Ofcom fines GMTV £2 million

Ofcom has fined GMTV £2 million and ordered it to make three broadcasts of a statement of Ofcom's findings in relation to breaches of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code and the Independent Television Commission Programme Code. The breaches relate to competitions held on GMTV's breakfast show. Over a four-year period, competition finalists were systematically selected before phone lines had closed. Although the early selection of finalists was made by the premium-rate telephone-service operator, Opera Telecom, GMTV failed to supervise Opera's involvement in the competition and had made the competitions unfair to many entrants. This is the highest fine ever imposed by Ofcom, and is significantly higher than the £300,000 fine imposed on Channel 5 for similar breaches earlier this year.