The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has unveiled data that shows a marked decline in children seeing gambling advertisements on television in recent years, Yogonet reported May 31.
The ASA report, which surveyed viewers under 16 years old, showed a 40 percent drop in the number of ads viewed by this group since 2010.
The average number of gambling ads per week seen by children dropped from three in 2010 to 1.8 in 2023. The study also highlighted differences in regions. Last year, children in England saw 1.7 ads per week, while those in Scotland saw 2.3 ads per week.
It wasn’t just gambling ads that children saw fewer of. Overall, due to changing viewing habits, they saw a 75 percent decline in exposure to all TV ads in the period from 2010-2023.
The Authority wrote: “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.”
It continued, “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.”
