UK to Broadcast Interactive Gambling and Wagering

Interactive remote gambling will come to UK televisions over a broadcast network for the first time later this month.

Although satellite and Internet gambling options have been around, the new plan to broadcast interactive casino gambling will be the first of its kind. Television station Five will partner with Netplay to bring gaming to a regular television audience.

Late-night programming at Five will feature Netplay gambling running three nights a week, from midnight until four in the morning. The plan leaves open the possibility that, if September results justify it, gaming television could expand to six nights a week as soon as October.

"The four-day, four-week test on Five confirmed the massive opportunity interactive TV gaming brings," said Netplay CEO Martin Higginson. "To be broadcasting on a national terrestrial TV channel heralds a new chapter in the growth of NetPlay TV."

The show will run the program SuperCasino.com, allowing viewers to gamble on casino games from their living rooms.

The deal became possible when new regulations loosened rules regarding broadcasting, giving interactive gambling operators a loophole in which to work so long as that form of programming occupies less than a quarter of the station's content.