ITV hit with €3.7m fine over phone-in fiasco

BROADCASTER ITV was fined a record £5.67 million (€3.7m) yesterday for misleading viewers over premium rate TV phone-in services, industry regulator Ofcom said.

Britain’s biggest commercial TV network temporarily suspended all premium-rate interactive services last year after more than a million viewers were unfairly charged for entering phone-in competitions.

Ofcom said ITV had been guilty of “some of the most serious breaches” of the watchdog’s code and ordered it to broadcast on-air apologies.