Seven in 10 Brits believe some of the UK’s most loved TV shows are fixed [1], with the nation’s two biggest talent competitions rated as most likely to manipulate the results, according to a new survey.
When asked about popular British TV series including Big Brother, Love Island and Dancing on Ice, just 31% of respondents were confident that all of the quiz shows and reality programmes in question were fair.
The recently commissioned research by PlayOJO, which is challenging the UK online casino market by being fair and transparent, found that the X Factor was rated as most likely to be fixed, with 40% questioning its fairness.
And, in a further lack of faith in the nation’s most popular TV talent shows, Britain’s Got Talent – which is due to return to screens on Saturday 14th April – was thought to be fixed by 37% of buzzed-off Brits.
The wide-ranging research, which investigated perceptions of fairness across a number of aspects of British society, found that Strictly Come Dancing – a major rival to Cowell’s X Factor – is seen in a much better light, with just 20% of respondents thinking BBC bosses ‘swing’ the results.
Despite a recent online storm where some viewers claimed the clock was fixed against the competitors, the legitimacy of The Chase was only doubted by 14% of the British public. Ben Shephard’s Tipping Point was even more trusted, with just 11% of respondents claiming the questions or slot machine are fixed.
Considering public votes, favourable edits, and ‘cherry-picking’ by producers, the 10 most likely TV shows to be rigged, according to Brits are:
Londoners were found to be the most sceptical of British television talent and quiz shows – 78% thought that at least one UK television series was rigged. Viewers in the South West were most trusting, with 37% having faith that none of the shows were fixed in any way.
A spokesman for PlayOJO said: “We are challenging the UK online casino industry by being honest and transparent and we are interested in understanding how fair the UK public thinks other industries and aspects of British society are. While we would never question the legitimacy of any of these programmes, it is interesting to see how many people actually think that some of these shows are unfair in some way.”
References
[1]31% of respondents selected “None of the above” when asked whether they thought any of the TV shows were fixed by producers, for example through fixing votes or deliberately making questions harder.
