This is just one of a lot of cheap-low budget TV programmes that have gone on and on well beyond there shelf-life. Even worse than the programmes themselves is the fact that some of these programmes go on to make huge profits off the back of people phoning in to vote for their favourite whatever on a premium rate phone-line.

You have to admire the TV channels for pulling this master stroke. At the end of the day as much as we all moan and groan about all this —-
nothing will change as long as people keep phoning in on a premium rate phone line.

Answer - Don’t moan about it just stop Phoning !

I was flicking through the channels about 1 am in the morning a couple of days ago when I happened to land on one of these phone in type programmes, on this one you have to find a missing word to win money, so the main word might be for example Coffee, you then have to find one of the other pre-selected words which are covered up on a board to go with Coffee, which for example could be Bean, Coffee Bean comes up on the board and then its congratulations with music and a lot of flashing lights you have won £250, which is marvellous you may say for the price of a 75p phone call.

But there is always a downside to everything when you phone in at a cost to you of seventy-five pence you are put on hold, then and only then if you are lucky enough you may get selected to take part in the programme, Should you not get randomly selected, you phone in again at the cost of 75p and so it goes on and on and on.

Anyway the shocker for me was a little box in the bottom left hand corner of the screen which stated that 1,700 of you were phoning in every fifteen minutes, the programme looked as though it was handing out £250 every half-hour or so. You can clearly see there is only and will only ever be one winner.

Again cheap TV no expensive actors, sets or any other expense for that matter, apart from quite a striking blond I seem to recall .

I would also like to point out that I did not invest in a 75p phone call.