Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK

Background: Exposure to alcohol consumption and product imagery in films is associated with increased alcohol consumption among young people, but the extent to which exposure also occurs through television is not clear. We have measured the occurrence of alcohol imagery in prime-time broadcasting on...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lyons, Ailsa, McNeill, Ann, Britton, John
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2013
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2676/
_version_ 1848790846882709504
author Lyons, Ailsa
McNeill, Ann
Britton, John
author_facet Lyons, Ailsa
McNeill, Ann
Britton, John
author_sort Lyons, Ailsa
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Exposure to alcohol consumption and product imagery in films is associated with increased alcohol consumption among young people, but the extent to which exposure also occurs through television is not clear. We have measured the occurrence of alcohol imagery in prime-time broadcasting on UK free-to-air television channels. Methods: Occurrence of alcohol imagery (actual use, implied use, brand appearances or other reference to alcohol) was measured in all broadcasting on the five most popular UK television stations between 6 and 10 p.m. during 3 weeks in 2010, by 1-min interval coding. Results: Alcohol imagery occurred in over 40% of broadcasts, most commonly soap operas, feature films, sport and comedies, and was equally frequent before and after the 9 p.m. watershed. Brand appearances occurred in 21% of programmes, and over half of all sports programmes, a third of soap operas and comedies and a fifth of advertising/trailers. Three brands, Heineken, Budweiser and Carlsberg together accounted for ∼40% of all brand depictions. Conclusions: Young people are exposed to frequent alcohol imagery, including branding, in UK prime-time television. It is likely that this exposure has an important effect on alcohol consumption in young people.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T18:19:07Z
format Article
id nottingham-2676
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T18:19:07Z
publishDate 2013
publisher Oxford University Press
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-26762020-05-04T16:38:31Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2676/ Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK Lyons, Ailsa McNeill, Ann Britton, John Background: Exposure to alcohol consumption and product imagery in films is associated with increased alcohol consumption among young people, but the extent to which exposure also occurs through television is not clear. We have measured the occurrence of alcohol imagery in prime-time broadcasting on UK free-to-air television channels. Methods: Occurrence of alcohol imagery (actual use, implied use, brand appearances or other reference to alcohol) was measured in all broadcasting on the five most popular UK television stations between 6 and 10 p.m. during 3 weeks in 2010, by 1-min interval coding. Results: Alcohol imagery occurred in over 40% of broadcasts, most commonly soap operas, feature films, sport and comedies, and was equally frequent before and after the 9 p.m. watershed. Brand appearances occurred in 21% of programmes, and over half of all sports programmes, a third of soap operas and comedies and a fifth of advertising/trailers. Three brands, Heineken, Budweiser and Carlsberg together accounted for ∼40% of all brand depictions. Conclusions: Young people are exposed to frequent alcohol imagery, including branding, in UK prime-time television. It is likely that this exposure has an important effect on alcohol consumption in young people. Oxford University Press 2013-08-08 Article PeerReviewed Lyons, Ailsa, McNeill, Ann and Britton, John (2013) Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK. Journal of Public Health (August). pp. 1-9. ISSN 1741-3842 http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/08/07/pubmed.fdt074.full doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdt074 doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdt074
spellingShingle Lyons, Ailsa
McNeill, Ann
Britton, John
Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK
title Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK
title_full Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK
title_fullStr Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK
title_full_unstemmed Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK
title_short Alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the UK
title_sort alcohol imagery on popularly viewed television in the uk
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2676/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2676/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2676/