Media Giant Wants Compo If Gambling Ads Are Punted

Australian taxpayers should compensate the costs of a gambling advertising ban to media business' bottom lines, 9's chair says.


Nine Entertainment ran betting advertisements in a greatly regulated environment and had been in talks with federal government over the concern, Catherine West informed investors at the group's annual conference.


"If we are banned from having gaming advertising, there's two things we would request," she stated.


"Yes, some type of settlement, some type of some other decrease elsewhere, but most notably, that the gaming ban is fair across all sectors."


A restriction that left out tech companies would just divert marketing income offshore, she said.


"Our most significant plea is is make it reasonable across the board, and do not downside responsible Australian media business and enable a gambling free-for-all in terms of the advertisement tech platforms," Ms West stated.


Gambling marketing earnings remained in the low single digits as a portion of the group's incomes and had actually been slipping for the previous 3 years, the chair stated.


Polling reveals about 3 in four Australians support an overall ban on betting ads, however more two years after a landmark questions into gambling harm, the Albanese government is still mulling its action to its 31 recommendations.


A shelved proposition from Labor consisted of a restriction on gambling ads during broadcasts and an hour on either side, and a limitation of two an hour outside of this.


Frustrated with continuous unpredictability, the gaming lobby is supposedly promoting age-based restrictions for gambling advertisements on social media accounts and minimized blackout periods in an effort to prevent a blanket ban.


Nine would adhere to whatever advertising rules were bied far, Ms West stated.


"Our company believe that gambling across the society is a collective responsibility for all stakeholders," she said.


"It's government, it's the wager inspector, it's sports organisations, media and likewise the wider community."


SBS has actually has actually taken matters into its own hands, offering streaming service viewers the ability to opt-out of certain advertising classifications, including betting.


Nine had not thought about doing the same.


"That wouldn't work for our main broadcast service, but we will continue to work with the government and work towards implementing anywhere they come to a landing on the betting policies," Ms West said.


Nine avoided a second shareholder strike versus its compensation report on Friday, after its owners sent a message in 2024 over bullying and harassment claims.


Its executive pay plan won the blessing of more than 4 in 5 shareholders, who also voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Peter Tonagh as a director.


Mr Tonagh is set change Ms West as chair, who will step down after 18 months in the function.


Multiple investors admired 9's monetary efficiency relative to its conventional media peers, bolstered by growth in its streaming platform Stan and the $3 billion sale of property platform Domain to US company CoStar Group.