ITV takes premium-rate interactive shows off air, orders audit

ITV takes premium-rate interactive shows off air, orders audit
LONDON: British broadcaster ITV Inc. has suspended Monday night all its premium interactive services across all channels and announced it is conducting an independent review of all such services.

It has also took off air its quiz channel ITV Play.

The firm said the action comes in the wake of public concern surrounding its premium rate interactive services. It added the cancellation applies to all premium rate phone calls, text votes and red button interaction from Tuesday pending the review, which will be conducted by consultancy firm Deloitte.

Apart from looking at series like This Morning and Dancing on Ice, the auditing firm has also been entrusted with the task of examining all relevant programmes of the past two years, including X Factor and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. The firm said all the shows will return once they passed the audit.

ITV said ITV Play, which already underwent an audit following criticism by MPs and regulators, should be back in about a few days. Other programmes like Dancing on Ice will also be returning with a clean bill of health before next weekend, it hoped.

ITV Play levies a charge on viewers of up to one pound a time to enter. This as well as other interactive shows of the firm are revenue earners for the broadcaster, which is trying to replace advertising income with income from these.

The problems apparently began with the company admitting last week it had overcharged viewers of Sky Digital who have been interacting using the red button by around 20,000 pounds. This had been on account of a data inputting error. The premium-rate phone line regulator Icstis said it planned to inquire into allegations concerning the Grab the Ads segment of Ant and Dec's show. The regulator has already called the company's executives for a meeting Thursday.

The broadcaster said the audit will be conducted in two parts -- in the first instance to ensure that al existing procedures are robust and in the second a review of premium interactive services in all relevant ITV programmes of the last two years.

ITV's chief operating officer John Cresswell said ITV viewers can be confident that the company will always act responsibly and take firm action to address issues that may arise.