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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today published an adjudication that censures Satellite Information Services (SiS) for undertaking a misleading advertising campaign.
The adjudication is in relation to a complaint made by Turf TV, the new television and data service for betting shops, that an advert placed by SIS made inaccurate and misleading comparisons between the pricing of Turf TV and the existing SiS service, which had enjoyed a monopoly position in the market until Turf TV’s arrival.
In the advert, placed in the Racing Post earlier this year, SiS claimed that it would cost bookmakers £6,500 a year to take Turf TV’s service from 31 racecourses around the country compared with the £1,600 charged by SiS to bookmakers for the equivalent product this year.
In its ruling, the ASA say that the comparison of the two prices was “misleading”. In reality, SiS do not provide a bespoke service relating solely to Racing UK courses. Bookmakers are instead charged for a standard service, which costs £10,500, not the figure claimed in the advert.
Alan Morcombe, Executive Chairman of Turf TV, said:
“We are delighted that the ASA have decided to uphold three out of four of our complaints against SiS’ misleading advertising, and warned them against undertaking similar adverts in the future. The ruling also drives a coach and horses through the major bookmakers’ claim that Turf TV increases costs for licensed betting offices; the ruling clearly states that this argument is made on false premises.”
The ASA ruling upheld three specific challenges made by Turf TV on a number of points in the advert, which result from the initial misleading price comparison.
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