I have complained twice to ICSTIS about these quiz channels, QuizCall in particular. They say that my views have been put foward as part of their ongoing consulation regarding the upsurge of these channels/shows.
You must remember that these companies are making a fortune from viewers. ITV's The Mint rakes in around £100,000 a NIGHT! These channels prey only on the poor and desperate. Most people have more sense to ring these channels, but there are obviously enough people out there bankrupting themselves by calling these channels.
They are all a complete con, and must be taken off air to preserve the sanity of television. ITV should be throughly ashamed of themselves for degrading their once acclaimed and respected network to filling up 12 hrs a night on ITV1 & 2 with The Mint and Quizmania. Now we have ITV Play with a Johnny Vaughns lookalike and soundalike.
Freeview is almost saturated with these channels. ITV Play, QuizCall, Smile TV, FTN, ITV2, ITV1 (after midnight). These production companies are making an absolute fortune in the most deceitful and predatory way, and it is wholly unacceptable.
A Teletext reader recently stated that making call after call to The Mint in a 15-minute period cost her £24.
Ouch! Don't these people know when to stop? That's 40 calls! No wonder these channels are rolling in it. This sounds like the compulsive gambler who keeps putting money on a bet even though he keeps losing. I can easily beleive some people have had phone bills running into the hundreds from phoning these channels.
I think the main reasons that Ofcom have apparently done little regarding these dodgy quizzes, are twofold;
1) They pass the buck to ICSTIS due to the premium rate content, who then probably conclude that the quiz operator in question is doing nothing wrong with respect to the 'literal' interpretation of any rules.
2) Ofcom have actively encouraged commercial tv companies to find other ways to fund themselves, in view of reduced advertising share and sponsorship. ie the premium rate revenue stream is something they like the idea of.
But as for channels launching exclusively to make money as premium rate channels ... I personally think that shouldn't be allowed.
Then of course there's the eventual hope that, if many channels close and new ones cannot launch with a 'significant' premium rate call in agenda, that may mean that the number of channels all competing for viewers would fall; therefore the available advertising and sponsorship may appear sufficient to once again be the primary source of revenue.
A Teletext reader recently stated that making call after call to The Mint in a 15-minute period cost her £24.
That's nobodies fault but the viewer. She must have known how much it cost and shouldn't have phoned up that many times. A bit of self-control was needed
The problem isn't that the phone calls cost money, it's the fact that they aren't being straight with the viewers
One woman who sounded quite old got through to the Mint the other night and told the presenter she has tried about 100 times to get through this evening. 100 times!
Is Greggles going to defend his genres' shabby dealings then? Greg - get back on PriceDrop while you still can.
As I'm sure one and all will understand, I am not in any position to comment on the dealings or happenings at any other channel.
What I WILL say, quite simply, is if I thought there were ANY kind of fraudulent happenings ANYWHERE I worked, I would bail out quicker than you could say "slobberknocker". I would just not want to associate with such a place to any sort of degree.
That should speak volumes about my current workplace, and it's all I have to say on the matter.
As for the comments made by Nini made earlier on in this thread... I really don't understand; I've always been a big fan of
yours
.
So you can assure us by denying that Quizmania uses the same tactics?
He's pretty much said that already. I don't see why Greg should be pushed so hard to make any kind of comment about his employer, nor why anyone else should be either.
As someone who has friends who work in this particular arena of broadcasting, I think Quizmania is probably the best of the bunch. The worst of them all has to be QuizCall and FTN (produced by Optimistic TV, which is run by a group of fat old rich men).
The line "Clear your debts with a 60p call" is very very malicious and wrong. It's wholly misleading and actively preying on the most financially vunerable.
The chances of getting through to one of these quiz channels is 1/500. You've got more chance with a lottery scratchcard.
Two things will happen as a result of this raid/report: either every caller is going to get through to the studio thus reducing income and result in these programmes being run at a serious loss, or the Quiz channels will carry on as normal and receive prosecutions for fraud.
You have to consider the costs in setting up a channel like this. You can either pay one person the minimum wage to sit at a control desk for 4 hours a night and push a button when the director tells him/her to when selecting a caller; or you can spend hundreds on a randomly-selecting telephone/computer system which will also incur electricity bills and runs the risk of malfunction. Also in order for the exorbitant prizes (£5000 +) to be awarded, plus costs of transmission, studio costs, cameras etc... and you need to employ the tactics used by BigGameTV.
In my eyes, it is not unreasonable to expect the notion that the BigGameTV model is used by all Quiz TV, even ITV's Mint and Quizmania. And people like Greg Scott know about it but don't even have the balls to admit to it under duress of clauses in contracts and media world insider power (in other words fcuk up Quizmania and it'll be the last thing Greggles ever does.)
