Session Title

Session 3-3-B: Special Topics

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

25-5-2023 1:30 PM

End Date

25-5-2023 3:00 PM

Disciplines

Econometrics | Public Policy

Abstract

Abstract

Introduction:

There are currently no legally enforced restrictions on the broadcast time of gambling advertising on UK television. In August 2019, the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) introduced a voluntary policy which limited advertising around live sports, creating a “safe” window of 5 minutes either side of a match, known as the “Whistle-to-Whistle” period. This policy intended to protect young and vulnerable people from the widespread exposure to gambling adverts on television during pre-watershed (9pm) live sports games.

Methods:

This study will employ panel data statistical models to explore the change in pre-watershed gambling advertising around live sports, and other sporting programmes, following the introduction of the “whistle-to-whistle” ban. It will explore spill-overs to post-watershed, and non-sports channels to assess the industry’s response to the policy.

Data:

Data comprises six months of advertising data obtained from Nielsen Media covering 1st September to 1st December 2018, and 2019. Data is compiled using the BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) definition of gambling. Analyses will compare the impact on weekdays and weekends, pre and post-watershed, for different genres of television programme.

Results & Conclusions:

Data analysis commences in November 2022 and is due to be completed in early 2023.

Statement of implications:

If such policies are effective in reducing the number of gambling adverts on television, then they might be implemented legally in the UK broadcasting codes. Identifying spread to other channels, or post-watershed television, will help to understand the potential unintended consequences of the policy.

Keywords

Gambling, Advertising, Policy, Sport, Television

Author Bios

Ellen McGrane is a PhD student on the Wellcome trust programme in Public Health, Economics and Decision Science at the University of Sheffield. She has a background in economics (BA) and health economics (MSc), and a general interest in policy evaluation and behavioural economics. This work makes up part of her PhD thesis exploring the public health impact of gambling advertising around live televised sport.

Elizabeth (Liddy) Goyder is a Professor of Public Health in the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield. She has over twenty years’ experience as a public health researcher, with expertise in health inequalities, knowledge mobilisation and in the evaluation of complex interventions. Recent projects include systematic reviews on a number of gambling related topics: interventions to reduce gambling harm, screening for gambling related harm and impact of gambling advertising.

Dr Rob Pryce is a Research Fellow at the School of Health and Related Research (SCHARR), University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. His background is in Economics and his research interests span alcohol, tobacco, diet, and gambling. He has a particular focus on consumer behaviour, policy evaluation, and cost-effectiveness modelling.

Matt Field is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Sheffield. He conducts research into the psychological mechanisms that underlie alcohol use disorder, gambling disorder and other addictions. He is particularly interested in the roles of decision-making and impulse control in addiction, recovery, and behaviour change more broadly. His work includes laboratory research to investigate determinants of motivated behaviour, and studying the process of recovery.

Funding Sources

This work is funded by Ellen McGrane's Wellcome Trust PhD grant in Public Health, Economics and Decision Science (grant number 224852/Z/21/Z).

Competing Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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May 25th, 1:30 PM May 25th, 3:00 PM

The impact of the "Whistle-to-Whistle" ban on the frequency and placement of gambling advertising on UK television

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Abstract

Introduction:

There are currently no legally enforced restrictions on the broadcast time of gambling advertising on UK television. In August 2019, the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) introduced a voluntary policy which limited advertising around live sports, creating a “safe” window of 5 minutes either side of a match, known as the “Whistle-to-Whistle” period. This policy intended to protect young and vulnerable people from the widespread exposure to gambling adverts on television during pre-watershed (9pm) live sports games.

Methods:

This study will employ panel data statistical models to explore the change in pre-watershed gambling advertising around live sports, and other sporting programmes, following the introduction of the “whistle-to-whistle” ban. It will explore spill-overs to post-watershed, and non-sports channels to assess the industry’s response to the policy.

Data:

Data comprises six months of advertising data obtained from Nielsen Media covering 1st September to 1st December 2018, and 2019. Data is compiled using the BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) definition of gambling. Analyses will compare the impact on weekdays and weekends, pre and post-watershed, for different genres of television programme.

Results & Conclusions:

Data analysis commences in November 2022 and is due to be completed in early 2023.

Statement of implications:

If such policies are effective in reducing the number of gambling adverts on television, then they might be implemented legally in the UK broadcasting codes. Identifying spread to other channels, or post-watershed television, will help to understand the potential unintended consequences of the policy.