Media Giant Wants Compo If Gambling Ads Are Punted

Australian taxpayers need to compensate the costs of a betting advertising ban to media companies' bottom lines, 9's chair states.


Nine Entertainment ran gambling ads in a greatly regulated environment and had actually been in talks with federal government over the problem, Catherine West told shareholders at the group's yearly meeting.


"If we are prohibited from having gambling advertising, there's 2 things we would ask for," she said.


"Yes, some kind of compensation, some kind of some other reduction somewhere else, however most importantly, that the gambling ban is reasonable across all sectors."


A ban that excluded tech business would just divert marketing earnings offshore, she said.


"Our greatest plea is is make it reasonable throughout the board, and don't downside accountable Australian media business and enable a gambling free-for-all in terms of the ad tech platforms," Ms West said.


Gambling advertising income was in the low single digits as a percentage of the group's earnings and had actually been slipping for the past three years, the chair stated.


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


A shelved proposition from Labor included a restriction on betting ads throughout live sports broadcasts and an hour on either side, and a limit of two an hour beyond this.


Frustrated with ongoing uncertainty, the gaming lobby is reportedly promoting age-based constraints for betting ads on social media accounts and minimized blackout periods in an effort to avoid a blanket restriction.


Nine would abide by whatever marketing rules were bied far, Ms West stated.


"We believe that gambling across the society is a collective duty for all stakeholders," she said.


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


SBS has has taken matters into its own hands, offering streaming service viewers the capability to opt-out of specific marketing categories, consisting of betting.


Nine had not thought about doing the same.


"That would not work for our main broadcast service, however we will continue to work with the government and work towards executing wherever they concern a landing on the betting guidelines," Ms West said.


Nine avoided a second investor strike against its compensation report on Friday, after its owners sent out a message in 2024 over bullying and harassment allegations.


Its executive pay strategy won the true blessing of more than four in 5 shareholders, who also voted extremely to re-elect Peter Tonagh as a .


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


Multiple investors admired 9's financial performance relative to its standard media peers, reinforced by development in its streaming platform Stan and the $3 billion sale of realty platform Domain to US company CoStar Group.