Online Casino Coming to TV in U.K.
Published: Sunday, September 06, 2009 Online-Casinos.com
September 17th 2009 will be the day that could change the future of casino gambling. That's the day when casino action will be broadcast on the airwaves for the first time in the United Kingdom. This comes after the network signed a history making deal with NetPlay, the interactive gambling group.
RTL-owned Five will be broadcasting NetPlay's SuperCasino.com show three nights per week between midnight and 4am starting this September 17. The show will be extended to six nights a week in October, before being shown every night of the week in 2010. The show will give people access to create betting accounts and gamble right from the television in the comfort of their own homes. Once the account is set up, the player will then be prompted to make their bets either by phone or via the web. The roulette wheel will start spinning, and if the player wins, the money will be credited to their account.
As part of the deal, Five has been granted an option to buy 5pc of NetPlay's shares for 28.5p which has a small premium on top of last week's closing price of 28p. The deal has been made possible after communications watchdog Ofcom did a re-think of the guidelines that did not allow television gambling. NetPlay already operates on satellite channels and Scottish broadcaster STV, but the Five deal will bring live TV gambling to millions of new people in the UK.
The show, which NetPlay has described as a "four-hour advert", will encourage viewers to gamble.
Chief Executive Officer of NetPlay, Martin Higginson, said, that tight controls just like those for online gambling will be in place. "There has been a decline in advertising and they're desperately looking for new sources of revenue, this will help them," he continued, "If it proves successful, we will look to extend it to other UK channels and into other countries."
Mediawatch U.K. director, John Beyer, said, "This is a money-making enterprise from a commercial TV company struggling from a lack of revenue. I am anxious about people engaging in gambling in this way. People who can't go to a casino will be able to gamble on TV. People who cannot afford it will be attracted to it."
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