Live Roulette on UK's Channel Five
9 October 2009, Staff writer
 Back
in May of this year the UK's television regulator Ofcom changed the definition
of 'teleshopping' to include gambling. What this seemingly innocuous
reclassification meant, was that casino games were for the first time allowed to
be aired on free-to-air channels during restricted viewing times.
The re-classification was apparently prompted by broadcasters looking for
additional revenue streams in the wake of falling advertising revenues resulting
from the current recession. And at least one operator has been quick to
move on the opportunity.
Netplay TV has purchased time on Channel Five, and in September, began
broadcasting its live roulette games on a restricted viewing schedule - a first
for UK free to air television. The program airs from midnight to 4am
Thursdays through Saturdays, and 1am to 3am Monday through Wednesday.
But casino access to the free to air TV lounge rooms across Britain has been
slammed by anti-gambling groups and some politicians as irresponsible and likely
to lead to problem gambling. According to Steve Clifford from the
Evangelical Alliance, ‘Five is exploiting its privileged access to the public to
make a quick profit. This is not entertainment.’ While Shadow Culture
Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the development as ‘a huge disappointment to
people who want to see responsible public service broadcasting'.
Five and Netplay have defended the move as being completely compliant with Ofcom
broadcast regulations. Netplay's CEO went on to comment that the operator had
safeguards in place to prevent underage and problem gambling.
It will be interesting to see whether Five continue their relationship with
Netplay when economic conditions improve.
About NetPlay
NetPlay TV Plc. are
a UK AIM listed interactive TV gaming company with a portfolio of gaming
products including Supercasino.com, EuroTelemilions.com, Bingos.com, Challengejackpot.com.
Supercasino's current live broadcast schedule is as follows.
| (GMT) 7 days |
Channel
Five |
SKY |
Freesat |
Freeview |
Internet |
| Roulette |
00:00 - 04:00 |
18:00 - 04:00 |
18:00 - 04:00 |
00:00 - 04:00 |
18:00 - 04:00 |
| Blackjack |
- |
- |
- |
- |
21:00 - 02:00 |
|
