Annex 1
GUIDANCE TO RULE 2.11 OF THE OFCOM BROADCASTING
CODE
Note: The following guidance refers to
all competitions, including Call TV quiz services.
COMPETITIONS THAT
USE PREMIUM
RATE ENTRY
— Complaints to Ofcom alleging the
broadcast of misleading information about premium rate charges
and/or line availability will normally be referred to ICSTIS,
since they are considered to be complaints about promotional material
concerning the premium rate service (PRS) itself. ICSTIS' has
issued A Statement of Expectations on Call TV Quiz Services, which
can be found at http://www.ICSTIS.org.uk/pdfs—consult/QuizTvConResponse06.pdf
and, where relevant, should be considered alongside its Code of
Practice.
— Complaints concerning potential unfairness
surrounding the conduct of a competition, or its solution and/or
methodology, will normally be investigated by Ofcom.
FREE ENTRY
ROUTE
— In the future, legislation will require
that free entry routes (where required) should be given equal
prominence with other routes. We would encourage broadcasters
to adopt this as best practice now, in advance of all the provisions
of the Gambling Act 2005 coming into force. Broadcasters should
be aware of the Gambling Commission's requirements concerning
free entry routes, when published.
PRIZES
— Prizes should normally be despatched
within a reasonable time (note: where relevant, ICSTIS' requirements
may apply), unless indicated otherwise when the prize is described.
— If particular prizes become unavailable
post-broadcast, we would expect comparable substitutes to be provided.
— We would strongly advise broadcasters
not to present a monetary prize as a possible resolution of financial
difficulty (eg as a means of paying off credit card debt). See
also Rule 2.1
COMPETITION RULES
— To ensure clarity, we expect rules
that limit those who can take part in a competition to be broadcast.
(Note: Their broadcast is not expected if specific individuals—e.g.
previous prize winners—have been informed directly). In
particular, where such rules are considered to be significant
(eg an age limit for entering a competition) broadcasters should
air them orally each time a competition is run and on a regular
basis throughout longer sequences.
— We strongly recommend that broadcasters
produce written rules and/or terms and conditions that support
all or specific competitions being broadcast by them. Where the
competition is broadcast on television, details of where the relevant
rules are available (eg on the channel/programme's website) ought
to be aired regularly, while on radio, where competition strands
are often shorter, we would normally expect such details to be
mentioned at least occasionally. Broadcasters may also need to
be aware of ICSTIS' requirements regarding this issue, including
those in its Statement of Expectations.
— Competitions are sometimes run simultaneously
on various local/regional services (eg on a radio network), and
this may result in participation being spread wider (ie beyond
the local area) than might be obvious to the viewer/listener in
any one area. In such circumstances, and where the main prize
is not awarded by each service, we would normally expect that,
in order to be fair, it has to be made clear that other services
are participating. This should be done both on air and in any
written rules, whenever the competition or its results are run
or trailed.
SOLUTIONS AND
METHODOLOGY
A cause of complaint has been that, at the end
of a competition, the way in which the solution is reached ("methodology")
has not been explained on air and, in some cases, the answer has
not been given. As many competitions are cryptic, this leads some
of the audience to doubt whether the solution given is correct
and to question the legitimacy of the competition. This is often
because the complainant cannot understand the methodology. A further
concern expressed by complainants is that, as many competitions
have more than one possible solution, the broadcaster may change
the answer while a competition is on air, preventing it being
solved too early. Sufficient transparency is therefore necessary
in order to ensure that competitions are both conducted fairly
and seen to be conducted fairly, to avoid unnecessary audience
concern.
— We recognise that the methodology
of a competition may be commercially sensitive. Broadcasters may
choose to outline it on air but this is not a requirement to achieve
fairness in competitions.
— However, where there is the possibility
of more than one answer to a competition, or the nature of a competition
is ambiguous, we expect broadcasters, when requested by Ofcom,
to provide evidence that the competition has been run fairly.
Broadcasters should be able to provide Ofcom with the correct
answer and the methodology used to arrive at that answer, together
with evidence that it could not have been changed after the competition
started. For example, a broadcaster may choose, before a competition
is run, to place its chosen methodology and/or answer with an
independent professional third party (eg an auditor or solicitor).
— We recognise that competitions may
be carried forward to another time/day. Appropriate transparency
about this is important. However, where competitions form the
essential feature of a programme (eg in the case of Call TV quiz
services or similar) an audience should normally be able to expect
the correct solution to be provided on air, with or without its
associated methodology, when a competition ends.
— In order to conduct a competition
fairly, we believe an audience should not be misled by a broadcaster
stating or implying that a competition is simple if it is actually
difficult/cryptic.
REPEAT BROADCASTS
— If a former live competition is re-run
so that it is no longer possible for the audience to participate
by ringing the number given on air then we would expect this to
be made clear to the audience. On television, text stating "pre-recorded"
is likely to be insufficient unless the phone line is also dead
or the number on screen is also illegible. Broadcasters may also
need to be aware of ICSTIS' Code of Practice concerning this matter.
WINNERS
— As best practice and to forestall
audience concern, broadcasters may wish to consider listing the
names of all winners, with their permission, on an appropriate
website as soon as possible after their wins.
GUIDANCE ADDED TO RULE 10.10 OF THE OFCOM
BROADCASTING CODE
See also guidance to Rule 2.11 concerning competitions
that use premium rate services as the entry mechanism.
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