BBC outrage as ITV 'fixes' National TV Awards to help Coronation Street win

Triumphant: The cast of Coronation Street celebrate winning the Serial Drama award during the National Television Awards

Furious BBC insiders have accused ITV of 'fixing' the National television Awards to help Coronation Street win the viewer-voted serial drama award.

The televised show featured a three-minute showreel celebrating the 50th year of the soap, but no corresponding celebration of EastEnders 25th milestone.

The tribute was screened as the 8.2million viewers were encouraged to vote for their favourite soap - causing BBC insiders to question whether they were unduly influenced.


Winner: EastEnders star Lacey Turner won the award for Serial Drama Performance, but her show missed out

Viewers could vote for the highly regarded award, scooped by EastEnders for the last five years, for two weeks, but it is thought most would have cast their votes during the show.

Now bosses at the BBC are considering asking Ofcom to release the voting patterns and figures so they can determine if the vote was influenced

A BBC insider told the Mirror: 'It's showreel was a pretty blatant advert right in the middle of voting.

'What would have happened if this was EastEnders and a plug like that was in a BBC awards show?

'It's as though they fixed it for Corrie.'

An insider at EastEnders told MailOnline they were 'disappointed' by the actions of ITV, but wouldn't pursue it further.

But fans have already contacted regulator Ofcom, flooding internet message boards with complaints about the show.

The awards ceremony was heavily geared towards promoting ITV, with two of the three live performances by X Factor alumni.

And compared to Jedward and Joe McElderry's 7mins 2secs onstage, a performance by the BBCs Arlene Phillips and So You Think You Can Dance stars lasted 89 seconds.

But an ITV spokesman said: 'Fans of all nominated soaps were given ample opportunity to vote in the two-week voting window and during the programme.'


The tribute celebrating the show's 50th years was screened at the same time the awards 8.2million viewers were encouraged to vote for their favourite soap

The independent adjudicator of the National Television Awards, PromoVeritas, said in a statement today: 'We were happy on the night, and having reviewed the data again, we remain happy, with the fact that based on the combined number of votes, from all the sources and of all the stages, Coronation Street is a valid winner.

'With regards to the specifics of the live phone vote, Coronation Street had a significant gain over the other contenders from the start of the voting period until the end and for every monitored period within.

'We do not believe that any editorial content would have had a material impact on the live phone voting or on the final result.'


source: dailymail