participation tv

The BBC--which earlier this year was fined £400,000 by UK communications regulator, Ofcom, for breaches of the UK's Broadcasting Code pertaining to its phone-based participation TV programming (see [itvt] Issue 7.95 Part 1)--has set up a new technical department to oversee all its phone-based interactive TV offerings. The Corporation says that the new department--dubbed the Interactive Technical Advice and Contracts Unit (ITACU)--is part of a comprehensive plan to address the problems that resulted in the Ofcom fine.

UK-based interactive media company, Two Way Media (note: the
company, which was originally called Two Way TV, recently
rebranded, in order, it said, to "reflect its status as a company focused
on creating and distributing cross-media TV shows and games"), has
formed a partnership with Latin American mobile content and SMS
specialist, NetPeople, to distribute its participation-TV game shows
across that region. The first deal to result from the companies' new
partnership is with Panamanian channel, Tele7, which is owned by
MedCom: since last month, the channel has been airing localized
versions of Two Way Media game shows, including "Hangit?" and

Following the UK's recent participation TV scandal, that country's
broadcast regulator, Ofcom, has proposed new rules to tighten
regulation of TV and radio programs that rely heavily on premium-rate
telephone services (PRS). The body says that its proposed changes to
the UK's Broadcasting Code will "ensure that programs that invite
viewers and listeners to interact or participate are not vehicles for
promoting commercial, revenue-generating services," and will also
"ensure that viewers are adequately protected and that advertising is
kept separate from editorial content, as required under European
legislation."

The new rules state that when PRS is used in a program for audience
participation: