Big Brother tops TV complaints list in the UK
Reality show Big Brother was the most complained about TV programme of the year in the UK, new figures show.
The Channel 5 show, which was followed by The X Factor Results and This Morning in the league table, sparked 2,088 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom across the 2012 series.
More than half (1,139) concerned Conor McIntyre’s threatening remarks about fellow housemate Deana Uppal.
At one point he told other contestants he would “punch her in the face, just knock her out” and sexually assault her with a hair brush.
Ofcom ruled that the show, which transferred to Channel 5 after it was dropped by Channel 4 in 2010, breached broadcasting guidelines.
Second came The X Factor Results show, with most complaints surrounding singer Carolynne Poole’s controversial exit after an executive was seen whispering in judge Louis Walsh’s ear.
Viewers accused the ITV1 show’s producers of engineering a fix when the Irish judge initially appeared to save Poole, before backing eccentric singer Rylan Clark, when they were the bottom two in the public vote.
Third was This Morning, with most complaints concerning the stunt which saw presenter Phillip Schofield brandish a list of names of alleged abusers that he had found on the internet which he handed to Prime Minister David Cameron during a live interview.
Former Tory politician Lord McAlpine later reached a £125,000 settlement with ITV and Schofield over the incident.
Fourth is True Stories: Gypsy Blood, a Channel 4 programme which traced the tradition of bare knuckle fighting and featured scenes of dogs attacking deer and cock fighting.
The top 10 was completed by Live: The Silent Ascent, broadcast on the Sikh Channel, Sky News, The X Factor, Channel 4 documentary Islam: the Untold Story, BBC1 sitcom Citizen Khan and Keith Lemon’s LemonAid, in which Lemon offered a puppy as as prize in a competition on the ITV1 show.
Top 10 complained about shows to Ofcom (up to December 12)
1. Big Brother (2,088)
2. The X Factor Results (1,488)
3. This Morning (811)
4. True Stories: Gypsy Blood (509)
5. Live: The Silent Ascent (378)
6. Sky News (364)
7. The X Factor (305)
8. Islam: The Untold Story (293)
9. Citizen Khan (256)
10. Keith Lemon’s LemonAid (246)
Total complaints across the year 16,666
