Free TV competition entries

pineapple

You used to be able to enter most TV competitions free online but now you have to pay - except, it seems - entries sent via post.
Is there a catch and do you think the free entries have an equal chance with the paid ones?

poro

I guess the catch would be you still pay postage? And stamps are 70p or whatever.
No idea about the chances! I've never won!

janey_johnson

I have recently had notification from itv that postal entries have an equal chance which
I find surprising....

tubbyj

patricia_whittick wrote: »

I have recently had notification from itv that postal entries have an equal chance which
I find surprising....

As they run their comps for no charitable donation they have to either have a skill test or run it as a free entry, to avoid being classified as an illegal lottery.

Their questions if asked are for 'fun' and would not pass the test as a skill test.

Thus they run them as a free entry with paid entry route competition. As per the guidance from the gambling commission below they must give equal chance to postal entries.

If you choose to run a free draw with a paid entry route, you
must ensure that:
■ people can genuinely choose to take part without paying
■ the free entry route is no more expensive or no less
convenient than the paid route and charged at its normal
rate
■ the choice is publicised so that it is likely to come to the
attention of anyone intending to participate
■ the system for allocating prizes does not distinguish
between either route.

thingamaBob

This Board is for competitions not chatting.
The place to chat and ask questions is the Compers Chat Corner.
PM sent to Misslayed to move to CCC.

pineapple

thingamaBob wrote: »

This Board is for competitions not chatting.
The place to chat and ask questions is the Compers Chat Corner.
PM sent to Misslayed to move to CCC.

I guess that's me told then. I'm new to competitions and even the word 'compers' (OK I've led a sheltered life ). So incredible as it may seem, I had no idea there was such a thing as a 'Compers Chat Corner' - which is why I naively thought the Competitions Board was the place to ask a question about competitions. Silly me

andrew71

I enter the ITV competitions via post. I buy a book (12) of 2nd class stamps every three weeks. Then use them over those three weeks. Because most of the same ITV competitions run for from two to four weeks I usually enter the same ones about two or three times. Working out that I can get about three entries for the price of one phone call or text message.

mjm3346

From another thread to give some idea of the odds


ITV accounts from year ended 2015 said

Our digital engagement has grown significantly in the year, delivering 100 million votes across our big entertainment shows and 40 million paid competition entries

Given that most of their competitions offer 3 for the price 2 then BOGOF they could easily have 1,300,000 entries a week without including any from the postal route.


The 2016 accounts don't list competitions entries but say

Online, Pay & Interactive revenue continued to show strong growth, up 23% to £231 million (2015: £188 million) reflecting further growth in both our online advertising and pay businesses. Audience demand for VOD remains strong as does the demand for online advertising, which supported by our strong on-screen proposition, helped drive a 24% increase in long-form video requests and a 42% increase in consumption on our OTT service the ITV Hub. Interactive revenue was broadly flat, with daytime competitions and entertainment programmes performing well.

Postal entries correctly completed and received in time have as much chance as paid for ones but the chance is pretty close to zero. (There were many winners from free web entry when that existed)


Most of the competitions start with 3 entries for the price of 2 followed by buy 1 get 1 free up to the competition limit which narrows the cost gap a bit compared to postage and the entry is almost guaranteed.