Tobacco imagery in prime-time television in Spain: A content analysis

Abstract

Introduction Exposure to tobacco content in media among youth is a wellestablished risk factor for smoking initiation and continued use. This study assessed the prevalence and nature of tobacco imagery on Spanish prime-time television (TV) programming and its associations with program characteristics: genre, production nationality, and broadcast timing. Methods A content analysis of 63959 minutes of TV programming in 2021, excluding advertisements and trailers, across 18 broadcast channels examined the presence of tobacco imagery: actual tobacco use, tobacco cultural cues, smoking ban violations, tobacco brand appearances, or any of these. Results The analysis revealed that 2.4% of the TV programming time contained at least one instance of tobacco imagery, resulting in 8.5 million impressions for viewers aged 4–24 years. Feature films had the highest prevalence of tobaccorelated content (adjusted prevalence ratio, APR=11.9; 95% CI: 9.5–14.9). Tobaccorelated content appeared more frequently outside designated children's protection hours (PR=0.7; 95% CI: 0.6–0.80). However, its presence within the designated children's protection schedule remains a significant concern, generating 15.6 million tobacco impressions for young viewers. Conclusions The seemingly modest content level of tobacco imagery (2.4%) translates into a substantial number of impressions for young viewers aged 4–24 years, including during the designated children's protection schedule. Reducing tobacco imagery in films and TV series represents a promising strategy for curbing youth smoking. However, the current reliance on youth protection schedules is inadequate. To better protect children from tobacco imagery, policies should mandate strong anti-tobacco disclaimers preceding programs featuring tobacco and certificates of No Pay-off for tobacco portrayals.

Keywords

• public policy
• media
• advertising and promotion