Online bingo TV ad spend falls 19%
New WhichBingo report reveals an estimated £45.5m was spent on TV advertising by UK bingo brands last year
UK online bingo brands spent an estimated £45.5m on TV advertising spend last year, a 19% year-on-year fall compared to 2015, according to a new report by WhichBingo.
The affiliate’s Online Bingo Annual Report 2017, which quotes statistics from Nielsen, found that combined TV ad spend fell an estimated £10.5m from the £56m spent in 2015.
Tombola was by far the biggest spender in 2016 with £12.4m, an additional £1m compared to the previous year, and accounted for nearly 29% of the total amount spent by all brands.
The Sunderland-headquartered firm is also believed to have spent £3.8m on its new tombola Arcade slots brand, which it launched last summer.
Gala Bingo and Mecca Bingo were the second- and third-biggest spenders with £8m and £6m respectively, while Foxy Bingo (£5m) and Sky Bingo (£3.9m) made up the remaining top five.
The annual report from WhichBingo, which was the only bingo affiliate to advertise on TV, reveals a number of major brands opted not to advertise on TV last year, including Jackpotjoy, Paddy Power Bingo and William Hill Bingo.
“The fact that Jackpotjoy did not advertise at all in 2016 could account for approximately half of the £10m drop in TV spend,” Wayne Howe, head of projects at WhichBingo, said.
“Other operators may have decided against it due to the changing clearcast rules which no longer allow the promotion of free money offers before the watershed.
“It could even be a knock on effect on the POC tax, with brands looking to cut their marketing budgets accordingly to get the most effective ROI.”
WhichBingo noted that figures quoted in the report were “value-based” and not necessarily the true amount spent.