Premium rate phone-in saga: ITV Play Channel Axed

See all these recent scandals really makes me wonder just how long these have been going on, for you know it may have been happening for the last 10 years but seeing as everyone wants to sell a story to a newspaper to the papers nowadays perhaps that's the only reason they are coming to light now?

What next for the ITV Play girls ?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=442971&in_page_id=

Another one for Brekkie!

Amy Garcia could do herself a massive favour and return to acting. I might not have felt the same about Matthew Kelly but Amy is obviously worth so much more than Quiz TV.

How ironic that ITV gave Amy her big break (in Children's Ward), then spat her out when ITV Play goes belly-up!

Trust the "caring, morally-righteous" Daily Mail to get pics of three busty ladies splashed all over their pages to just illustrate a media business news story.

Typical Daily Mail making out that the whole tv quiz game programmes are all evil & wouldn't have happened in the good old days etc, etc.

The truth is they are.

'Evil' is a rather strong word to use, I must say - I wouldn't classify these quizzes as evil, but the whole business of 'it wouldn't have happened in the good old days etc' is probably accurate. I've got nothing against any sort of non-phone-in quiz shows in the style of Catchphrase, Family Fortunes or what have you, which are always good fun.

However, I get the feeling that we've been let down greatly with these quizzes that are a complete lottery airing on ITV1. It's quite a low point in terms of broadcasting standards.

It becomes apparent that these cannot in any way be associated with any classic 'gameshows' because looking at choices of puzzle, ones I've seen lately have been pot luck puzzles with 1 correct answer out of possible thousands, which require basically no intelligence of any subject, just like you'd need very little intelligence to play a Fruit Machine; it's pure luck if you win. A profit-making device with little evidence of much good intention, the odds stacked massively against the caller.

This is therefore a complete gamble, anyone who phones in has participated in gambling; surely this has been found to be the case?

If this is allowed to continue for some time, and is considered to be all above board in terms of the type of puzzles and no misleading statements (or perhaps just not investigated at all), then ITV and Ofcom will still have a lot to answer for; the former, for putting this viewer rip-off genre on what is supposed to be their flagship channel under the guise of a 'quiz', and setting up another whole new channel (now gladly defunct) dedicated to it; and the latter for letting it all go ahead when it is blindingly obvious that, whether it's ever found to be illegal or not, this stuff is a lottery, and belongs right near the bottom of the EPG - certainly not on ITV.

You are Paul Dacre and I claim my 5 pounds

stagecoach: its bad enough there did this but to get a bunch of kid of the buses well very no wonder kids don;t mind doing this,

Stagecoach are a nationwide youth theatrical agency. I know someone who was with them for years.

Dont know if this is exactly right place to post...

4.05pm: Vodafone has admitted that, due to a technical problem, 11,500 text votes for Saturday's Dancing on Ice final were not counted. More follows...