ITV has set up a department to manage premium-rate telephone services in a bid to guarantee its programme are in regulatory compliance and to restore confidence in the sector.

The internal division, called Interactive Telephony (ITL), has been set up in response to last year's voting scandals, which led to the collapse of the interactive TV service market after services were pulled and the broadcasters fined.

ITL has signed a deal with GMTV to manage its interactive services which have been reinstated for the first time since the broadcaster's £250,000 fine by regulator Ofcom.

The GMTV services join around 60 other premium polls, views and competitions that ITV has phased back in across its own productions, including This Morning and regional news programmes.

Ann Cook, partnership director and controller of interactive for ITV, said the division had been launched by the ITV board in line with the recommendation from advisory firm Deloitte to bring premium-rate service provision in-house.

"Ultimately we want to make sure that we meet best practice and are running all our services compliantly and fairly. Things are developing well and millions of consumers are interested," said Cook.

A spokeswoman for GMTV said the services had returned owing to consumer demand. "We've done our research and carried out a thorough overhaul of the way we manage our services," she said. "We wouldn't bring them back unless we were certain they were fair and right."

ITL uses BT Agile Media's platform and mobile agency MIG to handle its mobile interaction.

The move comes as regulator PhonepayPlus has begun approving service providers' bids to run premium-rate services for broadcasters.

Edward Boddington, CEO of interactive service provider Harvest Media, which runs competitions for shows including Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, welcomed the process. "It's another safety check as, with all the issues of last year, something had to be done," he said.

Ofcom has previously stated that all broadcasters using PRS voting and competitions must have third-party verification arrangements in place by the end of June 2008.

ITVs new division follows the proposed closure of rival broadcaster BBCs premium-rate telephony service provider Audiocall on 3 June following a review from PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

News Date: 2008-07-22