ITV hit with record £5.68m fine

ITV has been fined a record £5.68m by Ofcom for abusing premium rate phone services in viewer competitions.

The media regulator said the fine was by far the highest ever imposed and reflected the seriousness of ITV's failures and their repeated nature. TV shows Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Gameshow Marathon and Soapstar Superstar were all found to have "serious editorial issues". Last year a report found viewers had spent millions on unfair competitions.

"This was a thorough set of investigations which uncovered institutionalised failure within ITV that enabled the broadcaster to make money from misconduct on mass audience programmes," Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards said. The media regulator also said programme-makers showed "total disregard" for their own terms, conditions and broadcasting codes.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk