ITV Play (channel)
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| ITV Play | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | April 19, 2006 |
| Closed | March 13, 2007 |
| Owned by | ITV plc |
| Website | www.itv.com/play |
| Availability at time of closure | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 31 |
| Satellite | |
| Sky Digital | Channel 856 |
ITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007.
It was launched as a standalone channel on Freeview (taking on the slot which was previously occupied by the Men & Motors channel) on April 19, 2006 and started broadcasting on the Sky Digital platform on July 24, 2006.
The ITV Play channel was created in response to and hoping to cash in on the popularity of late night quiz shows on the ITV Network and ITV2 such as Quizmania and The Mint. ITV Play also offered additional gambling services on their website.
It cost at least 75p per call to participate. This charge was made even if the caller was not put through to the studio. A free entry route was available through the website. Users were restricted to 150 calls/web entries in a 24 hour period. At peak times callers had a 1 in 8500 chance of getting through to the studio to play.[1]
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[edit] Axing of the ITV Play channel
On 13 March 2007 ITV announced that the ITV Play channel will be permanently axed following the recent concerns over participation television.[2]
On 16 March 2007 the ITV Play Channel on Sky 856 finally closed. Sky boxes gave "Channel Unavailable" the following day, and then the slot was removed completely. On Freeview, the ITV Play channel was replaced with ITV2+1.
Quizmania is the only ITV Play channel show set to make a return. The relaunch will be on a different channel and is set for Summer 2008.
[edit] Criticisms
The 75p per call cost of a chance of involvement in shows, higher from mobile phones. Callers were charged for each call they made, whether connected to the studio or not. ITV had promised to make its programmes with higher production values than quiz programmes on other quiz channels, but with little evidence of such. Many of the callers were kept on hold and unable to connect.[3]
Restrictions put on the number of attempts to call, 150 per day, mean that in a 24 hour period BT callers could still spend a maximum of £112.50 per day. This changed in February 2007 to 100 calls per day, so the maximum was £75 a day on BT. [4]
In January 2007, Ofcom found ITV guilty of breaching its broadcasting code for making answers to its quizzes too obscure. Viewers complained after two answers to the question "what items might be found in a woman's handbag?" were revealed to be "Balaclava" and "Rawlplugs". The 21 September 2006 quiz, was found to be in breach of the rule that "competitions should be conducted fairly".[5]
Although Ofcom confirmed this was the first formal breach of the code recorded against ITV Play, it warned the channel there should be no further incidents.[6]
The genre of interactive Quiz TV shows has also been heavily criticised by a the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. They stated that call TV programmes "generally look and feel like gambling", have "a lack of fairness and transparency" and that they encourage people to call more times than they can afford. Should ITV be classed as a gambling channel then it would be forced to give 20% of its profits to good causes.[7] Labour MP Paul Farrelly went further in his criticism of channels in the participation Quiz TV genre describing them as "tantamount to theft"[8]
[edit] Suspension
On 5 March 2007, ITV announced that all premium rate phone competitions and quizzes, including the ITV Play channel, would be suspended while an audit took place.[8] Programmes ended in the early hours of 6 March 2007.
The audit was announced after a number of problems with premium rate services affecting ITV, BBC One and Channel 4, all of whom were to meet with the regulator ICSTIS. ITV appointed Deloitte as independent auditors.
ITV had erroneously overcharged viewers of The X Factor £200,000. Votes via interactive television were meant to be only 35p each, but voters were actually charged 50p.
[edit] Shows
All of the shows below were shown on the ITV Play Channel. Quizmania is the only one believed to be returning to television on a different channel.
[edit] The Call
The Call, presented by Tim Dixon, Dave O'Reilly, Zö Christien and Emma Lee, had a feature called the Phrase that Pays and a winner could be made simply by answering saying "ITV is the Place to Play" and not anything else. The Call ended on the December 22, 2006.
[edit] The Common Room
The Common Room aired for half an hour in the early evenings. The Common Room's main presenters were Tim Dixon, Emma Lee and Zö Christien. The Common Room launched on ITV Play on 31 July. Unlike the rest of the ITV Play games, this was more of a chat show with minor prizes. The Common Room aired for its last time on November 10, 2006.
[edit] The Daily Quiz!
The Daily Quiz!, presented by Kat Shoob, launched on the March 13, 2006. On May 19, 2006, officers from the Fraud Squad raided the offices of Big Game TV, makers of The Daily Quiz! after a BBC Radio 4 investigation for the You and Yours programme found that receptionists were told to ignore all incoming calls for long periods of time while 150-200 calls per minute were clocked up at 75p a time.
[edit] The Debbie King Show
The Debbie King Show was a magazine-style quiz show shown on the 10pm - 12:30am slot on ITV Play, and began on March 5, 2007 and ended March 6, 2007 lasting only for one show due to ITV Play being taken off the air the day after the show was launched.
[edit] The Mint
The Mint was a quiz show featuring celebrity guests in a large Mansion-like set. A £100,000 Jackpot was given away twice. The show was presented by Brian Dowling, Kat Shoob, Craig Stevens, Cat Porter, Beverley French and Mark Rumble. The Mint in which over £6 million was given away, finished on February 14, 2007.
[edit] The Mint Extra
The Mint Extra was a spin-off from the main show The Mint. The presenters of The Mint Extra included Milo McCabe, Brian Dowling, Craig Stevens, Mark Rumble and Cat Porter.
[edit] Playalong
ITV Playalong was a presenterless text-in game show that was usually shown on ITV Play as a filler during most of the day. It was later replaced by Play DJ.
[edit] Play DJ
Play DJ was a text-in quiz show which was similar to ITV Playalong, except with hosts and a studio instead of a "static" screen. Presenters of the show included Nigel Mitchell, Ruth Frances, Amy Garcia, Emma Lee, Mark Ryes, Tim Dixon and Greg Scott. Play DJ ended on 6 March 2007.
[edit] Playdate
Playdate was a British dating programme. The programme began exclusively on ITV2 late at night, but later had a slot on ITV Play in an early evening slot. The show's presenters included Brendan Courtney, Dave O'Reilly and Kate Lawler. Playdate ended on December 17, 2006.
[edit] Quizmania
Quizmania, was presented by Greg Scott, Debbie King, Lee Baldry and others. It was the first phone-in quiz show produced for ITV. The success of this show was one of the main reasons ITV started ITV Play. The last episode shown on January 14, 2007. The show is the only ITV Play show set to make a return on a different channel in the near future.
[edit] Rovers Return Quiz
The Rovers Return Quiz was a Coronation Street inspired pub quiz, based on the fictional public house, the Rovers Return Quiz aired for the last time on October 13, 2006. It was replaced by an extended version of This Morning Puzzlebook.
[edit] The School Run
The School Run aired everyday between in the early evening (and on Mondays at 9pm) it was hosted by either Tim Dixon, Emma Lee or Lawrie Jordon until 30 July 2006. It was replaced with The Common Room.
[edit] This Morning Puzzlebook
This Morning Puzzlebook was a quiz show with large cash prizes first broadcast on ITV Play, then later as part of the daytime magazine programme This Morning. Presenters included Zö Christien, Tim Dixon, Emma Lee, Dave O'Reilly, Allison Hammond and Ben Baldwin. It aired for the last time on December 22, 2006.
[edit] The Zone
The Zone was only on air for over a week. It was an interactive gameshow that began on the February 26, 2007, on ITV Play and Men & Motors in the 3pm - 6pm TV slot. Presenters included Anna Fowler and Dave O'Riley. The show ended on 6 March 2007.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sweney, Mark (2006-11-28). Sky calls for regulation of quiz channels. Media Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ Deans, Jason (2007-03-13). ITV Play digital channel axed. Media Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
- ^ ITV channel under fire over quiz show tactics. Media Guardian (2006-09-14). Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ ITV Play - Terms and Conditions. itv.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
- ^ Brook, Stephen (2007-01-15). ITV Play rapped over 'unfair' quiz. Media Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ ITV Play rapped over handbag quiz. bbc.co.uk (2007-01-16). Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ Quiz shows are gambling, say MPs. bbc.co.uk (2007-01-25). Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ a b The price is wrong say MPs. The Scotsman (2007-01-22). Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
[edit] External links
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