BIG BROTHER - U.K. ADVERTISER PULLS $6 MILLION IN ADS FROM BIG BROTHER

A British advertiser that spent $6 million per season on sponsorship of the U.K. version of Big Brother said Wednesday that it will not advertise on the show next season. Carphone Warehouse cited the incident in which Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was subjected to bullying and racist slurs by other contestants during episodes that aired on Britain's Channel Five. The cellphone company had been a primary advertiser on the show since 2003. Meanwhile, Channel Five announced today (Thursday) that it will suspend all programs involving pay telephone services after it was revealed that the names of some winners who had supposedly called in were actually fictional, and that in one instance a member of a show's production team was introduced on the air as a winning contestant.

08/03/2007