BBC's Byford tells MPs of phone-in scandal shock

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) BBC deputy director general Mark Byford told MPs he had been ''stunned'' by the revelations in the phone-in scandal that has rocked the corporation.

''What has happened is utterly unacceptable,'' he said in an appearance before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee today.

Three senior staff members have been suspended after the BBC admitted last week putting fake winners on air in a number of phone-in programmes, including charity fund-raising shows like ''Comic Relief.'' ''I was stunned,'' Byford added. ''It was one of those moments, if you've been in the BBC as long as I have ... you were stunned by it.'' He told the committee that the corporation was working hard to eliminate any problems and said the vast majority of staff knew they should never deceive the audience. It has appointed the former chief executive of BBC Broadcast, Will Wyatt, to conduct an independent inquiry.

In response to the phone-in row, which has engulfed the whole British TV industry, media regulator Ofcom said today that broadcasters themselves would become directly responsible for the use of premium rate telephone services under new licence obligations.

Broadcasters have in the past tended to blame production companies or firms supplying the phone services.

Reuters RJ GC2043

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