THE DISCLOSURES about quiz-rigging in the US have naturally prompted
speculation whether anything of the kind has happened here. One such allegation was investigated and, though no positive proof was found that the quiz had been rigged, the report was hardly calculated to inspire confidence in such programmes. The fact is, there is rigging and rigging. It is a little unlikely that any producer here would risk his career by deliberately feeding contestants the exact answers to the questions they are going to be asked. But it has been standard practice in some of these programmes for the producer to tell them the kind of information on which the questions are going to be asked, and to recommend books in which the answers are to be found. A contestant who stays in the game for a while, too, may get accustomed to it in much the same way as cross- word 'regulars' acquire a sense of the setter's cast of mind, which makes it easier for them to solve it. A producer does not, therefore, require to enter into formal negotiations with contestants whom he wishes to succeed; he can help them without their knowing. No safeguards can prevent this : the only solution is to put a low ceiling on the value of the prizes that can be won—which was the intention of the TV Act in the first place— so that it is not worth while.
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