ASA report reveals children's exposure to gambling ads on the decline
Children were exposed to just 1.8 ads per week in 2023, down from a peak of 4.4 in 2014, as lottery and bingo take lion’s share of screentime
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has revealed children’s exposure to gambling commercials on television is continuing to decrease in the UK.
Recently published findings from the watchdog determined that between 2010 and 2023, the exposure of gambling adverts on television to under-16s fell by two fifths.
The rate of exposure for the same age group in 2010 was recorded at three ads per week, with that figure having dropped to 1.8 per week in 2023.
That figure has fluctuated in the past, reaching a peak of 4.4 ads per week in 2014, but has remained fairly stable since 2019.
In 2023, children in Northern Ireland were exposed to 1.7 gambling ads on television every week, while youngsters in Wales saw 1.8 ads and those in Scotland saw 2.3.
Between 2010 and 2017, gambling advertisements made up less than 2% of all television commercials seen by children. However, that figure rose above 2% in 2018 and was most recently recorded at 3.1% in 2023.
The report also found that on average, children saw fewer than one gambling ad on television for every six seen by an adult in 2023.
Children’s exposure to televised gambling advertisements relative to adults has fallen year on year (YoY) from 36% in 2010 to 15.4% in 2023 – the joint-lowest amount in the 13-year period along with 2021.
From 2011 onwards, bingo, lottery and scratchcard adverts were the form of gambling advertisements seen most on television by children.
In 2023, of the average 1.8 ads per week children were exposed to, the vertical accounted for 1.2 of those ads.
Children’s exposure to sports-specific gambling advertisements also peaked in 2011, at one per week, but has remained at a low level since 2019 of roughly 0.3.
The ASA said: “The findings of this report show that children are seeing fewer ads for gambling, alcohol, and HFSS [food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar] products on TV, in a continuing downward trend, but it also highlights that children’s exposure to all TV ads is also decreasing; between 2010 and 2023, children’s exposure to all TV ads fell by three quarters.
“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 proactive project work looking at what ads they are seeing online.”