[Mrluvaluva]

From Sky News

The company behind Richard And Judy's TV phone quiz has been hit with a record-breaking fine for ripping off viewers.

Premium rate services regulator Icstis has handed the firm a £150,000 penalty - the biggest in its history.

A judgement by the watchdog said that 47% of viewers calling into the You Say We Pay quiz this year had no chance of winning.

Its report said the competition was "fundamentally misleading" and that "entries were solicited from viewers at a time when the shortlist of possible winners had already been chosen".

Calls cost an average of about 75p.

The fine is the latest in the phone quiz scandal. Last month Five was fined £300,000 after it was discovered that production company Endemol had invented phone-in winners.

Channel 4 and production company Cactus now face a further inquiry into whether they should be punished over the You Say We Pay scandal.

Eckoh, the company which handled the phone calls, is required to pay the fine.

But it will escape a six-month ban from running similar competitions - the ban has been suspended for a year.

The firm said it had been put under pressure by Cactus to find early winners and suggested that its concerns over the way the system was being run would not have been taken seriously.

Both Cactus and Channel 4 dispute these claims. Channel 4 is offering refunds to viewers.

Article

[cepb]

Just like what happened with the competition on GMTV.

[Matt]

Hardly a record fine.

Five was fined £300,000 for the Brainteaser scandal.

Record for ICSTIS maybe, but hardly the largest fine ever handed out.

[Ann]

I think its happening to most of these shows and i say its awful on the viewers

[Matt]

Lets never talk of the "Premium Rate Phone Line Scandal" ever again...