Ant and Dec under fire over phone-ins
TV presenters Ant and Dec are in the firing line after a damning report into premium rate phone-ins by ITV.
The Deloitte Review says viewers had no chance of winning the 'Jiggy Bank' competition in the Geordie duo's Saturday Night Takeaway programme.
The location for a pig full of money was meant to be nominated by callers to the programme and then selected at random.
But in reality it was chosen weeks ahead with a shortlist of entrants drawn up.
Other shows targeted for ripping off viewers are Gameshow Marathon and Soap Star Superstar.
ITV bosses have promised that money will be repaid and cash not collected will go to charity.
Chairman Sir Michael Grade admitted the review of ITV phone-in competitions identified a "serious cultural failure" within the company.
Sir Michael said he accepted that the report would make "deeply uncomfortable reading".
"My overall conclusion from the review is that there was a serious cultural failing within ITV," he said.
"It is only by understanding how things went wrong in the past, and being open about them, that we can be sure that we get them right now and in the future.
"The purpose of the review wasn't limited to flushing out the problems and learning the lessons.
"We have used it to assess viewers' losses, so that we can reimburse them."
© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.








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