NACTV bingo back

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NACTV bingo back

Details: Published on Thursday, October 22, 2015

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

Reports of Bigger Bingo’s death have been greatly exaggerated. After a week off the air, NACTV’s Bigger Bingo will be back next week, with some changes.

NACTV board chair Ivan Traill explained that that despite reports to the contrary, the bingo isn’t under investigation by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries.

As of print deadline, the Bigger Bingo website, which is no longer controlled by NACTV, read, “Bigger Bingo has been suspended from airing on CJ Radio due to non-compliance with licensing requirements of the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba.” The website is owned by 83 North Inc., with CJ Radio owner Bill Gade listed as the contact.

A representative from the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba (LGA) confirmed to the Banner that they never suspended the Bigger Bingo license and that there have been no compliance issues.

Traill said that they finally got confirmation from LGA that they could proceed with bingo on Tuesday afternoon, but by then, it was too late to run the bingo that night. Traill explained that with the prize pots sitting at $8,000, they felt it would be unfair to run it after many players had already returned their cards for a refund.

For next week’s bingo, players can use cards from either this week or next. Those who purchased cards for this week’s bingo can also return their cards for a refund if they don’t want to play them next week.

Traill explained that there will be some changes going forward, mostly notably that bingo will no longer be aired on the radio. It will still be broadcast on Bell, MTS and locally on Westman Cable and over the air. There will also be some changes to the ticket distribution area, most notably, cuts to availability in the Interlake.

Overall, the changes will bring Bingo back to what it was originally. “It will be as it was started to be,” said Traill.

Correction on Oct 23, 2015: Corrected the name of the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba.