Articles | Ofcom fines ITV £5.6m

Ofcom fines ITV £5.6m

Published: Thursday, 8 May 2008, 2:05PM

ITV has been fined £5.6 million for misconduct in viewer competitions and voting.

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom said the fine was to reflect the seriousness of ITV's failings and the fact they had been repeated.

Ofcom's investigation considered information voluntarily supplied by ITV from its review by auditors Deloitte and also material obtained by Ofcom during its own investigations.

In a statement ITV accepted the findings of Ofcom and said it had published new measures and procedures implemented since the Premium Rate Services issues were identified, including fundamental changes to ITV's compliance and telephony systems.

The company has also confirmed a list of charities receiving donations as a result of ITV's reimbursement processes and published the findings of Olswang's independent investigation into the British Comedy Awards 2005.

Responding to the Ofcom Judgement, in a statement Michael Grade, Executive Chairman of ITV, said: "We welcome Ofcom's recognition of the wide-ranging and timely steps voluntarily undertaken by ITV.

"ITV has gone further than any other broadcaster in instigating an independent, systematic and comprehensive investigation into all allegations around premium rate services in its programmes. We believe that Ofcom's scrutiny of the evidence we provided will reassure viewers and rebuild the public's trust in ITV.

"Since the publication of Deloitte's findings, ITV has totally re-engineered its editorial, compliance and training procedures to safeguard against any recurrence of such breaches of trust.

"We have also taken a number of disciplinary measures. Anyone working with or for ITV going forward is in no doubt of the standards expected and the consequences if they fall short."