Strictly BBC

We are told repeatedly in Strictly Come Dancing that the public vote counts but we never get to hear a single word of how many votes are cast or for whom. Is it by just one vote or ten thousand? We are never told.
It is clear that telephone polls are very big revenue earners and make significant contributions to production costs. This year having reduced the telephone poll period from 24 hours to just some 20 minutes, what difference has this made in the number of telephone votes logged? We don't know. We don't know whether just a small handful of voters decide the outcome or whether the whole nation is hooked and votes or just hangs there unable to get through in the small window of time. We don't know whether just a few celebrities get all the votes or whether the votes are well spread, whether a celebrities popularity changes over the weeks or there is a hardcore of supporters. We are told nothing, not the the total of valid votes, not the percentage spread, nothing, except keep making your calls cause they really are important!
Now of course it would be hideously embarrassing to be the only celebrity that never got a single vote, but they have agreed to enter a 'competition' and that's what happens in competitions, one comes first and one ends up last.
This is the crux of it, it presented as a competition, it is repeatedly presented as a competition where the viewers telephone votes count and makes a difference. It breaks viewers trust not to offer any feedback at any level and to not give credence to the message that your vote really makes a difference.
In the feedback vacuum, cynicism will flourish that it is only about revenue generation, that it is all pre-orchestrated by the production team and that the judges work to pre-planned scripts will fester and grow.
BBC, be worthy of your viewers trust.