TV quiz costs viewers
By Chen Xingjie |
March 24, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOME television stations are accused of telephone-fee fraud by running quiz programs that invite the audience to join by making calls that never get through.
Though the country's TV authority strictly controls such programs, they are aired at many TV stations without gaining approval, including provincial-level facilities, yesterday's China Youth Daily reported, citing an official surnamed Wang with Shanxi Province Radio, Film and Television Administration.
A Shanxi citizen surnamed Wang told the newspaper she happened to see a program on Ningxia Satellite TV that awarded 5,000 yuan (US$732) and a 3G mobile phone to viewers who called and gave a correct solution to its puzzles.
She called but failed to get connected for 20 minutes until the program ended. She realized it was a fraud when she got her mounting phone bills. The calls were charged at 3 yuan per minute, compared with 0.1 yuan per minute for a normal call.
"It was complete cheat, as the anchor in the program insisted the telephone line was not busy," Wang said. "And it's funny that all the viewers whose calls were picked up by the anchor gave wrong solutions to such a simple quiz."
Wang had a similar experience with another program at Shanxi Satellite TV, she said.
The Shanxi TV station pulled its program on March 5, saying it had received too many complaints from the audience. But Shanxi Province Radio, Film and TV Administration said the program was lifted because the station had failed to apply for approval before airing it.
Though the country's TV authority strictly controls such programs, they are aired at many TV stations without gaining approval, including provincial-level facilities, yesterday's China Youth Daily reported, citing an official surnamed Wang with Shanxi Province Radio, Film and Television Administration.
A Shanxi citizen surnamed Wang told the newspaper she happened to see a program on Ningxia Satellite TV that awarded 5,000 yuan (US$732) and a 3G mobile phone to viewers who called and gave a correct solution to its puzzles.
She called but failed to get connected for 20 minutes until the program ended. She realized it was a fraud when she got her mounting phone bills. The calls were charged at 3 yuan per minute, compared with 0.1 yuan per minute for a normal call.
"It was complete cheat, as the anchor in the program insisted the telephone line was not busy," Wang said. "And it's funny that all the viewers whose calls were picked up by the anchor gave wrong solutions to such a simple quiz."
Wang had a similar experience with another program at Shanxi Satellite TV, she said.
The Shanxi TV station pulled its program on March 5, saying it had received too many complaints from the audience. But Shanxi Province Radio, Film and TV Administration said the program was lifted because the station had failed to apply for approval before airing it.
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