Broadcasters must get permission to provide premium rate services

Howard Lake | 20 February 2008 | News

Broadcasters will from 18 March have to seek permission from PhonepayPlus (previously ICSTIS) to provide premium rate services (PRS). This follows the announcement that Ofcom will amend TV broadcasting licences to make the licensees directly accountable for PRS in programmes.
At the moment this does not affect radio programmes, although that will be reviewd in the next few months.
Before they will be granted permission, providers must meet a number of conditions including:
*Ensuring that all valid viewer responses are made available for the broadcaster to consider in good time
*Closing telephone lines promptly when an announcement is made to that effect
*electing competition winners at random from all correct entries and
*Banning changes to operational systems or procedures without express authorisation from one of the provider’s senior managers.
Providers will only need to apply for permission once and that will cover all broadcast PRS services they offer.
This is the result of the Ayre inquiry into the scandals that rocked the broadcasting world in 2007 and included programmes like Richard and Judy and Blue Peter. All programmes, including Strictly Come Dancing, which raises money for Children in Need, will be covered by the new legislation.
www.phonepayplus.org.uk

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.