The ASA conducts regular monitoring of ads, in particular those for age-restricted products, as part of our commitment to protecting vulnerable audiences from potential harms. This helps to identify trends and ensure our tough scheduling restrictions are working to limit appropriately, in this case children’s, exposure to them. We have now moved to a frequency of reporting children’s TV ad exposure data once every two years, with the last report published in 2022.
The latest report indicates that children’s exposure to gambling and alcohol ads on TV continues to decrease, and provides figures for children’s exposure to HFSS products for the first time since 2019*.
Key findings include:
· Between 2010 and 2023, children’s exposure to alcohol advertising on TV decreased by four fifths
· Under-16s exposure to gambling ads on TV decreased by two fifths since 2010
· Exposure to HFSS product ads on TV decreased by two thirds since 2016
The findings of this report show that children are seeing fewer ads for gambling, alcohol, and HFSS products on TV, in a continuing downward trend, but it also highlights that children’s exposure to all TV ads is also decreasing; between 2010 and 2023, children’s exposure to all TV ads fell by three quarters.
Overall, between 2010 and 2023:
· Children’s exposure to all TV ads decreased from an average of 226.7 ads per week in 2010 to 58.2 ads per week in 2023, and children saw on average around two TV ads for every nine seen by adults in 2023. England had the lowest exposure levels across the four nations in 2023 at 56.6 ads per week.
· Children’s exposure to alcohol advertising on TV reduced from an average of 3.2 ads per week in 2010 to 0.7 ads per week in 2023, and children saw on average around one alcohol ad on TV for every six seen by adults in 2023. Exposure to alcohol TV ads was broadly consistent across the nations, ranging from 1.2 ads per week in Northern Ireland to 0.7 ads per week in England, Scotland, and Wales.
· Children’s exposure to gambling advertising on TV reduced from an average of 3.0 ads per week in 2010 to 1.8 ads per week in 2023, and children saw on average just under one TV ad for gambling for every six seen by adults in 2023. Across the nations in 2023, children’s exposure to gambling TV ads ranged from 1.7 ads per week in Northern Ireland to 2.3 ads per week in Scotland.
For HFSS, between 2016 and 2023:
· Children’s exposure to HFSS product advertising on TV reduced from an average of 12.4 ads per week in 2016 to 4.4 ads per week in 2023, and children saw on average around one TV ad for HFSS products for every five seen by adults in 2023. Across the nations in 2023, children’s exposure to HFSS TV ads ranged from 3.8 ads per week in Northern Ireland to 5.3 ads per week in Scotland.
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 proactive project work looking at what ads they are seeing online. 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.
*Our analysis of exposure to ads on TV is based on the industry standard data reported by BARB Audiences Ltd. However, it is worth noting that this data does not differentiate HFSS products from non-HFSS food and drinks. Due to the inherent time and cost constraints associated with gathering such data, previous HFSS exposure data from 2016 to 2018 has been included along with an update for 2023 only.
