TV4 gets caught for advertising

The case in brief

• TV4 is convicted by the Supreme Court for violating the 8th chapter of the Radio and television act.
• Lotto, Keno and Triss will in future be labeled as advertising.
• The case is now in administrative court, which may further mean that TV4 has to pay a fine.

No different from other content

The problem with these programs is that they are no different from the rest of the material on the channel even if it is effective New Zealand games that have accounted for the entire production . In addition to New Zealand Games having paid for the production costs, they have also paid compensation to the TV channel. By law, it should be clearly shown that advertising on television is advertising.

In doing so, they have broken 8 chapters. Section 5 of the radio and television act:

“ Before and after each advertisement in television broadcasts and in order television, there must be a special signature that clearly distinguishes the advertisements from the other content. The signature should consist of both sound and image. In searchable Teletext, sales programs and in split-screen advertising, the signature should always be visible. However, it only needs to be indicated in the picture. ”

TV4 is now being convicted in the Supreme Court and because of this violation, they now have to label the elements with the New Zealand games trademark. In the future, they may also have to pay fines.

TV4 News Morning also in blåsväder

One of the popular segments of Morning News is then a lucky player gets scratch a pulley slot in the game studio . These features are considered to fall under the same category as Lotto and Keno. So far, the elements have been examined by both the court and the review board.

It all started back in 2020 after pressure from the heads of LeoVegas , Kindred and Betsson . In a debate article, they had called on the then Minister of Consumer Affairs Ardalan Shekarabi (S) to stop covert marketing.

The Consumer Ombudsman has already won against TV4/New Zealand Games in the market Court in 2020. In 2022, however, there was a turnaround in the dispute for both TV4 and New Zealand Games denying that there has been an agreement between the parties. According to them, it is an editorial element and therefore there is no agreement that the Consumer Ombudsman has that the two parties should publish.

The review board thinks differently

Back in 2020, the Review Board ruled that News Morning cannot be considered advertising. According to them, the features are not advertising or advertisement, nor do they contain any product placement.

It was The online gambling industry association (BOS) who had reported the programs. They appealed the decision of the board of review for BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt this is contrary to the high ambitions regarding safe and secure gambling that should characterize the New Zealand gambling market.

“ Information about the age limit and contact information for Game break should be included in the scratch card in the same way as in other game advertising. It doesn't matter how beloved News morning is – the same rules should apply to all actors. In addition, the feature should be ad-labelled ", says Hoffstedt.