PBL’s James Murdoch treated London bookmakers who attended last week’s Orbis Bookies Banquet to a positive speech. The newly appointed chief executive presented the rapt audience with a highly convincing argument that television and gambling is destined for a close relationship in the future. In his speech, Murdoch opined that the new medium of interactive television will be a driving force in the future of worldwide gambling.

Murdoch also commented on the success of Sky Vegas Live, a new channel introduced by his satellite TV firm BSkyB. The company has been surprised by the enthusiastic response the channel has received since it first went to air in 2005. “Even though the audience is only between 2,000 and 10,000, the evidence is that interactive TV and gambling will be a very powerful force in the future,” Murdoch stated.

 BSkyB’s managing director Nick Rust echoed his chief executive’s statements by saying that interactive television as a medium is only just starting to attract the interests of major business players. Gambling fans have also given the medium a firm ‘thumbs up’ indicated by Sky Vegas Channel ratings for virtual racing and keno programming

According to Rust, impending UK regulations predicted to open up interactive television gambling are likely to change the way many traditional gambling fans bet on their favorite sports and games. “It won’t be long before you see a properly interactive poker channel,” predicts Rust. “In the last week of February, for instance, there were 11 channels in the UK featuring poker content, but they were all showing it in pretty much the same way.”

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