phone-in farce

While it is still fresh in my mind and still annoying me I will take this opportunity to vent my anger at the farce of T.V. reality program phone-ins. Last night dancing on ice hit our screens again only to prove how ridiculously easy it is to con viewers into thinking their votes count.
A contestant (Todd) who could hardly STAND on the ice let alone skate was put into the next round. His score from the judges was so low that even if all the phone votes were for him he still would not have progressed, but the gullible public still have not learned their lesson from the last farce on strictly come dancing that their votes only serve to fill the coffers of the T.V. stations and have nothing to do with who goes on to the next round. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the programs and admire the efforts and skills SOME of the contestants pick up but I like things to be fair. The programs would still be entertaining without the viewers votes, letting the judges votes decide who goes through. The farcical voting system they have adopted only gives the planners the cop out they need to run the show the way they want and to keep in the contestants they think will attract the most viewers and, of course get the benefit of all the money rolling in from the suckers who think their votes count. It's a pity so many people fall for their tricks, including,the other easy competitions they run with questions everybody knows the answer to also, to fill their coffers. There are winners YES but the questions are made easy to get the maximum amount of phone calls making the prizes the give out a very small percentage of what they rake in. If the phone companys put an end to the way money can be made this way you would soon see the phone-ins stop, but of course it suits the phone companies too as they are also cashing in. As long as there are gullible people out there the T.V.companies are laughing up their sleeves and rubbing their hands together in anticipation of easy money.