Memorandum submitted by Five
Five welcomes the opportunity to contribute
to the Select Committee's short inquiry into Call TV quiz shows.
Five screens The Great Big British Quiz
late at night on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is proving
a popular programme that allows viewers the opportunity to take
part in solving puzzles of various degrees of difficulty, and
to compete for sizeable cash prizes. The Great Big British
Quiz is also shown at various times on our recently launched
digital channels Five US and Five Life.
Quizzes and quiz-based programmes have always
played a significant role in British television—from sixties
shows like Take Your Pick and Double Your Money
to contemporary successes with significant viewer interaction
like Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Deal Or No Deal.
What is different about the new type of Call TV quiz programmes
is that they are based entirely on participation by viewers at
home rather than contestants in a studio.
This new generation of quiz programmes has developed
in just two years. In this time the sector has expanded and consolidated;
and well-recognised standards of operating have been established.
The nature of the programmes, the mechanics by which viewers can
take part, the cost of participating and the availability of a
free entry route are made abundantly clear to viewers, who manifestly
enjoy both watching them and taking part.
In this Memorandum, we address each of the areas
about which the Select Committee has indicated it wishes to receive
evidence.
PROCEDURES FOR
HANDLING CALLS
FROM VIEWERS
The Great Big British Quiz invites viewers
to enter either by telephoning a premium rate number or for free
via the internet. All entrants, whether they use the telephone
or the web option, are treated on an equal footing.
Participants are selected randomly either to
get through to the second stage of the process or to be told they
have not been short-listed this time. Web entrants who are short-listed
for the second stage receive a call-back by telephone. All those
who get through to the second stage are put "on hold"
for one minute. The presenter may take a call from a viewer at
any time; when this happens, a viewer is chosen at random from
all those who have got through to the second stage and are therefore
"on hold". The entrant is put through live on air and
given the opportunity to answer the quiz currently being played
and win a cash prize.
INFORMATION PROVIDED
TO VIEWERS
ON THE
COSTS OF
CALLS AND
THEIR CHANCES
OF PARTICIPATING
AND WINNING
Five takes great care to ensure that viewers
are aware of the costs of calls.
At least every five minutes our presenters give
viewers the following information live on air:
— Every call costs 75p from a BT landline.
— There is the option of free entry
via the internet.
The presenters go on to say that viewers should
set themselves a budget for the number of calls they make and
not go over that limit, and that we recommend viewers make no
more than 100 calls a month.
In addition there is clearly visible text information
moving across the screen at readable speed at all times. This
explains that viewers will be charged whether or not they are
selected to proceed to the second stage; the cost of calls; the
fact that on-air entrants are selected at random; the availability
of free web entry to the games; the minimum age limit of 18; how
to obtain full terms and conditions; and how the answers to puzzles
are verified.
When a viewer makes a telephone entry, the first
thing he or she is told is how much the call has cost; and secondly
whether s/he has been short-listed for the second round or not.
It is not possible to provide viewers with information
about their chances of taking part in or winning a particular
quiz, as at any one time there are several variables in play that
affect those odds. These include: the size of the viewing audience,
the number of people deciding to enter, the difficulty of the
quiz, the size of the cash prize, the frequency with which people
are put through to the studio, and what has happened during the
course of the particular quiz (for example, the number of incorrect
answers already given and how long the quiz has been on-air).
THE ROLE
OF CALL
TV QUIZ SHOWS
IN RAISING
INCOME FOR
BROADCASTERS
This form of participation TV offers the potential
to open up a significant new revenue stream for broadcasters,
worth several million pounds a year. For Five, the revenue that
we make from this programming will partially mitigate the impact
of this year's downturn in television advertising revenue. In
the longer term, it may help make Five slightly less reliant on
an increasingly volatile advertising market. Thus it will help
underpin our business; help us face the challenge of increased
competition from the growth of digital television and new media;
and assist our ability to continue delivering a wide range of
public service broadcasting.
However, we would like to stress that this new
revenue is not so substantial that it will prove a substitute
for spot advertising, which has always been the primary means
of funding free-to-air channels like Five. It should rather be
seen as a welcome but modest additional source of revenue.
Furthermore, there is no guarantee that current
levels of interest in the quiz shows that we and other broadcasters
run will be maintained. So we are cautious about becoming over-reliant
on the revenue they bring in.
THE IMPACT,
FINANCIAL OR
OTHERWISE, OF
PARTICIPATION ON
VIEWERS
As a responsible broadcaster, Five is very concerned
that none of our viewers should suffer inadvertent financial loss
as a result of taking part in our quiz shows. That is why our
presenters spell out clearly every five minutes the costs of phone
entry, the free alternative available and the advisability of
sticking to a budget. This message is reinforced by the on-screen
"crawl" and by the price information message all telephone
entrants hear.
In addition, we are putting in place an arrangement
for all viewers who make more than approximately 100 calls in
a 30 day period to receive an automated call-back that alerts
them to the number of calls they have made. This service will
be repeated when viewers exceed around 150 calls in 30 days; when
they exceed around 200; and so on every 50 calls.
We should also make clear that we receive very
few complaints about The Great Big British Quiz, and that
most of those we do receive are about the scheduling of them or
the complexity of the more difficult quizzes, rather than the
price of entry. We received just 49 complaints from viewers about
Call TV quiz shows between when the first one was launched on
10 April and 15 November; only ten of these concerned in whole
or in part the level of our call charges.
We believe adult viewers should have the freedom
to take part in these quiz shows without external restrictions
after making an informed choice to do so.
POSSIBLE FURTHER
REGULATION OF
CALL TV QUIZ
SHOWS
Call TV is strictly regulated, with both Ofcom
and ICSTIS having responsibilities. We are also obliged to comply
with the provisions of the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 and
(when it comes into force) the Gambling Act 2005.
All the competitions Five runs on its three
channels must comply with the Ofcom Broadcast Code, which requires
that they are run fairly. ICSTIS is responsible for the regulation
of premium rate telephone lines and earlier this year published
a detailed "Statement of Expectations for Call TV Quiz Services".
ICSTIS is currently conducting a further review
of the sector, with which Five will co-operate fully. We also
understand that Ofcom will shortly undertake a review of Call
TV more generally, to which we will contribute.
The Gambling Commission recently conducted a
consultation about prize competitions and free draws, to which
Five responded. We made clear in our submission that our quizzes
are bone fide prize competitions or free prize draws and
would not qualify as lotteries because they have a well-advertised
and convenient free entry route.
Five believes that Call TV quiz shows have a
high level of regulation, plus legal sanction, which ensure that
quizzes are run fairly and consumers are protected.
CONCLUSION
All the evidence indicates that The Great
Big British Quiz and programmes like it are enjoyed by many
hundred of thousands of viewers, who like watching and on occasion
taking part in them. We believe we provide viewers with a very
high level of information about the mechanics and costs of participating
in our programmes, and that if they were unhappy about these they
would complain to us and/or stop playing.
We also believe that the current legal framework
and existing levels of regulatory oversight are appropriate, and
sufficient to ensure that should any problems arise they can be
dealt with effectively.
16 November 2006
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