Can a TV quiz be addictive? Some Britons say yes

LONDON (Reuters) - Calling television quiz shows in the hope of winning big money cost Julie Ellison nearly $8,000 in phone bills over 18 months and she never won a penny, but still she keeps on trying.

Thousands of people in Britain take part in interactive quiz programs, but Ellison, who is housebound after being injured in a fire two years ago, is one of an unknown number who say they have become addicted to them.

"I want to win," the 38-year-old, from the northern city of Manchester told Reuters by telephone: she only started calling because she needed money to buy a mobility scooter.

"With what I spent (on phone calls) I could have bought one anyway," she said. Her bills totaled 4,000 pounds ($7,744).

Britain's television industry is at the center of a storm amid allegations of rigged or overpriced phone-ins for talent contests and quizzes, prompting broadcasters to suspend some shows as they review the system.

The shows -- including contests offering viewers the chance to vote for their favorite performers -- have grown rapidly in Britain and beyond. Companies behind them make money by charging a premium rate on the cost of calls.

Premium phone rate services watchdog ICSTIS says the services in Britain generated a total of about 1.2 billion pounds in revenue in 2006.

While Britons are apathetic when it comes to choosing political leaders, the hope of picking their favorite celebrity or winning a prize has enticed them to call up in their droves. This has raised fears that quiz games, in particular, are a potentially addictive form of gambling.

"Interactive television quiz shows share many of the dimensions of interactive television gambling, and also raise the same types of concern when talking about vulnerable and susceptible populations," Mark Griffiths, a professor of gambling studies, wrote in a paper entitled "Interactive television quizzes as gambling: A cause for concern?"

Symptoms of addiction include if the TV quiz becomes the most important thing in a person's life, not playing brings on withdrawal symptoms and they feel the need to play the game ever more frequently, he said.

Griffiths, of Nottingham Trent University, has not yet met anyone who fits his criteria, but said: "There are lots of people out there who are spending lots of money."

COMPULSIVE VIEWING

GamCare, a charity for gambling addicts, says it has not received a significant number of complaints from individuals hooked on interactive TV quiz shows, but adds this could be because viewers do not know where to turn. "It is an area that is being investigated," a spokeswoman said.

But Promis, a firm that offers counseling to beat addictions, is convinced TV call shows -- with their smiling presenters, seemingly easy questions and cash prizes of up to 100,000 pounds -- are a form of addictive gambling.

It says they have infiltrated a new section of the population, such as the elderly and some women, who would never think to enter a casino or gamble online.

Also, people might not think of phoning a TV show from home -- at a cost of between 75 pence and 150 pence a time -- as a form of gambling, said Robin Lefever, director of Promis. "I think it has damaged a huge number of people," he said.

Leading commercial broadcaster ITV Plc said viewers enjoyed its interactive quiz shows, with about 90 percent calling less than 10 times a day.

"But we are not complacent about this. We have an in-house customer service team who constantly monitor call patterns, proactively contacting callers who demonstrate unusual activity," a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Participants receive a warning message on their phone after making 10 calls to a show, while presenters give on-air advice about setting a limit on the number of attempts, she added.

LOSS OF TRUST

But concern over the cost of calls and how they are handled has cast a shadow over the industry, prompting ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five to suspend premium rate interactive services to allow independent reviews.

Producers of the long-running BBC television children's show 'Blue Peter' last week also apologized for faking a phone-in competition.

ICSTIS is preparing to introduce new rules to better safeguard callers.

In addition, the Gambling Commission is considering whether interactive TV quiz shows should fall under new gambling legislation that comes into force in September.

Adding to the momentum, a parliamentary select committee on media recommended in January that interactive TV call shows should constitute gaming. It also urged the Gambling Commission to look into the scale of possible addiction.

Ellison, for her part, said she welcomed the push to tighten up quiz game practices, recalling how she used to spend up to 150 pounds a night on the shows before her landline and then mobile phone were disconnected. She now has a pay-as-you-go mobile, and spends up to 60 pounds a week.

(Additional reporting by Santosh Menon)