GCap's Invicta FM has been found in breach of rule 2.11 of the Broadcasting code after a complaint was made following ‘James and Ali’s breakfast blanks competition.’
A cash prize of £6,047 was offered and listeners were invited to call in and fill in the ‘blanks’ of a phrase.
In its response GCap Media said that the original process for selecting an entrant was to put the 103rd caller through to the studio and that was clear to entrants. However, on this occasion the producer/presenter realised that there were unlikely to be 103 calls during the show and that the process would therefore have to be changed. GCap went on to say that the decision was made after the complainant had left his details.
In the decision Ofcom said. GCap’s lack of clarity and inconsistency in its process of selecting entrants to go to the air was therefore unfair to the complainant and potentially unfair to other callers. The competition was not conducted fairly and rules were not appropriately made known, in breach of rule 2.11 of the code.