On behalf of Optimistic,
we would welcome a set of self-policing guidelines that everyone
should follow. Speaking for our own company, we make it absolutely
clear about the cost of the call, and we would welcome greater
information and transparency regarding the number of callers and
your chances of getting through. All of that we welcome, because
it is not a scam. People enjoy these programmes. One or two members
have pointed out that they do represent good entertainment value.
They are part of a tradition of quiz programmes in this country
which date back to the 1950s with the introduction of independent
television. You have to see it in that light—that viewers
in an interactive world would rather participate directly from
their armchairs than enjoy a quiz show vicariously through a panel
in the studio.
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