Mitchell Fifield, the Australian Communications Minister has been at gunpoint, after being pressed to stop the local pay television company Foxtel from avoiding a ban placed on gambling advertising during live sports emissions.
Both the Australian Greens and the team of Nick Xenophon have urged Minister Fifield for the less-watched sports channels to be freed from the ban. The local Labor party also shared its concerns with the fact that online boookmakers and competitive TV broadcasters blamed Foxtel for bypassing the restrictions.
For some time now, the Australian Government was focused on making certain media reforms in order to reduce the number of gambling adverts aired on TV amid recent concerns that gambling commercials have grown to an extent that could harm children and more vulnerable people by making gambling look like a normal everyday activity. Recently, the Government implemented new rules regarding gambling adverts, with such commercials prohibited to be aired in the gap from five minutes before the beginning of a live sports event to five minutes after the event’s conclusion for live sporting events aired before 8:30 PM.
The Communication Minister did not commented on the fate of the restrictions. A spokeswoman explained that there are major differences between operators that offer subscription broadcasting services and free-to-air broadcasting groups that need to be taken into account when it comes to implementation of new restrictions across the country. The minister’s spokeswoman further revealed that some issues related to the ban were being considered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Local Politicians Back the Restrictions
A proposal has been made by the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) for low-rating sport channels which mostly broadcast overseas sporting events to be excluded from the ban. However, the so-called free-to-air broadcasting groups have protested that the rules should apply to everyone regardless of the companies’ ratings or means of broadcast delivery.
For the time being, possible exemption has turned in one of the hottest issues as far as gambling advertising during live sports events is concerned. In addition, the pay television giant Foxtel has recently been given an extra AU$30 million to air sports that are not usually broadcast in the country.
Sarah Hanson-Young, a Senator from the Australian Greens, reiterated the party’s intentions to insist on the loophole closure any time soon. She raised a red flag, saying that Foxtel had found a way to bypass the imposed restrictions, which on the other hand affected the children protection. As mentioned above, Nick Xenophon team also asked for a more relaxed regime for smaller operators, with Senator Stirling Griffin saying that all companies should make sure they follow the code’s rules for gambling advertising during live sports events aired on TV.
On the other hand, the exemption implementation was supported by ASTRA, with the Association claiming that a more relaxed regime for smaller broadcasting groups would not hurt responsible gambling measures in any way.
- Author
Daniel Williams
