Ofcom resolves complaint against Bauer competition winner

Ofcom has ruled out a complaint against Bauer for airing three versions of a conference call with the winner of a contest.

One person expressed displeasure with the manner in which the announcement was broadcast in Absolute Radio, Absolute Classic Rock, Absolute Radio 60s, Absolute Radio 70s, Absolute 80s, Absolute Radio 90s, Absolute Radio 00s, Absolute Radio 10s, KISS Network, KISSTORY, KISS Fresh and Planet Rock.

In the course of the contest to win the PS100,000 prize, Bauer always told listeners they were on “Planet Rock, KISS and Absolute Radio” however did not acknowledge the network-based nature of the contest when announcement of the winner.

Bauer created three distinct versions of the winner of the cashprize, using three different presenters in order to better reflect each brand.

One listener claimed that since all three announcements not clarified that the contest could be won by a listener who was on an alternative station, they was a misrepresentation of the likelihood of winning.

In reply, Bauer said that it was very obvious to listeners throughout its broadcast and also in online terms.

The broadcaster stated that it was “surprised and concerned to receive the first complaint since launching Win PS100,000 in June 2020 and [took] any suggestion that listeners may have been confused about the mechanic of a network competition very seriously” It collaborated closely with its compliance and legal colleagues to ensure that all of its broadcast competitions were run in strict conformity to the Code.

Bauer admitted that, if an audience member heard the broadcast of the telephone call with the contest winner however, they had not heard the broadcasts of the contest itself, they might have mistakenly believed that it was an event hosted by the particular station they were watching.

The company added that were this the situation, there would not have been any harm caused as the viewer would not be able to participate in the contest, as it had been closed.

The broadcaster said it was nevertheless deciding to modify its rules to broadcast announcements about the winners of competitions “having considered the fact that a misunderstanding [appeared] to have taken place … on this occasion”.

Ofcom declared that it believed Bauer might have lost faith in the ears of those who saw the winner’s announcement but not all the other contestants and later discovered that it was a networked announcement.

However, the regulator was happy with the swift decision initiated by Bauer to ensure that the listeners will be informed of the potential size of any future competition’s entry pools at every stage of the contest including the announcement of the winner, and accordingly decided to have the issue resolved.

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