Chile lawmakers ask CNTV to suspend online gambling TV ads all day while court orders website blocks

Two Chilean deputies have asked the National Television Council (CNTV) to stop TV advertising for online betting operators around the clock, not just during child-protection hours. For PSPs and gambling merchants, the point is simple: Chile is now moving on two tracks at once — blocking domains in court and tightening the visibility of the product in mainstream media.

1. Eduardo Cretton and Marco Antonio Sulantay, both from UDI, sent a formal request to the CNTV asking it to suspend all-day television advertising for online betting houses in Chile. Their argument is that public institutions should move in the same direction while the judiciary executes its blocking order.
2. The request comes after the Santiago Court of Appeals set the procedure for enforcing a Supreme Court ruling issued in September 2025, which ordered the blocking of the websites used by these platforms. In other words, the legal pressure is no longer abstract; the blocking process is now being operationalized.
3. The deputies say allowing these operators to keep advertising while the block is being implemented sends a contradictory message from the state, especially because the sites operate outside the Chilean legal framework. They want the CNTV to act more aggressively so the promotion of online betting does not continue in parallel with the court process.
4. They point to an earlier CNTV sanction as precedent: in April 2024, the regulator fined CHV about $1,566 (20 UTM) for airing nine ads for betting houses during the protected time slot for minors. The CNTV confirmed that sanction two months later. In that decision, the regulator said gambling should be treated in a way similar to Law No. 19.995, which prohibits minors from entering casino gaming halls.
5. Using that logic, Cretton and Sulantay are asking the CNTV to extend the same approach into a permanent restriction, instead of limiting it to specific hours. They also warn about the risks online betting poses to minors and to people with gambling addiction in Chile, since access is only a device away.

The practical takeaway for high-risk operators is that Chile is not just discussing website blocking; it is also testing how far advertising restrictions can go while enforcement is underway. If the CNTV follows the deputies’ line, the commercial window for online betting brands on Chilean TV could narrow fast.