UK: 4.1% of TV adverts devoted to gambling, 0.2% to sports betting (2012)

A study has revealed that TV commercials dedicated to gambling accounted for 4.1% of total commercials aired on British television in 2012. The study, by Zinc Research & Analytics, conducted for Ofcom, the British independent regulator and competition authority for the communications industries, was published on the 19/11/2013.

1.39 million advertisements for gambling were identified in the UK in 2012, against 152,000 in 2006 (0.7% of total), and 537,000 in 2008 (1.7%), a nine-fold increase in the space of six years. Advertising for gambling on television was liberalised by the British government in 2007.

Bingo adverts accounted for the most, with 38.3% (532,000) dedicated to gambling in 2012, casino games and online poker, 29.6% (411,000), lottery games and scratch cards, 25.6% (355,000), and sports betting with 6.6% (91,000). Advertisements for sports betting represented 0.2% of total ads aired on British television in 2012.

• Adults' exposure to gambling advertising increased between 2006 and 2012, from 8 billion 'impacts' (the number of times an advert was seen by viewers), to…