SHOCK NEWS: Deal or No Deal Phone Competition

**Joined:** Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:08 pm **Warnings:** 0

The Suday Express are apprently reporting that there has been a fresh Phone Line fiasco. Im shure were no more as it comes though. No links yet.

**Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 12:08 am **Author:** h2005 **Post subject:**

I'm not surprised really - it was only a matter of time before the whole phone fiasco thing hit DOND!

**Joined:** Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:08 pm **Warnings:** 0

Ofcourse people could have complained that the veiwers prize is pre decided but this is no problem in my view as they have never tryed to cover this Noel does say you could win £1,000 £2,000 or £10,000 and they would never be able to change the out come. Ofcouse this could be a Richard and Judy Type thing and we all hope its not. You say your not surprized h2005 and neither am I but this could be disaterous as without this money they wouldnt be able to fund the show. Endemol West have allready seen BrainTeaser fall off the air they will hope this doesnt happen here as im sure do all of us. Having said all this hopefully the articles aload of rubbish!!!

Last edited by Billy on Sun May 06, 2007 2:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

the wellser wrote:

The Suday Express are apprently reporting that there has been a fresh Phone Line fiasco.

That doesn't mean it's automatically about Deal or No Deal, is it? If it's just a 'fresh phone line fiasco' then it could be about anything.

EDIT: Oh wait. http://www.express.co.uk/ourpaper/view/2007-05-06

**Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 12:59 am **Author:** h2005 **Post subject:**

the wellser wrote:

but this could be disaterous as without this money they wouldnt be able to fund the show.

Judging by how much money they have reputedly got from the viewer's competition already, I reckon they could quite easily cope without it for a while yet!

**Joined:** Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:35 pm **Warnings:** 0

The main thrust of the story seems to be that Noel says viewers could win one of three amounts but by the time the show is broadcast it is known which of the three amounts is the prize that day.

**Joined:** Wed Feb 01, 2006 6:19 pm **Warnings:** 0

Sunday Express wrote:

THE phone-in competition on hit show Deal Or No Deal faces investigation and possible suspension.

Icstis, the body that regulates premium-rate competitions on television, will formally request “more information” from Channel 4 next week about how the phone-in is run.

“We do need to get to the bottom of this,” said an Icstis spokesman. “Depending on the information we get from the channel next week, we could launch a full, formal investigation. We have the power to suspend the competition altogether.

“We have received a handful of complaints about the competition, asking whether it is fair and asking ‘whether our entries count? There is no specific charge but various issues need to be cleared up.”

Asked what advice he had for viewers who were considering entering the competition, he said: “I can’t tell you how to spend your pound but if you are in any doubt, stay away from it.”

The prize for the phone-in competition is determined by a member of the audience who chooses between three boxes, one containing £1,000, another £2,000 and a third with £15,000.

Viewers have complained that although they are encouraged to compete for a possible big prize, because the show has been recorded in advance, the producers already know which box has been chosen.

Last night one viewer said: “People phoning in are spending their pound thinking they’ve a chance at the big prize when they haven’t got one.”

An Icstis spokesman said: “How can the producers say you can win three different amounts, if they already know which box has been selected? Obviously if only the minor prize is remaining, you can’t advertise the bigger prize. That’s misleading.

To that last paragraph, thats random too. The IA seals the blue boxes too

**Joined:** Sun Feb 05, 2006 3:40 pm **Warnings:** 0

Interesting that it's one paper this morning who have reported this, not many.

Had to laugh at the final paragraph. Given the same phone entry game has been running since October 2005. Have they been on a different planet?

Also its a fact that some of these Sunday newspaper reporters want to produce anything to reveal the viewer has been mislaid and bring television shows down. I was approached by one reporter for a Sunday newspaper in the winter, asking if DoND is actually rigged/fixed.

**Joined:** Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:28 pm **Warnings:** 0

There was already a similar article in the news of the world a couple of weeks ago I think, claiming it was a fix because:

1) it was pre-recorded (how that makes it a fix, I'm not sure)

2) SOMETIMES the lowest amount is won

Stupid newspapers.

**Joined:** Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:35 pm **Warnings:** 0

The point is, during the show Noel says something like: "Phone in now, you could win £1,000, £3,000 or £10,000". However, by the time the show is broadcast, they already know which of the three amounts was revealed.

So if during the filming of that show the £1,000 was revealed at the end of the game, then you cannot win £3,000 or £10,000. But they still claim you can when they appeal for people to phone in during that show's transmission several weeks later.

**Joined:** Sat Jun 17, 2006 12:12 pm **Warnings:** 0

If they do suspend the phone in now its probably too late to edit it out of any future episodes, so I wonder if they would keep the free web entry going or not?

**Joined:** Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:35 pm **Warnings:** 0

I think they can easily solve it by simply adding a sentence of small print stating that the show was pre-recorded. I think legally they should do anyway. If they are saying "You could win £15,000" for instance when they know by broadcast time of a particular episode that even the successful caller cannot win that amount, then that needs addressing. That said, this is hardly a swindle on the level of GMTV etc.

**Joined:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:04 pm **Warnings:** 0

TOM22 wrote:

If they do suspend the phone in now its probably too late to edit it out of any future episodes, so I wonder if they would keep the free web entry going or not?

They can easily just put a "competition closed" banner on like they do for repeat showings. I don't think they would continue the free web entry, as then they would still have to give away the money without having any phone revenue to pay for it!

The LTL surely plays a large part in them being able to afford the prize structure of the show though, and you wonder whether they may decide to suspend filming until the issue is sorted out.

**Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 11:08 am **Author:** basicasic **Post subject:**

People are just so unbelievably sad complaining about this. Of course the show is pre-recorded. Of course the amount is known in advance. But the excitement of the competition revolves around the fact that the viewer doesn't know the amount.

And if you think its a swindle - don't enter!

They could adjust the competition by offering a fixed amount each day to win, say £5000, which is still worth going for but of course the uncertainty/excitement factor would disappear and there would be no opening of the boxes which is the main identifier of the competition.

Talk about storm in a teacup!

**Joined:** Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:00 pm **Warnings:** 0

I personally find it incredible it's taken this long for people to complain about it. It's been getting worse too - note the much-increased discrepencies between the box values (£1k, £2k, £30k happened at least once this year, and I seem to recall it wasn't the £30k that was won).

Also, there are other question marks surrounding it - for instance, one person who won the competition has posted on here claiming not to have been paid. Funnily enough she was a web entrant. And by the sounds of it there's question marks over whether the entries count - if that is true, this is a swindle that is worse than GMTV, because it involves the same deception as that one and more to boot.

Make no mistake about it - this will kill the show, for it is loss-making without the viewer competition, and the viewer competition is clearly on shaky ground and is unlikely to survive now.

**Joined:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:04 pm **Warnings:** 0

Well according to h2005's filming dates thread they have now recorded up to mid-September, so obviously those shows will be broadcast, LTL or no LTL, as they have to pay those contestants their winnings in any case. After that who knows - there's no way it would work if they reduced the top prize, but I think they will continue to find another way to enable viewers to partially fund the show!

But anyway, this was posted in the spoilers thread by someone who has been to a "September" recording, in a list of changes that happen after the summer break:

Quote:

Phone Competition - Boxes are now chosen in the first break, phone lines open till midday day after, and also Post entry.

Could it be they've already taken some action to deal with the concerns?

**Joined:** Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:35 pm **Warnings:** 0

[quote="basicasic"]People are just so unbelievably sad complaining about this. Of course the show is pre-recorded. Of course the amount is known in advance. quote]

*You* know that because you are a DOND fantatic who sits on the web discussing the finer details of it. (Incidentally, I think most people would say *you* are unbelievably sad for doing that. But never mind.) However, to the general public who tune in from time to time and don't sit obsessing over the finer details of the show, they might be phoning up thinking they can win £10,000 for instance when it is literally impossible for them to win that much.

As I said, it is hardly the biggest swindle in TV history but it does need to be addressed.

**Joined:** Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:36 pm **Warnings:** 0

Power5 wrote:

Well according to h2005's filming dates thread they have now recorded up to mid-September, so obviously those shows will be broadcast, LTL or no LTL, as they have to pay those contestants their winnings in any case.

Do they? I'm sure I remember someone saying that when "Shafted" was cancelled, the people who'd filmed their shows but hadn't been on TV didn't get their money. Which sounds like the absolute meanest thing in the world, but there you go.

Anyway, I'm more or less in agreement with basicasic about this. I can kind of vaguely see a reason for a legitimate complaint, but it's incredibly pedantic and pathetic. It's not like whether it's pre-recorded or not actually changes your odds of winning, and they don't make a bigger deal of it if the lower amount is won or anything. Just don't enter if you don't want to...

**Joined:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:04 pm **Warnings:** 0

daniel4389 wrote:

Power5 wrote:

Well according to h2005's filming dates thread they have now recorded up to mid-September, so obviously those shows will be broadcast, LTL or no LTL, as they have to pay those contestants their winnings in any case.

Do they? I'm sure I remember someone saying that when "Shafted" was cancelled, the people who'd filmed their shows but hadn't been on TV didn't get their money. Which sounds like the absolute meanest thing in the world, but there you go.

I wonder what's actually in the contestants' contracts about that? I suspect they do receive their winnings at some point before the show is broadcast, especially when they are in a position of filming months in advance. (Obviously there has been one show not broadcast at the contestant's request, I would imagine even Endemol wouldn't be heartless enough not to give her what she won, although for all we know it could have been 10p.)

Imagine someone won £100,000, went out and spent the lot through loans etc. before they received it, then the show wasn't aired and they got nothing. What kind of headlines would that make?

**Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 11:41 am **Author:** basicasic **Post subject:**

Power5 wrote:

I wonder what's actually in the contestants' contracts about that? I suspect they do receive their winnings at some point before the show is broadcast, especially when they are in a position of filming months in advance.

I would be expecting to walk away after the show with the cheque in my grubby paw. If you've played the game, won the money, they should pay up straight away. Simple.

Have any previous players mentioned when they got their money?

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SHOCK NEWS: Deal or No Deal Phone Competition

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