ITV axes comedy awards over vote claims
Law firm Olswang has been called in by the British broadcaster to conduct an investigation.
The alleged voting problem happened during the 2005 awards show.
ITV said yesterday it had “asked media law firm Olswang to conduct an investigation into an issue that has arisen in respect of the British Comedy Awards 2005”.
“Pending conclusion of the investigation, broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 will be postponed. ITV will not make any further comment until the conclusion of the investigation.”
The irregularities are believed to be related to the People’s Choice Award, the only one to be chosen by the public.
Viewers were asked throughout the show to vote for their favourite. Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway was the winner.
It has been alleged that the final section of the show, broadcast after the 10.30pm news, was taped from 10.30-11pm but shown from 11pm as if it were taking place live.
Viewers were still encouraged to phone in but their votes were worthless because the winner had already been named.
The high-profile event honoured the likes of Russell Brand and Catherine Tate last year.
The news comes just a day after the BBC admitted four new cases of viewer deception in TV phone-in votes.
