Introduction
Exposure to alcohol advertising is associated with initiation of drinking in children who have not previously been drinkers, and greater consumption in pre-existing drinkers. In Australia, regulations stipulate that TV alcohol advertising should not occur at times when large numbers of children (0–17 years) are viewing, with 6am to 8.30pm typically considered peak viewing times for children. However, clauses in the regulations allowing alcohol advertising in sport TV programming, undermine the protective intent of the regulations.

Greater restriction of alcohol advertising and sponsorship in TV programming has been recommended as a population-level strategy for delaying the initiation of drinking and reducing excessive alcohol consumption. Bans or restrictions on alcohol advertising and sponsorship have been called for by peak medical and public health bodies in several countries (e.g., Australia, Ireland, UK, US, South Africa). However, where governments have formally responded to such calls, it has often been to recommend that more evidence be gathered on the extent and nature of the problem before policy action can be considered.

A handful of studies have examined the extent of alcohol advertising on TV, but no research has established whether particular TV programs or genres (i.e., sport) have greater amounts of alcohol advertising, and at times when children may be watching. Similarly, few studies have conducted a nationwide analysis for a full year, establishing the number of alcohol advertisements at times when children may be watching. Previous work in Australia has reported Target Audience Rating Points (TARPS), a marketing indicator of potential audience exposure to specific advertisements, finding high potential exposure of children to alcohol advertising. However, TARPS are not well understood by laypersons and policy makers, and do not provide absolute counts of alcohol adverts per se. Research reporting absolute alcohol advertising counts and audience numbers has been for brief periods of the year, potentially missing substantial seasonal variation, particularly in sport TV.

An analysis of alcohol advertising in sport is particularly important because the alcohol industry is thought to spend a considerable proportion of its advertising and sponsorship budget on sport TV programming. Recent work examining references to alcohol in top class international and UK football found that there were 1.24 and 1.88 references to alcohol per minute, respectively. Additionally, the alcohol industry and advertisers in some countries may exploit regulations whereby sport TV programming is allowed to contain alcohol advertising and sponsorship messages during children’s peak viewing times, but non-sport TV is not permitted to do so. Such exemptions expose unknown, and possibly large, numbers of children to alcohol advertising while watching sport, nullifying any protective effect of restrictions.

The present study sought to establish the extent of alcohol advertising in free-to-air sport and non-sport TV programming in Australia in the daytime and night time for a calendar year. We also sought to estimate the proportion and number of young people in various age groups viewing TV at times when alcohol advertising is likely to be occurring.