A content analysis of alcohol content in UK television

Barker, Alexander B.; Whittamore, Kathy; Britton, John; Murray, Rachael L.; Cranwell, Jo

Abstract

Background: Exposure to audio-visual alcohol content in media is associated with subsequent alcohol use in young people, but the extent of exposure contained in UK free-to-air prime-time television has not been explored since 2010. We report an analysis of alcohol content in a sample of UK free-to-air prime-time television broadcasts in 2015 and compare this with a similar analysis from 2010.
Methods: Content analysis of all programmes and advertisement/trailer breaks broadcast on the five national UK free-to-air channels in the UK between 6 and 10 p.m. during three separate weeks in September, October and November 2015.
Results: Alcohol content occurred in over 50% of all programmes broadcast and almost 50% of all advert/trailer periods between programmes. The majority of alcohol content occurred before the 9 p.m. watershed. Branding occurred in 3% of coded intervals and involved 122 brands, though three brands (Heineken, Corona and Fosters) accounted for almost half of all brand appearances.
Conclusion: Audio-visual alcohol content, including branding, is prevalent in UK television, and is therefore a potential driver of alcohol use in young people. These findings are virtually unchanged from our earlier analysis of programme content from 2010.

Citation

Barker, A. B., Whittamore, K., Britton, J., Murray, R. L., & Cranwell, J. (2018). A content analysis of alcohol content in UK television. Journal of Public Health, 41(3), 462-469. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdy142

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 20, 2018
• Publication Date: Oct 25, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 25, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 26, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Public Health
• Print ISSN: 1741-3842
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-3850
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 462-469
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdy142
• Keywords: Alcohol, television, content analysis, public health
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/947342
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pubmed/fdy142/5078451