Media giant wants compo if gambling ads are punted
Australian taxpayers should recoup the cost of the gambling advertising ban to media companies’ bottom lines, Nine’s chief executive has said.
Catherine West told shareholders at the group’s annual meeting that Nine Entertainment was running gambling adverts in a highly regulated environment and was in talks with the government about the issue.
“There are two things we would want if we were banned from advertising gambling,” he said.
“Yes, some form of compensation, some form of further reduction elsewhere, but the most important thing is that the gambling ban is fair across all sectors.”
He said a ban that excluded tech companies would only divert advertising revenue overseas.
“Our biggest demand is to make this fair across the board, not to disadvantage responsible Australian media companies, and to allow for a free-for-all in terms of ad tech platforms,” Ms West said.
The chairman said revenue from gambling advertising was in the low single digits as a percentage of group revenues and had been declining for the past three years.
Polls show nearly three in four Australians support a complete ban on gambling advertising, but more than two years after the landmark inquiry into the harm of gambling, the Albanian government is still considering its response to 31 recommendations.
Labour’s shelved proposal included a ban on gambling advertising during live sports broadcasts and a limit of one hour per side and two per hour otherwise.
Frustrated by the ongoing uncertainty, the gambling lobby is reportedly pushing for age-based restrictions and reduced downtime for gambling ads on social media accounts in a bid to avoid a blanket ban.
Ms West said the nine would comply with distributed advertising rules.
“We believe that gambling across society is a collective responsibility for all stakeholders,” he said.
“This is the government, the betting inspector, the sports organisations, the media and the wider society.”
SBS is taking matters into its own hands, offering streaming service viewers the ability to opt out of certain advertising categories, including gambling.
Nine had not considered pursuing the case.
“This won’t work for our main streaming service, but we will continue to work with the government and work towards enforcement wherever gambling regulations come in,” Ms West said.
Nine companies avoided a second shareholder strike over the pay report on Friday after owners sent a message about allegations of bullying and harassment in 2024.
The executive pay plan received approval from more than four in five shareholders, who voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Peter Tonagh as director.
Mr Tonagh was appointed chairman to replace Ms West, who will step down after 18 months.
Many shareholders praised Nine’s financial performance relative to traditional media peers; This was supported by growth in streaming platform Stan and the $3 billion sale of real estate platform Domain to US company CoStar Group.
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