Ofcom fines Channel 5 for 'faking winners' on quiz show Brainteaser

Ofcom has fined Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd £300,000 for breaches of the Broadcasting Code in the transmission of the quiz programme, Brainteaser on Five. This is the largest financial penalty imposed on a public service broadcaster by Ofcom.

Ofcom has also directed Channel 5 to broadcast a summary of Ofcom’s finding on two separate occasions.

Ofcom has found Five in breach of Rule 2.11 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (“Competitions should be conducted fairly…”) for faking winners and misleading its audience on five separate occasions in its programme Brainteaser during 2007.

Ofcom also found that 11 further similar or identical instances of unfair competitions in Brainteaser and its spin-off programme Memory Bank also broadcast on Five.

The full Adjudication is available at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/ocsc_adjud/channel5.pdf

This is one of a number of current Ofcom investigations into individual programmes in the area of Call TV. These are being dealt with on a case-by-case basis and several of them will be concluded over the summer.

Separately, the inquiry led by Richard Ayre into the use of premium rate telephone services in television programmes, is ongoing. The findings of the inquiry will also be published this summer.

Commenting on the investigation, Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said:

“We take these issues extremely seriously and will not hesitate to protect viewers’ interests. Every broadcaster needs to take very careful note of this decision.”