ACMA sanctions two major TV networks over gambling ad breaches

Seven Network is one of two major Australian broadcasters found to have breached the ACMA’s guidelines for gambling adverts in 2021.[/caption]

An investigation conducted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has unveiled that Seven Network and Nine Network violated federal regulations regarding gambling advertisements on multiple occasions last year.

Due to this, the ACMA ordered the two commercial networks to implement new systems. Seven Network is the highest-rated commercial free-to-air TV network in Australia, with Nine Network trailing closely behind.

The duo was accused of showing gambling promotional advertisements to local customers while airing sporting events throughout July and August last year. The investigation revealed that Seven showed 49 betting promotions while covering the Olympics Games.

Seven made use of its broadcasts in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide to air the ads. The network reportedly targeted Australian viewers with the ads during their Olympics live stream.

Nine was discovered to have broadcast an ad during the halftime break of the National Rugby League grand final at 8:21pm on October 3, 2021.

The hour the networks made the broadcast is of utmost importance because the ACMA gambling regulations forbids such ads to air within a particular period. The rules were instituted in the spring of 2018.

Australian networks were prohibited from airing promotional ads for gambling services or products between 5am to 8:30pm while giving live coverage of sporting events. At the end of the 8:30pm watershed, the broadcasters could air the advertisements; however, they had to observe additional mandatory breaks.

READ: NSW gambling regulator warns higher fines on the cards for illegal gambling ads

In cases that involved events with a longer format, such as the Olympics, the broadcasters were not allowed to air a gambling ad five minutes before the first event of the day till 8:30pm. After this period, they could only broadcast them once every two hours.

Judging from the regulations, Nine Network was a few minutes off and, as a result, attracted the sanctions of the regulator. The broadcasting ban was extended to online streaming devices this September.

The ACMA Chair, Nerida O’Loughlin, explained that viewers were becoming significantly more concerned due to the possibly damaging nature of gambling ads. She further revealed that the purpose of the rules was to address the concerns regarding the betting promotions and their excessive exposure to viewers.

“These rules exist to address community concerns about excessive exposure to betting promotions. Both Seven and Nine are well aware that they have to keep these ads to certain times,” O’Loughlin said.

“Many families enjoy watching sport as a shared activity, and parents worry that children exposed to these ads may normalize betting as a part of sport.”

As a result of their actions, the two networks have undergone court-enforceable undertakings with the regulator. Under this, Seven and Nine will have to take note of every complaint and response concerning their gambling adverts.

The networks were also mandated to implement prevention systems and retrain their employees on “the scheduling and broadcast of gambling advertisements during sports programming” to prevent future similar incidents.

Seven and Nine are required to report to the ACMA periodically regarding the growth and effectiveness of their newly implemented practices and systems. This includes details on how any issues that arose during that period were resolved.

The regulator also gave Seven Network a formal warning for violating the gambling ad regulations for live streaming.

“It is disappointing that both networks have failed to meet their responsibilities on such high-profile sporting events,” O’Loughlin added.

The ACMA previously blocked two illegal offshore gambling sites that sprung up recently. The Australian regulator also revealed that it would take social casinos and their offerings into account to find out if future regulatory alterations were needed.

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