For years, media experts have been saying that Australia can’t support three commercial television networks.

Indeed, the ongoing viability of Network Ten, which is the minnow of the industry, is regular fodder for discussion on the media landscape. It has been owned by US giant Paramount since 2019, so there is scant visibility into its financial position but on ratings, it comes in a very distant third.

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Banning gaming ads that have increasingly become a lifeblood for the somewhat moribund industry is risky for any government.

There are lots of different statistics produced around how much bookies spend on advertising each year, but the most reliable is probably from the Australian Media and Communications Authority, which says $240 million in revenue reaches the coffers of TV and commercial radio and online media each year. Almost 70 per cent of this was spent on television.

But the government understands that outside vested interests of the media, bookies and the sports organisations, the community is generally in favour of minimising gambling advertising.

That said, the community probably doesn’t recognise the ecosystem that has been built around the money provided by bookmaker advertising.

Many sporting organisations, particularly the major football codes, get a slice of that gambling money, which they say allows them to foster grassroots competitions.

Without gambling advertising revenue, the large media organisations could not afford the billion-dollar product packages they pay to tier-one sports, like the NRL and AFL.

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It is a fraught decision for the government, which explains why more than a year after the parliamentary inquiry spearheaded by the late former MP Peta Murphy recommended a total ban, a final decision has yet to be made.

There are plenty within Canberra pushing for what has been dubbed “Murphy’s Law”.

But the stage appears to be set for a significantly watered-down version.