FCC looking at pulled Fox game show: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission is looking into allegations that producers of a Fox game show that never aired fed answers to potential contestants before taping the show last year, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The newspaper cited a letter about the show, called "Our Little Genius" that the commission released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The quiz show, which featured contestants between the ages of 6 and 12, was pulled from Fox before its premiere in early January, according to the Times.

The letter was written by a parent of one of the show's contestants and received by the FCC on December 22, according to the report. It alleges that before a planned taping, a member of the show's production staff reviewed potential topics with the contestant and his parents.

The Times said the letter also claims that the member of the production staff gave specific answers to at least four questions that the child did not know.

When the show was canceled, executive producer Mark Burnett said questions had arisen about "how some information was relayed to contestants during the preproduction," according to the Times. At that time, though, people close to the show told the Times that answers had not been given to contestants.

An FCC spokeswoman declined comment on the report. Fox Broadcasting and Mark Burnett productions could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Michael Erman, Additional reporting by John Poirier in Washington; Editing by Bernard Orr)