Are TV quiz shows just gambling in disguise?

If you are a dab hand in the garden, are you said to have red, blue or green fingers? If you know the answer to this teaser, you might have won a holiday in Florida courtesy of ITV's This Morning programme.

But as ITV launched a new channel devoted to phone-in quizzes yesterday, the Treasury confirmed it is to investigate whether posing simple questions in return for the income from premium-rate phone lines is a form of gambling in disguise. The question is whether any element of skill is involved, or if callers who pay between 60p and £1 to take part in phone-in quizzes in the hope of winning prizes ranging from luxury holidays to cars, are simply playing a game of chance.

The Chancellor wants to tighten the rules governing televised quizzes and is considering whether they should be classed as lotteries, which would require them to donate 20 per cent of their proceeds to charity.

Television companies are increasingly reliant on interactive quizzes to provide an alternative source of income in the face of falling advertising revenues. As well as competitions on programmes such as This Morning and Richard and Judy, there are nearly a dozen cable and satellite channels catering for the growing appetite for television quizzes, attracting up to 20,000 calls a night.

Channel 4 also owns a quiz channel, Quiz Call, through Ostrich Media, a subsidiary of its commercial arm, 4 Ventures.

The latest addition is ITV Play, which aims to make a profit of £20m in its first year, even though it carries no advertising. Quizmania, one of the shows on the new channel, has already been shown on ITV1 at midnight, where it generated more than £1.2m in the first two weeks of transmission.

A Treasury spokesman said: "The Gambling Commission and other groups have raised concerns about whether these types of games should be regulated like other types of gambling, and that is something we are looking into."

A spokeswoman for the Gambling Commission, which is preparing guidance on television quizzes, said: "If a programme doesn't include an element of skill, it is effectively a lottery and it's illegal."

William van Rest, the controller of ITV Play, insisted the channel would operate strictly within the law. "We welcome clear guidelines. ITV has always exceeded best practice in this area."

Dumb questions

This Morning, ITV1

* The main salary earner is said to bring home: a) the beef; b) the tofu; c) the bacon

* What is Gibraltar's most famous landmark? a) pebble; b) stone; c) rock

Richard and Judy, C4

* Where does wool come from? a) sheep; b) goldfish

* What is the name of the famous cycle race in France? a) Tour de Fields; b) Tour de France; c) Tour de Frogs

GMTV, ITV1

* What animal is the Easter bunny? a) snail; b) rabbit; c) hippo

* Which of these is a water sport? a) surfing; b) skating; c) rollerblading

The Paul O'Grady Show, C4

* In which room of the house would you expect to find a wardrobe? a) the bedroom; b) the bathroom; c) the kitchen