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GMTV boss resigns over quiz row
Paul Corley
Mr Corley said he hoped his departure would restore trust
The managing director of GMTV is to resign after it was discovered competitions on its ITV1 breakfast show were not being conducted fairly.

Paul Corley appeared on the show in April to apologise to viewers after an investigation found some quiz entrants had no chance of winning.

He said he hoped his resignation, along with a series of initiatives, would help "restore trust" in GMTV.

Viewers who believe they were affected can apply to the station for a refund.

"We would like to apologise unreservedly again for the occurrence of these errors," said Mr Corley.

"It is important that people take responsibility when mistakes are made that threaten the trust of our viewers."

We know that competitions are popular with our viewers and GMTV hopes to bring them back when the right controls are in place
Paul Corley, GMTV managing director

The firm will hold 250 free prize draws for affected entrants, each with a £10,000 prize up for grabs. It will also donate £250,000 to Childline.

Paul Corley clearly does not deserve to continue at GMTV after allowing this to happen but his departure is merely a token gesture and does not remove the root cause of the problem. If GMTV want to be seen to take the lead, they should discontinue phone-ins with immediate effect..

They have haven't they?
I know that Cheggers hasn't been seen banging on anyone's door with a cheque since the problem arose, and indeed hadn't been seen on screen at all until last week

There should really be an investigation into these mucky newspapers really - almost all of them are misleading about 99% of the time. You can read a full story in the Guardian, then go to The Sun and have it twisted so much that only sprinkles of the truth remain. Then they have the nerve to tear the BBC to shreds. Pah!

Nobody would ever do this as the newspapers are so powerful as as you say they can print any old rubbish

Imagine if Panorama ran an story about The Sun and a dodgy competition. The Sun could then run negative stories about the BBC daily with no need for any truth and ruin lots of programmes

As for Martin Frizell, as I've said before, Fiona has been at GMTV since day one but he hasn't.

Unbelievable in a so-called 'democracy' this thing can still happen. I hate Murdoch.

Channel 4 axes phone-in contests
Judy Finnigan and Richard Madeley
Richard and Judy's You Say, We Pay quiz prompted an inquiry
Channel 4 is to scrap most of its profit-making phone-in competitions, following an inquiry into how the contests are run.

The decision comes after the company behind a quiz on the Richard & Judy show was fined for urging callers to enter after winners had been picked.

Channel 4 executive Anne Bulford said: "Public trust in these competitions has been severely undermined."

Deal or No Deal's contests stay, with a share of profits going to charity.

'Viewers interest'

Eckoh UK Ltd, the company which ran Richard & Judy's You Say, We Pay quiz, was fined £150,000 last month by premium-rate phone services regulator Icstsis.

Following an investigation, Channel 4 discovered problems with the competition dated back to September 2004.

Ms Bulford, who oversaw the inquiry, said: "The investigation has uncovered no evidence that anyone at Channel 4 had any knowledge of or involvement in the improper handling of viewer calls.

"From the moment it came to our attention the channel has done everything possible to protect viewers' interests including having all competitions audited on a live and ongoing basis by appropriate third parties."

Some of Channel 4's most popular programmes will be affected by the decision to scrap the contests, including the daily Paul O'Grady Show.

Paul O'Grady
Competitions are banned from the Paul O'Grady Show

Phone voting for reality TV series Big Brother has continued, but the channel is only charging viewers enough to cover the cost of the call and any charitable donation.

Refund

But voting by text message has been banned from all shows, as Channel 4 said it could not be certain of the times and delivery of the messages.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "As part of the new policy we are getting rid of all competitions we currently do have and we are not introducing any new ones."

Callers who believe they are owed a refund after entering the quiz on the Richard and Judy show have been encouraged to apply for one.

Any remaining profits made from improperly entered calls which are not claimed will be donated to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.

The BBC has suspended all competitions after its own inquiry unearthed a batch of faked phone-in competitions.

The investigation was sparked by the revelation that Blue Peter falsified the results of a phone-in competition during a live show.

And ITV is currently awaiting the results of an external review of its phone-in services following complaints of irregularities in shows including The X Factor.

GMTV bosses have admitted that its quizzes were not run fairly, and are offering refunds to those affected by errors which led entrants ring in for competitions without having any chance of winning.