Ofcom fines BBC £50,000 over Blue Peter episode

Published Monday 9 July 2007 at 12:40 by Matthew Hemley

Ofcom has fined the BBC £50,000 - the first time the Corporation has received a financial penalty from the regulator - over an episode of Blue Peter broadcast in November last year.

The fine relates to an episode in which viewers were invited to enter a competition by calling in to the programme.

When a technical fault meant no entrants could be connected to the studio, a researcher invited a child visiting the show to pretend to be a caller.

The child was taken to a make-up room where a phone was available and was subsequently announced as the winner on air.

Ofcom said the decision to invite the child to pose as a winner broke two of its broadcasting rules, one stating competitions must be “conducted fairly” and another stating “due care must be taken over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of people under 18 who take part in programmes”.

After the episode was broadcast, it was repeated on CBBC later that day and the number for the competition was again shown, meaning a further 3,500 calls were received, even though the competition was closed.

Ofcom said this again broke the rule stating competitions should be conducted fairly.

In Ofcom’s adjudication, the BBC said it believed no “significant harm” had resulted from the breaches as it had not profited from the competition and “all proceeds had gone to charity”.

It said it had issued public on-air apologies and had apologised to the father of the child involved.

However, it said there had been “serious and regrettable errors of judgement”.