Legislation
Germany – Green light for online casino providers to advertise on TV in Schleswig-Holstein
By Phil - 9 July 2020
The Ministry of the Interior, Rural Areas, Integration and Equal Opportunities of the State of Schleswig-Holstein has agreed with the German Association for Telecommunications and Media (DVTM) and the Central Association of the German Advertising Industry (ZAW) on a self-regulatory model to ensure a proportionate nationwide TV -Advertising of online casino providers licensed in Schleswig-Holstein.
Eight out of a total of 11 online casinos licensed in Schleswig-Holstein and the Ministry for the Interior, Rural Areas, Integration and Equality of the State of Schleswig-Holstein have developed a model for self-regulation of the nationwide TV advertising of online casinos, which limits the TV available in Germany – Advertising minutes to a maximum of 17,000 minutes per month for license holders. This means that the total number of TV advertising minutes is not only related to a single industry, but also – according to the Königstein key – reduced to the state share of Schleswig-Holstein.
The monthly share of 17,000 minutes represents the absolute maximum that all providers licensed in Schleswig-Holstein can put together with their advertising on nationwide free-to-air TV. At the same time, the model ensures that the volume of nationwide advertising in Schleswig-Holstein at least corresponds to or exceeds that of nationwide TV advertising. Of theDVTM monitors the advertising activities of its member companies by using neutral media monitoring data and reports regularly to the gaming supervisory authority of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The agency is reviewing these reports and will take sanctions if licensees violate them. Critics who – contrary to the facts and figures – have allegedly claimed a “massive increase in gambling advertising” in the past few weeks are invited to check this neutral data at any time.
Dr. Andreas Blaue, who, together with Dr. Wulf Hambach and CEO Renatus Zilles, negotiated this model, said: “The present model of self-regulation for nationwide TV advertising in online casinos is strictly logical and can be easily checked by Nielsen Media Research on the basis of neutral media data. Absolute transparency and fairness are thus guaranteed for all sides. It has already led to the fact that the advertising time for licensed online casinos from Schleswig-Holstein on national television has been significantly reduced since 2019 and, moreover, has not increased during the Corona period.”
“Unfortunately, “fake news” about the alleged increase in gambling advertising is regularly circulated by interest groups such as the vending machine industry, but also on the political side, and has unfortunately caught on in some minds, particularly those of politicians. Such manipulative slogans are used to make politics – to the detriment of an industry, but also to the detriment of citizens,” said Renatus Zilles, CEO of the DVTM. “Finding pragmatic, responsible solutions together instead of fighting against each other is the guiding principle of our association. The present one could serve as a model for regulating advertising under the future State Treaty on Gambling ”.
The German Association for Telecommunications and Media eV (DVTM) is the central interface of the companies involved in the value chain telecommunications, media, energy and “Bettertainment”.
Caption: Dr. Andreas Blaue
