The latest report from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has revealed the rate of gambling TV ads that reach children significantly decreased in the past two years.
A key finding from the report was that under-16s exposure to gambling ads on TV has decreased by two-fifths since 2010 – which was the initial year that advertising was monitored.
In numbers, this means that children’s exposure to TV gambling ads was reduced from an average of 3.0 ads per week in 2010 to 1.8 ads per week in 2023. Children also saw just under one TV ad for gambling on average for every six seen by adults in 2023.
According to the ASA, England had the lowest exposure levels across the four nations in 2023. The exposure ranged from 1.7 ads per week in Northern Ireland to 2.3 ads per week in Scotland.
“While the continued decline in children’s exposure to age-restricted TV ads is encouraging, we know that a lot of that is down to changing media habits, which is why we are also continuing to conduct specific project work looking at what ads they are seeing online,” the watchdog added.
“Projects like Exposure Reports, our proactive monitoring sweeps using world-leading Avatar technology, and the cutting-edge 100 Children Report, help us ensure that our regulation is thorough and effective in providing appropriate protections for children.”
