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11:23 GMT, Thursday, 18 December 2008

BBC fines: The affected shows

During 2008, the BBC was fined £495,000 by media watchdog Ofcom for misleading its audiences by "faking" phone-ins.

In July it received a £400,000 penalty for deceptions on a number of radio and TV shows, with a £95,000 fine coming in December for two radio shows.

Here is a breakdown of the programmes involved in the scandal.

30 JULY - £400,000 FINE

• On the Clare McDonnell Show on BBC 6 Music in September 2006, a production team member created fictitious winners because there were not enough real winning entries for a competition. (Fine: £17,500)

• During a Comic Relief competition in March 2007, a member of the production team posed as the winning caller after a problem with the phone lines. (Fine: £45,000)

• In September 2007, viewers of the children's show TMi were led to believe a member of the audience had won a competition. But it turned out to be a member of the production crew. (Fine: £50,000)

• A member of the production team for Sport Relief posed as a winner on air in July 2006. The BBC found this had been set up in advance as a contingency plan and that warnings about potential difficulties in conducting the competition were ignored. (Fine: £45,000)

• In a section called Raven: The Island in a Scottish segment of Children in Need in 2005, viewers were led to believe a phone-in competition had been won by a viewer. But in fact, the name of a fictitious winner was read out on air after a technical mistake. (Fine: £35,000)

• The BBC 6 Music Liz Kershaw Show used members of the production team and their friends as competition callers from 2005 until a new producer took over in December 2006. The network's head of programmes, Ric Blaxill, resigned and a producer at the station was sacked. (Fine: £115,000)

• A member of staff had posed as a competition winner during Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show in April 2006. Several staff members were disciplined. The BBC said the DJ, who hosts the mid-morning show, was unaware that the caller was not a member of the public. (Fine: £75,000)

• Callers were invited to participate in "live" competitions on a pre-recorded episode of Russell Brand's 6 Music show which were broadcast in 2006. The eventual "winner" was a member of BBC staff. The programme, which was usually broadcast live, had to be recorded for the second show in its series and was transmitted in April 2006. (Fine: £17,500)

18 DECEMBER - £95,000 FINE

  • Callers were, once again, invited to participate in "live" contests on a pre-recorded Radio 2 programme, this time on Dermot O'Leary's show between June and December 2006. Winners were selected from those who had previously contacted the show via its website or newsletter. (Fine: £70,000)

  • Competitions on Tony Blackburn's BBC London 94.9 show were also pre-recorded between December 2005 and December 2006. Listeners who had previously contacted the show were invited to be competition entrants. (Fine: £25,000)




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