Don’t bet on television gambling advertisements

GAMBLING giants appear willing to accept a reduction in TV betting advertisements during live sport broadcasts should they be enforced by the federal government.

Anti-gambling campaigner Senator Nick Xenophon. Picture: AAP

GAMBLING giants appear willing to accept a reduction in television betting advertisements during live sport broadcasts should they be enforced by the federal government.

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But speculation that the Turnbull Government is using a ban or reduction on betting ads as a trade-off for crossbench support of its media reforms has been met with anger from TV networks.

New laws that would abolish the “two-out-of-three rule”, which bans media owners from controlling a TV network, radio station and newspaper in the same market, and the “reach rule”, preventing TV networks from broadcasting nationally, are currently stalled in the Senate.

Anti-gambling campaigner Nick Xenophon said on Thursday while he had not “specifically” spoken of any proposed gambling ad ban with the government, he would support such a move.

“There is a loophole in current broadcasting legislation which basically says you can’t show gambling ads during G rated shows unless it’s a sports broadcast,” Senator Xenophon said.

“When parents stop me in the streets and tell me their 8-12-year-olds can tell them about odds for a game, I think we have a problem.”

Seven West Media chief Tim Worner. Picture: David Geraghty

Responsible Wagering Australia — a new industry body backed by bookmakers CrownBet, Sportsbet, Betfair, Unibet and Bet365 — on Thursday said it was willing to negotiate over reductions in advertising.

Former senator Stephen Conroy, head of the new gambling industry lobby group, said it supported government action to reduce the volume of wagering advertising, including during live sports telecasts.

But TV chiefs — who stand to lose $120 million from gambling advertising — have hit out at any change.

Seven West Media chief Tim Worner said commercial free-to-air television was “by far” the safest platform for children to watch sport.

Network Ten chief executive Paul Anderson said any government crackdown on gambling ads would only hand the dwindling advertising revenue to the online media, such as Google and Facebook.

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