ITV Play

I made that point last week - £112.50 a day is hardly a suitable amount to spend phoning these programmes.

The trouble is though that while the limit should be lowered, it's difficult to say what the limit should be. 100 calls totaling £75 would still be alot to the average viewer, but it would be more acceptable.


What is more interesting is the point that if they are considered to be "lotteries" 20% of the revenue would have to go to charity. The question really is though how would this benefit the viewer - you could almost guarantee call charges rising probably to £1 to cover the cut in revenue.

Do the other channels, other than ITV Play have a ceiling on the number of calls per day ?

Apparently Channel 4 have a limit of 140 calls a day.
But I then heard one of the presenters proudly announce "you can call as many times as you want - 75p a call, must be 18+, get permission, free web entry, etc."

Not entirely sure what is coming over me, but Quizmania was incredibly watchable last night, so much so I watched for two hours. I think it is by far the best of the quiz formats anyway - but the Greg Scott/Flash banter kept me entertained for a very long time.

I actually didn't WANT to channel flick. Crazy.

Is it just me, or does tonight's QM sound like it's being broadcast from inside a biscuit tin?

They had one of their "shot of the phone, nobody speaking" moments, too ... maybe they're having problems?

Flash is back! With a face! And a name!

How... well.... surprising. Came right outta the blue.

Not worth a new thread, this can go in here as it will broadly apply to ITV Play as well.

From the Sunday Times (paraphrased):

[QuizCall,] ONE of Britain’s biggest premium rate television quiz channels has been accused of “naked profiteering” after admitting manipulating games by blocking callers from taking part for periods of up to 40 minutes.

...

Three sources close to Quiz Call alleged producers manipulated the callers to maximise the number of people being charged the 75p connection fee. According to one source, producers watch graphs monitoring the number of calls coming in. So long as the incoming calls are high, they are not put through to the quizmaster, to prolong the game, boosting phone revenues.

“If there are thousands and thousands of [callers] over 10, 20, 30 minutes, then you’re not going to take a call,” the source explained. “As soon as it dips then you do [take a call].”

...

Quiz Call [has] been caught out cutting corners. [Channel 4] apologised for using its own staff to pose as prize winners, clutching 3ft cheques in an on-air promotion. A complainant, who recognised some of them as workers at the channel’s offices at Teddington Studios, in west London, approached Ofcom.

...

Ofcom is considering whether quiz shows should be classed as teleshopping channels, placing them under a tougher consumer protection regime.

Full article here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2372445_1,00.html

As the search doesn't work and this is the nearest topic available for this post...

Anybody seen QuizMania in Australia? As you may recall the entire format was sold to Australia a few months back and a few producers went down under.

Thanks to YouTube, you can. Entry only costs 55 Australian cents, which is obscenly cheap when the current exchange rate means you get Aus. $2.39 for £1. It's about 30p a call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuJq8Gf1J9Y

Big Brother voting is 55 cents there, too - very cheap compared to our 50p.

I'll have a look on YouTube, I'd be interested to see how the show is different. Thanks!

EDIT: The phone number is run by Legion Interactive - also the same as BB voting. Just thought I'd mention that.

I see Debbie (Quizmania UK) has finally got rid of those awful hair extensions. Much nicer.

Blimey, this QM Australia clip is scary if you've got 5 minutes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxxykR9NpgI

They've obviously been watching QM UK - the female presenter even says "I say hair, you say..." on Beat the Presenter!

I wonder why they didn't use the proper graphics, if they've got everything else? Those ones are terrible.

Noticed that TGBBQ has cut yet another 4 hours of its airtime. The end is near.....