ITV Play (channel)
Encyclopedia
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 19 April 2006 and started broadcasting on the Sky platform on 24 July 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.
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.
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 "rawplugs
". The 21 September 2006 quiz, was found to be in breach of the rule that "competitions should be conducted fairly". Ofcom warned ITV Play that there must be no further incident. Ofcom subsequently confirmed this was the first formal breach of the code recorded against ITV Play. For its part, ITV Play described it as a "one-off" incident of poor judgement.
The genre of interactive Quiz TV shows has also been heavily criticised by 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. Had ITV Play been classed as a gambling channel, it would have been forced to give 20% of its profits to good causes.
Labour MP Paul Farrelly
went further in his criticism of channels in the participation Quiz TV genre, describing them as "tantamount to theft."
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.
On 13 March 2007, ITV announced that the ITV Play channel would permanently cease transmission following the recent concerns over participation television.
On 16 March 2007, the channel finally closed and was removed from the Sky EPG. On Freeview, the channel slot was replaced by ITV2+1
.
is the only one that has been revived since the demise of ITV Play.
, was presented by Greg Scott
, Debbie King, Lee Baldry and others and was produced by FremantleMedia
. 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 was broadcast on 14 January 2007. The series returned on 17 July 2008 as an online-only programme, co-produced by Screen Pop Ltd. and Illuma Digital.
) in Manchester.
aired for half an hour in the early evenings. The Common Room's main presenters were Tim Dixon
, Emma Lee and Zö Christien. It 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 show aired for its last time on 10 November 2006. The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
) in Manchester.
, presented by Kat Shoob
, launched on 13 March 2006 and was produced by Big Game TV Productions. On 19 May 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.
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 and co-produced by Ludus and E:TV. The Mint in which over £6 million was given away, finished on 14 February 2007.
was a spin-off from the main show The Mint. The presenters included Milo McCabe, Brian Dowling, Craig Stevens, Mark Rumble and Cat Porter.
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
. It ended on 17 December 2006. It was produced by Hamma & Glamma Productions.
inspired pub quiz
, based on the fictional public house
, the Rovers Return Quiz aired for the last time on 13 October 2006. It was replaced by an extended version of This Morning Puzzlebook. The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
) in Manchester.
) in Manchester.
) in Manchester.
was the first in-house ITV Production to go out on the main ITV channels. The show started off at weekends on ITV1, with shows airing on the ITV Play channel the rest of the week. The show had larger cash prizes than most other ITV Play shows, as a result calls were put through to the studio on a much less regular basis.
In the later end of its run the show was broadcast seven nights a week on ITV Play and ITV1.
The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
) in Manchester.
Make Your Play was also the last ITV Play show to be broadcast before the brand was ditched by ITV.
in the 3pm - 6pm TV slot. Presenters included Anna Fowler and Dave O'Riley. The show ended on 6 March 2007. The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
) in Manchester. The show was generally a Make Your Play clone, with a different colour theme and lower cash prizes.
The show also survived the Ofcom investigation into ITV Play, after a few nights break they returned to ITV1 and ITV Play at the same time, with some callers saying, ' It's good to have you back.'
Due to bad publicity from the Ofcom investigation, call volumes dropped, so the show was ditched after seven episodes.
Quiz channel
A quiz channel is a television channel that focuses on phone-in quizzes. The quizzes usually focus on puzzles, such as filling in blanks, identifying subjects, or other forms of word puzzles....
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
owned by ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
. The ITV Play
ITV Play
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....
name continued on the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
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
Men & Motors
Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television and satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting in 1996...
channel) on 19 April 2006 and started broadcasting on the Sky platform on 24 July 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
Quizmania
Quizmania was a popular British interactive gameshow. The show was devised by Chuck Thomas, Debbie King, and Simone Thorogood and produced by Fremantle Media for Information TV and ITV . Currently, the online revival is produced by Screen Pop Ltd. in association with Illumina Digital...
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.
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.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.
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 "rawplugs
Wall plug
A wall plug is a type of fastener used in buildings. It allows screws to be fitted into masonry walls.There are many forms of wall plug, but the most common principle is to use a tapered tube of soft material, such as plastic. This is inserted loosely into a drilled hole, then a screw is tightened...
". The 21 September 2006 quiz, was found to be in breach of the rule that "competitions should be conducted fairly". Ofcom warned ITV Play that there must be no further incident. Ofcom subsequently confirmed this was the first formal breach of the code recorded against ITV Play. For its part, ITV Play described it as a "one-off" incident of poor judgement.
The genre of interactive Quiz TV shows has also been heavily criticised by 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. Had ITV Play been classed as a gambling channel, it would have been forced to give 20% of its profits to good causes.
Labour MP Paul Farrelly
Paul Farrelly
Christopher Paul Farrelly is a British Labour Party politician and journalist, who has been the Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme since 2001.-Early life:...
went further in his criticism of channels in the participation Quiz TV genre, describing them as "tantamount to theft."
Suspension and closure
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.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
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, all of whom were to meet with the regulator ICSTIS
Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services
PhonepayPlus is the regulatory body for all premium rate phone-paid services in the United Kingdom. These are the goods and services that consumers can buy by charging the cost to their phone bills and pre-pay phone accounts....
. ITV appointed Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited , commonly referred to as Deloitte, is one of the Big Four accountancy firms along with PricewaterhouseCoopers , Ernst & Young, and KPMG....
as independent auditors.
ITV had erroneously overcharged viewers of The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
£200,000. Votes via interactive television were meant to be only 35p each, but voters were actually charged 50p.
On 13 March 2007, ITV announced that the ITV Play channel would permanently cease transmission following the recent concerns over participation television.
On 16 March 2007, the channel finally closed and was removed from the Sky EPG. On Freeview, the channel slot was replaced by ITV2+1
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
.
Shows
All of the shows below were shown on the ITV Play channel. QuizmaniaQuizmania
Quizmania was a popular British interactive gameshow. The show was devised by Chuck Thomas, Debbie King, and Simone Thorogood and produced by Fremantle Media for Information TV and ITV . Currently, the online revival is produced by Screen Pop Ltd. in association with Illumina Digital...
is the only one that has been revived since the demise of ITV Play.
Quizmania
QuizmaniaQuizmania
Quizmania was a popular British interactive gameshow. The show was devised by Chuck Thomas, Debbie King, and Simone Thorogood and produced by Fremantle Media for Information TV and ITV . Currently, the online revival is produced by Screen Pop Ltd. in association with Illumina Digital...
, was presented by Greg Scott
Greg Scott
Greg "Greggles" Scott is an English television presenter. He is best known for being a presenter on the late night interactive ITV1 gameshow Quizmania.-Early life and career:...
, Debbie King, Lee Baldry and others and was produced by FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
. It was the first phone-in quiz show produced for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. The success of this show was one of the main reasons ITV started ITV Play. The last episode was broadcast on 14 January 2007. The series returned on 17 July 2008 as an online-only programme, co-produced by Screen Pop Ltd. and Illuma Digital.
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. It ended on the December 22, 2006. The series was produced by ITV Productions (GranadaGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) in Manchester.
The Common Room
The Common RoomThe Common Room
The Common Room was an interactive TV show on ITV Play. The Common Rooms main presenters were Tim Dixon and Emma Lee. Zö Christien also presented occasionally.-Format:...
aired for half an hour in the early evenings. The Common Room's main presenters were Tim Dixon
Tim Dixon
Tim Dixon is an English television presenter who rose to promise in 2003. Aged just 21, in 2005 he was described by Flextech as "The best young up-and-coming television presenting talent in the UK".-Education:...
, Emma Lee and Zö Christien. It 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 show aired for its last time on 10 November 2006. The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) in Manchester.
The Daily Quiz!
The Daily Quiz!The Daily Quiz!
The Daily Quiz! was a live, phone-in quiz channel, previously a TV programme, which was showing on ITV Play and also on Men & Motors from 3pm-6pm seven days a week...
, presented by Kat Shoob
Kat Shoob
Katherine 'Kat' Shoob is a British radio presenter on The Vodafone Big Top 40.Shoob modelled for Maxim in September 2006.Shoob presented The Mint, a phone-in quiz that was shown on ITV1 and ITV2...
, launched on 13 March 2006 and was produced by Big Game TV Productions. On 19 May 2006, officers from the Fraud Squad raided the offices of Big Game TV, makers of The Daily Quiz! after a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
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.
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 5 March 2007 and ended 6 March 2007 lasting only for one show due to ITV Play being taken off the air the day after the show was launched. The programme was produced by Hamma & Glamma Productions.The Mint
The MintThe Mint (game show)
The Mint was a live, late night, interactive quiz show with celebrity guests and live studio contestants filmed in a large extravagant set designed to look like the inside of a mansion. The programme, which was dogged by criticism that its questions were ambiguous and arbitrary, aired on ITV and...
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
Brian Dowling
Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate...
, Kat Shoob
Kat Shoob
Katherine 'Kat' Shoob is a British radio presenter on The Vodafone Big Top 40.Shoob modelled for Maxim in September 2006.Shoob presented The Mint, a phone-in quiz that was shown on ITV1 and ITV2...
, Craig Stevens
Craig Stevens (presenter)
Craig Stevens is a British television presenter, born in Walthamstow, and raised in Colchester, Essex.During 2007, Craig presented ITV Play show Glitterball. His first presenting job was on Five's BrainTeaser, and he later presented ITV's The Mint...
, Cat Porter, Beverley French
Beverley French
Beverley "Bev" French is a British model and television presenter. She was the former presenter of The Mint on ITV Play. She has also presented The Great Big British Quiz and Rovers Return Quiz....
and Mark Rumble and co-produced by Ludus and E:TV. The Mint in which over £6 million was given away, finished on 14 February 2007.
The Mint Extra
The Mint ExtraThe Mint Extra
The Mint Extra, originally Extra Mint, was an early evening version of The Mint, which was developed and was shown on ITV's newly launched ITV Play channel. Extra Mint was presented by one presenter and gave away much smaller sums of money to winners. It featured very different games than the...
was a spin-off from the main show The Mint. The presenters included Milo McCabe, Brian Dowling, Craig Stevens, Mark Rumble and Cat Porter.
Playalong
ITV Playalong was a presenter-less text-in game show that was usually shown as a filler during most of the day. It was later replaced by Play DJ.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. It ended on 6 March 2007. Two Way TV produced the series.Playdate
PlaydatePlaydate
Playdate is a British television dating programme that was made by Hamma & Glamma Productions for ITV. It was screened Monday to Fridays on ITV Play between 8.00pm and 10.00pm, and daily on ITV2 between 1.00am and 4.00am...
was a British dating programme. The programme began exclusively on ITV2
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
late at night, but later had a slot on ITV Play in an early evening slot. The show's presenters included Brendan Courtney
Brendan Courtney
Brendan Courtney is an Irish comedian and television presenter, the first openly gay presenter in Ireland. He has hosted Wanderlust on RTÉ Two, The Brendan Courtney Show on TV3, Playdate on ITV2 and Off the Rails on RTÉ One.-Career:Brendan began his career on RTÉ Two's Wanderlust and ITV1's Love...
, Dave O'Reilly and Kate Lawler
Kate Lawler
Kate Louise Lawler is an English reality TV personality, DJ, and model. She was the first female winner of Big Brother UK, winning the third season of the reality television show. Since leaving Big Brother, she has worked as a television presenter and personality, a model and as a disc jockey...
. It ended on 17 December 2006. It was produced by Hamma & Glamma Productions.
Rovers Return Quiz
The Rovers Return Quiz was a Coronation StreetCoronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
inspired pub quiz
Pub quiz
A pub quiz is a quiz held in a public house. These events are also called Quiz Nights or Trivia Nights and may be held in other settings. Pub quizzes are still extremely popular and may attract people to a pub who are not found there on other days. The pub quiz is a modern example of a pub game...
, based on the fictional public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Rovers Return Quiz aired for the last time on 13 October 2006. It was replaced by an extended version of This Morning Puzzlebook. The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) in Manchester.
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. The series was produced by ITV Productions (GranadaGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) in Manchester.
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 22 December 2006. The series was produced by ITV Productions (GranadaGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) in Manchester.
Make Your Play
Make Your PlayMake Your Play
Make Your Play was a live, interactive quiz show, showing in the UK on the ITV Network, from Monday to Saturday, beginning after midnight. The show was launched on Friday September 29, 2006 on ITV and ITV Play....
was the first in-house ITV Production to go out on the main ITV channels. The show started off at weekends on ITV1, with shows airing on the ITV Play channel the rest of the week. The show had larger cash prizes than most other ITV Play shows, as a result calls were put through to the studio on a much less regular basis.
In the later end of its run the show was broadcast seven nights a week on ITV Play and ITV1.
The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) in Manchester.
Make Your Play was also the last ITV Play show to be broadcast before the brand was ditched by ITV.
The Zone
The Zone was only on air for six programmes. It was an interactive gameshow that began on 26 February 2007, on ITV Play and Men & MotorsMen & Motors
Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television and satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting in 1996...
in the 3pm - 6pm TV slot. Presenters included Anna Fowler and Dave O'Riley. The show ended on 6 March 2007. The series was produced by ITV Productions (Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) in Manchester. The show was generally a Make Your Play clone, with a different colour theme and lower cash prizes.
Glitterball
Glitterball was introduced as a replacement for The Mint. The show was broadcast by the same company that produced The Mint, and featured one of the show's main presenters. Unlike other ITV Play shows, the games were shown on a giant screen in the studio rather than by graphics on the viewers own screens. The show also had a double presenter format, usually male and female.The show also survived the Ofcom investigation into ITV Play, after a few nights break they returned to ITV1 and ITV Play at the same time, with some callers saying, ' It's good to have you back.'
Glitterball Extra
Glitterball Extra, much like The Mint Extra, was shown on the ITV Play channel earlier in the evening, prior to the main shows broadcast.Due to bad publicity from the Ofcom investigation, call volumes dropped, so the show was ditched after seven episodes.
See also
- 2007 British television phone-in scandal