Channel 5 phone poll provokes calls to police
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Your support makes all the difference.Channel 5 has received complaints about the conduct of telephone interviewers and the questions they asked in the ITV Association's survey - reported in the Independent yesterday - which suggested that Channel 5's plans to retune the nation's videorecorders would fall behind schedule.
Some people also complained to the police, though a spokesman would not confirm whether action would be taken.
Recipients of the calls said that the interviewers did not identify themselves clearly, and that they asked questions such as: "Is there a man in the house?" and "What is your annual income?"
When people dialled 1471 afterwards to find out the number of the caller, they found that the function had been disabled.
Industry guidelines state that canvassers must identify which company they are calling from, and give a return telephone number. However, they allow canvassers to conceal the name of the client company, and to ask detailed and sometimes personal questions.
Kurt Thompson, the Taylor Nelson executive overseeing the ITV survey, confirmed that it had included questions designed to get a balance between men and women and between income groups, but he maintained that his canvassers had conducted the research within the guidelines.
"There was nothing sinister about the questions we asked," he said.
Last night Channel 5 would only say publicly that they remained confident they would be on the air by January. But, privately, executives are understood to be increasingly annoyed at what they see as a concerted campaign to undermine a potential competitor.
Goldman Sachs recently estimated that the ITV companies would lose pounds 30m in advertising revenues in Channel 5's first year on air.
The chairman of the ITVA, Barry Cox, said the survey "was not part of a dirty tricks campaign" against Channel 5. He added: "We have an entirely legitimate commercial interest in finding out how their retuning efforts are going."
Next Monday Channel 5 is due to outline its plans for retuning videorecorders in 10 million homes across the country, starting in September. Before the channel can start broadcasting, it must satisfy the Independent Television Commission that 90 per cent of viewers within its reception area can tune in.
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