BB FANS

The Guardian

Big Brother phone vote charity donations scrapped by Channel 4

Big Brother broadcaster says it can no longer afford to give money from voting lines to good causes

Channel 4 will no longer donate any money to charity from its Big Brother phone votes because it says it cannot afford to do so.

The broadcaster has since the 2006 series given 10p to charity for every vote cast in the reality TV show, which returned for its 10th series last week. It blamed the ongoing economic downturn and slump in advertising for the decision.
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EDITED - Updated 1355 Day 5
I wonder what BBFans members think about this? It was a 'selling point' of the show that charity would benefit from the vote, as they were soliciting calls at 35p PER CALL. (Not 35p a minute)

The company renting the line would probably get just over half that amount. The way premium rate is operated does not mean that C4 gets all of that 35p, they probably make around 21p a time.

With this type of line, called a drop-call line, a vote is registered when the line answers, You don't have to listen to all the waffle. The lines are provided by BT to Endermol.

I can't see C4's argument holding water myself - they have an external company providing the lines, that company gives them a statement of how many calls they've had and pays them the money. C4 don't have to do much to earn it, apart from give the numbers out on the air.

It can't be that they are making so little from the phone vote that it's costing them more to account for the cash - can it ?

Later news reveals that BB contributed around £300,000 to C4's charity donations last year...

Note: I was involved with a company who issued premium rate and other non-geographical numbers for 7 years, so do know the background!

C4 are a corporations whose primary aim is to stay afloat, via a profit.
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Not unexpected at all to see them drop the charity aspect, it was always a PR stunt anyway.
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Calrissian: still not voting.