How many phone-in callers were cheated by GMTV?
GMTV, ITV’s breakfast broadcaster, admitted last night that viewers who spent £35 million over four years had no chance of winning one of its phone-in competitions. The figure, larger than previously expected, opens up a massive liability for the commercial broadcaster, which has promised to refund everybody affected – although ITV hopes that not everybody will claim. GMTV released the £35 million figure last night after its managing director, Paul Corley, had resigned. He is the first television chief to quit after the string of phone-in scandals that have hit every main broadcaster. It reflects that GMTV took 25 million premium-rate phone calls from viewers after shortlists of potential winners had already been selected by the phone provider Opera Telecom. Those calls, costing between 25p and £1.80 a time, and made between January 2003 and March this year, had no chance of winning.
