[JAS84]

If people are working full time, they won't be seeing the daytime gameshows such as Pointless and The Chase on first run. They'd be new to those viewers.

[TVFan]

On Millionaire last night, I was surprised to see that a segment with Tarrant asking viewers to phone in and apply was kept in, including an on-screen phone number. Usually these parts are always removed (though I think there’s also an episode of Catchphrase that has a similar part retained).

[Happy2001]

On Millionaire last night, I was surprised to see that a segment with Tarrant asking viewers to phone in and apply was kept in, including an on-screen phone number. Usually these parts are always removed (though I think there’s also an episode of Catchphrase that has a similar part retained).

Made more confusing by the fact that all the other phone in references were edited out of that episode.

[Gary Baldy]

Challenge is now back on 145 on the Sky EPG, only several weeks after moving to 152.

I remember Challenge being at 125 for years up until around 2012-13.

For the next few years, it remained at 145, before moving to 151 in 2019.

Then it lasted a little over a year there, changed to 160 around late 2020.

Then it moved to 152 a few weeks back.

And now it’s back to 145. 145 is always the number I think of when I think of Challenge anyway though- I always accidentally press 145- but surely moving it around the EPG is only going to hinder it in the long run?

[Neil Jones]

Yeah the previous reshuffle happened because 4HD became regionalised on Sky which freed up another number further down and kick-started a few other shuffles:
rxtvinfo.com 

Sky channel reshuffle: Sky Sci-Fi is promoted > RXTV info
Sky Sci-Fi, E4 Extra, Pick, Challenge and E! are moving to new channel numbers o…
  Source: rxtvinfo.com

But there was a time when Challenge used to be on Channel 121 on Sky, back in the day when all the channels were lumped together, so the timeshift was next to the main channel. But that was back in 2006

[Neil Jones]

Made more confusing by the fact that all the other phone in references were edited out of that episode.

I suppose it's no worse than those old episodes of Police Interceptors where they censor out the people's identities but then leave one or two references in, and then show the programme on rotation for years. One particular favourite of mine had a drug dealer's forename bleeped but not the surname, then 30 seconds later the surname but not the forename.....

Reminds me of a story I heard about GSN's early years in the States... They repeatedly played out the "if you would like to apply" segments with address and phone number for a 20+ year old show by a long-defunct producer in LA, and the business who had taken over the premises (and phone number it seemed) reported receiving literally hundreds of calls and letters expressing interest! There must be something in the water over there...

Being caught doing something stupid on a police dashcam is one thing, but being pulled over by somebody from Police Interceptors/Road Wars/similar is probably one of the better public education tools available - "if you do something stupid and some bloke with a TV camera comes out, of the cop car, you won't be allowed to forget your moment of madness for the next 20 years. So don't do it."

Re: phone numbers, people are stupid. Simple as. Give them a phone number in any medium and they will ring it. Even the best known examples of 555 numbers (as you see in fiction) are often real (as the fictional range was 555-0100, and then somebody decided we're not having that, let's say Ghostbusters is on 555-2368). And then you have the likes of 867-5309 (a song) which somebody documented in every area code in the States whether it worked or not.

So to be honest, people phoning to enter a 20 year old show (or a competition it ran once) that's no longer in production doesn't surprise me. The only saving grace over here I suppose is that at the time those would have most likely used 0891 numbers to enter. Those haven't worked since PhONEday in 1995 and I don't think they go anywhere now.

[JAS84]

1995 is 27 years ago, so a 20 year old show like Millionaire would NOT have used 0891.

[Neil Jones]

1995 is 27 years ago, so a 20 year old show like Millionaire would NOT have used 0891.

I beg to differ:
www.youtube.com 

However I was wrong because Millionaire started in 1998, so clearly 0891 didn't vanish in 1995.

[bilky asko]

Indeed, those changes happened with the later "Big Number Change" rather than "PhONEday".

[Happy2001]

The second series of Cash Trapped starts on the 28th November.