Seven rejects call to ban gambling ads during Sport
“We feel like we are in Groundhog Day," says Seven boss, as politicians declare self-regulation has failed.
- Published by David Knox
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Seven has reacted quickly to suggestions by Independent senators to ban gambling ads during Sport.
Independents Nick Xenophon and Andrew Wilkie have joined with social justice campaigner Tim Costello to pressure Labor and the coalition to act on problem gambling.
Andrew Wilkie said self-regulation had failed networks needed to be told to ditch gambling advertising during sports broadcasts and children’s viewing timeslots.
“I talk as the father of a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old … I don’t want them to watch the footy on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon because they will be bombarded with advertising,” he said.
Tim Costello, whose brother Peter Costello is Chairman of Nine Entertainment Co., said self-regulation was nonsensical.
“It’s as nonsensical as saying seat belts should be voluntary, brakes in cars should be voluntary.”
But Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner rejected moves to place further restrictions on sports betting advertising on television.
“We feel like we are in Groundhog Day. Seven and the other networks are already heavily regulated and we are very serious about our compliance. In fact, we undertake self-regulation beyond the provisions under the Code,” he said.
“We already have extensive restrictions in place to ensure community standards are met. I have children myself and I am not blind to the concerns. This is borne out by the fact that the incidence of complaints from our viewers on sports betting ads is actually low.
“We have already banned the placement of betting and gambling ads during any programs classified G and the new Code prohibits advertisements relating to betting and gambling during any program that is broadcast between 5.00am and 8.30pm and principally directed to children. We feel this targeted approach will deliver a better outcome for all.”
Nick Xenophon says Australia is #1 in the world per capita for gambling losses and problem gambling.
“The last thing I want to see is young kids at a football match quoting odds, not player statistics. Gambling shouldn’t be normalised in the minds of children through the advertising of sports betting.”
Additional source: AAP
12 Responses
TV executives need to realise that kid friendly programming require kid friendly adds .we stopped watching all sport that did not have kid friendly adds . That includes rugby league with all th gambling and alcohol adds I rememeber when all the Tom Waterhouse adds were appearing we stopped watching the footy show because of it and haven’t gone back ,the idea of these adds is to to brainwash our children into thinking that gambling is a normal part of life .its not . show the adds seven at your own peril.we won’t be watching .all parents should take the same stance do not expose your kids to this brainwashing ,they your kids will suffer later on in life
I think we need clearer boundaries, rather than more ad bans / limits. For example, the line between a gambling ad in a defined ad break vs. someone in a studio giving odds as part of the live broadcast (“and now for the latest from Sportsbet, here is x…”, or, alternatively, get all ads to more explicitly state the gambling helpline at the end (like they currently do with lifeline at the end of news stories).
I agree – except that as it stands now the line is drawn by TV networks themselves, it’s not straight & wanders all over the place (making huge loops to accomodate the “and now for the latest from Sportsbet, here is x…” you mention), is written in pencil so it can be rubbed out and re-drawn every couple of years after some token ‘community consultation’ prompted by late-night ads, and the ‘penalty’ for stepping over the line is a slap on the wrist and Dad telling you “don’t do it again”…
All attempts by someone else to draw the line straight, in pen, and with actual consequences for stepping over it are dismissed with statements saying how good the existing pencil-line is for everybody concerned, how it’s already heavily policed, how it wouldn’t be fair to force them to follow someone else’s line, and how well the existing line works for all concerned and doesn’t need…
Problem is that live sport is on prime time during the afternoon when kids can watch . It’s a shame really because it’s just greed on the part of the broadcaster ,if it wasn’t for govt legislation we would still be subjected to smoking adds on TV ,the same govt legislation needs to be applied to stop gambling live betting on sport and beer adds .
* Advertisements relating to betting and gambling are not permitted to be shown during any programs classified G between 6am and 8.30am, and 4pm and 7pm.
* Ads are banned relating to betting and gambling during any program that is broadcast between 5.00am and 8.30pm and principally directed to children.
Just to note: those restrictions are part of FreeTV AU’s Code of Practice, not government legislation. They’re also the general restrictions (Section 6.5), not the “during sport” that Wilkie, Xenophon, Tim Costello & co are talking about.
The relevant bits for live sport broadcasts are in Appendix 3 of the “Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice (2015)”.
As far as I know there are no similar restrictions in government regulations or law, except maybe a passing nod in the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (which is specifically targetted at interactive – i.e. online – gambling and advertsing). Previous attempts at regulations/laws to similarly restrict TV broadcasts from promoting gambling (e.g. Di Natale’s or Xenophon’s previous bills) have been voted down, tabled & expired, or similarly not passed.
Turkeys not voting for Christmas shock horror.
One thing is certain – when a TV network executive comes out and “rejects” proposals like this or says something negative, then you can be dead certain that’s its a good thing and in the best interests for the public. I am sure these same executives said the same things about smoking advertising too
Yes, they did.
Also dont forget that the heavy regulations he says they suffer under and strictly comply with are mostly written by the advertising and gambling industries, and complaints are directed to the Advertising Standards Board (a non-government industry-run self-regulator). And presumably the “Code” he refers to is the FreeTV AU Code of Practice – again, self-regulation written by the industry itself.
It’s foxes guarding henhouses all the way down – until you get to the underfunded and underpowered government regulator, ACMA.
The constant crosses to betting companies during pre-game and halftime and post match is why I only tune in during actual game time these days.
I’m a teacher and I can tell you that when you hear 10 year olds having conversations about the odds being offered for the first try scorer in rugby league matches, you know you’ve got a problem. The government needs to intervene because clearly the networks are only concerned with the money they’re making from this.
That’s disturbing but I’m sure Tim Worner has our best interests at heart.
The most insidious aspect is the normalisation of gambling. Some live sporting event is about to start and the commentary team cross smoothly to some guy who’s apparently our friend who gives us some general odds and points out a couple of “good bets”.
It could only be worse if he opened with “Hey kids…” and ended with “Gambling is cool” (two thumbs up).