TVN rejects illegal gambling advertising despite losing revenue
With open advertising falling 10.6 percent in the first half of 2026, to a line item of around CLP 8,000m (US$8.4m), Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) might have looked with different eyes at a well-paying advertiser. It decided otherwise. Its board resolved that the channel will not broadcast ads from betting platforms that are considered illegal in Chile.
The reasoning has two pillars. One is the regulatory situation of these platforms, which operate without an enabling framework. The other is the channel's status as a public medium, which, in statements to Diario Financiero, framed the decision within its commitment to responsible practices and to the care of its audience, with children and adolescents as a priority.
The channel did not deny that these ads represent an economic opportunity, but it prioritized an obligation that, it said, goes beyond strictly commercial interests and is related to safeguarding its public mission. As long as the regulatory framework remains as it is, it stated, it will not incorporate advertising from illegal operators.
This decision comes in a week of pressure on those same operators. The Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel) ordered Entel, Movistar, Claro, GTD, WOM, and VTR to block 37 sites linked to online betting, including subdomains and mirrors of sites already affected by a previous round. Providers have 48 hours to execute the DNS blocks, in compliance with rulings by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals of Santiago.
What is not progressing is the law. The parliamentary debate to regulate the sector continues at a slow pace despite calls from various stakeholders to accelerate it, and this delay is precisely what leaves channels deciding on their own what advertising they accept.
TVN is the Chilean public channel and answers to a board with plural integration. Its decision contrasts with that of other media in the region: in Brazil, for example, the three major open networks not only sell betting advertising but also hold equity stakes in the business, a model that came under scrutiny there just as the Government began discussing restrictions.
Tags: National Television of Chile, Illegal gambling advertising, Undersecretariat of Telecommunications, Public media and gambling