Australian broadcaster SBS, which is a hybrid platform that is primarily funded by the government, has announced that viewers of its SBS On Demand streaming service will soon be able to opt out of certain types of advertisements, including those related to gambling, alcohol and fast food.
The new initiative will be rolled out in the first quarter of next year, the company announced October 31 at its Upfront conference in Sydney.
“Audiences have complete control over the content they choose to watch on streaming platforms, and we’d like to give audiences a degree of control over the ads they see as well,” said James Taylor, managing director of SBS, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Taylor asserted that the new features were not directly related to potential legislation regarding gaming ads, but instead illustrated SBS’ commitment to responsible advertising practices overall.
“We are providing audience members the opportunity to tell us that they don’t want to see ads in one of these categories, and I think that’s a really positive demonstration of our commitment to audiences,” he said, according to the Herald.
“We’re not judging the products, as evidenced by the fact that we have launch partners in those categories. What we’re saying is that our commercial clients have an incentive not to advertise to people who have expressed a view about their products.”
Tabcorp, one of the biggest operators in the country, has long supported potential advertising restrictions, and has maintained that consumers are growing increasingly agitated about such high levels of gaming-related advertising.
The company’s General Manager of Marketing and Media Vanessa Sanford told the Herald that the SBS feature “ensures advertising reaches a receptive audience.”
Unlike its counterpart ABC, SBS brings in a high amount of commercial advertising revenue in addition to government funding—according to its annual report for fiscal year 2022-2023, the agency generated AU$173 million from ads and sponsorships, which was a 12.7 percent increase year-over-year.
That said, SBS’ ad load is about five minutes per hour, which is about three times less than commercial broadcasters, per the Herald. When asked, Taylor declined to say how much of the company’s total advertising revenue derives from the three categories mentioned above.
Even though SBS broadcasts far fewer sporting events than commercial networks, it did note in its reports that the coverage of the FIFA Men’s World Cup last winter did help spike revenues.
Taylor did acknowledge that the new system would likely have a financial impact on the company, but maintained that “it’s the right thing to do, and we think that in the long term we’re simply starting a process that will evolve across all platforms,” per the Herald.
Moving forward, SBS On Demand streamers will still see the same volume of ads, but from different industries, if they so choose.
Back in June, a committee led by Labor MP Peta Murphy proposed a three-year plan that would restrict gaming advertising in phases, eventually culminating in an all-out ban. New legislation is expected to be introduced in the coming weeks.
