Memorandum submitted by Voice of the Listener
and Viewer
Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) welcomes
the opportunity to respond to the inquiry by the Culture, Media
and Sports Committee into Call TV Quiz Shows.
The promotion of Call TV Quiz Shows has grown
significantly in recent years as broadcasting companies have sought
to replace income lost during the advertising recession. Voice
of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) is concerned that many viewers
who take part in these games and quizzes do not realise—because
it is not made clear—that most of them, together with many
other interactive games and services, linked to the "red
button", are connected to premium rate telephone lines.
Whilst recognising that many viewers enjoy participating
in these games and quiz shows, therefore, VLV has concerns about
the growth of quiz shows on television. At least one of our members
incurred a bill of around £500 as a result of a young person
making repeated calls to a televised quiz. Of course BT insists
on being paid for such calls.
To a young person and to many vulnerable people,
a quiz to which they know the answer sounds like easy money. They
do not realise that every time they phone they are charged, generally
at a premium rate, even though it is often difficult to get through.
We believe that all the charges and the total cost should be made
absolutely clear on screen to those who participate before they
take part.
Nor do many people realize that the questions
are, made deliberately easy in order to tempt them to participate
in the quiz or game concerned. Some of the games and quizzes,
are so simple that they amount to games of chance which require
no special knowledge or skills and as such should be classified
as lotteries which require licensing by the Gaming Commission.
Despite the enjoyment they bring to some people,
quiz channels and money-making quiz shows and games can also create
enormous debts and problems to others who do not understand the
costs involved. Without adequate warnings and close regulation,
therefore, we consider that services of this kind do not constitute
a proper use of television. We welcome the Committee's inquiry
and we hope they will consider whether such services should in
future be licensed by the Gaming Commission.
Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) is
an independent, non-profit-making association free from commercial,
political or sectarian affiliations, working for quality and diversity
in British broadcasting. VLV represents the interests of listeners
and viewers as citizens and consumers across the full range of
broadcasting issues. VLV is concerned with the structures, regulation,
funding and institutions that underpin the British broadcasting
system. VLV does not handle complaints.
November 2006
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