The commercial television industry has backed the federal government's content quota shake-up, saying the move will support local production.
FTA TV networks from January will no longer be required to produce at least 260 hours of children’s programs and 130 hours of preschool programs each year.
They are still required to air an overall 55% of Australian TV between 6am and midnight.
But they will have more flexibility around how they meet these obligations. From January, commercial television broadcasters will be able to use any mix of Australian drama, film, children’s and documentary content.
Beverley McGarvey, ViacomCBS AUNZ chief content officer and EVP, says the reform, which the TV industry has been pushing for, is a step forward.
“Today’s announcements are a significant step forward for broadcasters, content providers, producers and, most importantly, Australian audiences in ensuring a sustainable and enduring local production industry,” she says.
“The reforms are a win for audiences, a win for networks and a win for the local production sector.
“They promise fairness and flexibility, allowing us to continue to invest in the programs our audiences love while giving them the choice of the time and the place that they choose to watch them.”
Ten will reveal its 2021 content lineup during its Upfronts on October 15, but says the content reform “rewards” the network’s investment in longrunning dramas such as Neighbours.
“They also properly recognise the significant contributions that children’s content and long-running dramas make to the local production industry in the form of jobs and talent, rewarding our ongoing investment in popular Australian dramas such as Neighbours, while also incentivising our involvement in larger-scale productions such as The Secrets She Keeps and Five Bedrooms,” McGarvey says.
“Similarly, they properly reward our significant and growing investment in children's television and encourage rolling investments in documentaries such as Todd Sampson's BodyHack or Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story.”
Seven West Media CEO James Warburton has also welcomed the announcement, particularly the move to set the producer offset, a mechanism through which producers receive a refund of part of the production budget through the tax system, will be set at 30% for all domestic film and television production.
“The increase to the Producer Offset tax incentive production for TV series in particular, is a great result for the whole sector, that will fuel strong investment and growth in a sector that has been hard hit by the impacts of COVID-19,” Warburton says.
“We remain strongly committed to Australian content and welcome the changes to TV content quotas, which will provide greater flexibility for us to invest more in those programs that audiences want, and to adjust to changing audience preferences.
“This is a big step in the right direction and also recognises the importance and value of series like Home and Away, the number one Australian drama which has been on air and produced locally for 33 years strong.”
Patrick Delany, Foxtel Group CEO, says the measures will result in more local production.
“Foxtel looks forward to the opportunity to work closely with Screen Australia to kick-start new productions and employment in the creative sector, which have been severely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions,” Delany says.
“We also look forward to featuring the results of work between our channel partners and the Children’s Television Foundation on Foxtel.
“The Government’s package represents a starting point for Foxtel’s future investment in award-winning Australian drama and entertainment. They provide us with flexibility as we plan new productions, and importantly they recognise television is now producing world-class drama that is much-loved in Australia and sought after internationally.”
Nine CEO Hugh Marks and industry body Free TV CEO Bridget Fair have also both welcomed the overhaul, with Marks saying it will allow Australian broadcasters to better compete with the global content industry.
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