BBC fined over contest deceptions

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The BBC has been fined £95,000 by media watchdog Ofcom for broadcasting quizzes which listeners could not win.

The competitions ran on eight editions of Dermot O'Leary's Radio 2 show in 2006 and five Tony Blackburn programmes on BBC London 94.9 in 2005 and 2006.

All were pre-recorded, however, so there was no way to take part in them.

Ofcom ruled these to be "serious" breaches and in a separate report, the BBC Trust ruled audiences were "misled" and said on-air apologies were needed.

Radio 2 was fined £70,000 for eight breaches between June and December 2006 and told to broadcast the watchdog's findings on-air "at a time, and in a form, to be decided by Ofcom".

Ofcom was very concerned by the repeated, pre-meditated and deliberate decisions to include competitions in pre-recorded programmes that were broadcast 'as live' Ofcom statement

O'Leary's Saturday afternoon show was pre-recorded on these occasions "due to the presenter's other work commitments", it said.

When the competitions were run, winners were selected from listeners who had contacted the show via the programme's website or newsletter, it added.

BBC London 94.9, the BBC's local radio station for London, was given a fine of £25,000 and must also read the findings on-air.

Again, the breaches occurred when Blackburn's Saturday lunchtime programme was pre-recorded, on five occasions between December 2005 and December 2006.

Ofcom said listeners who had previously contacted the show were invited to be the competition entrants.

The watchdog added it was "very concerned by the repeated, pre-meditated and deliberate decisions to include competitions in pre-recorded programmes that were broadcast 'as live'".

These decisions were made for purely "logistical" reasons, it added, and not because something had gone wrong.

And therefore production teams "knowingly misled" BBC audiences as a result, it said.