Industry body Free TV has welcomed the Australian Communications & Media Authority’s release of 2021 Australian content quota compliance and FY22 content expenditure data, it says which shows “the massive commitment of commercial television broadcasters to great Australian content”.
Key points from ACMA’s content expenditure and Australian content quota compliance data include:
- Free TV broadcasters spent more than $1.5bn on Australian content in FY22, a $20m increase on the previous year.
- Around 80 percent of total content expenditure is on Australian programming.
- Commercial television broadcasters show an average of 73% Australian content on their main channels, significantly exceeding their 55% quota obligation.
- Almost 24,000 hours of Australian programming was delivered in 2021 by commercial television broadcasters, despite the ongoing impact of COVID on production output.
- Investment in trusted local news continues to increase – in metropolitan areas, expenditure is at its highest level in five years. News also remains a focus in regional areas, where expenditure increased by more than 10 percent between 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Free TV CEO, Bridget Fair said, “Commercial television broadcasters are proudly Australian, and continue to be the single biggest provider of Australian content in both hours and dollars. No other platform comes close to the level of commitment we see from Free TV broadcasters.”
Despite this, the ACMA did note that, “Program genres that saw expenditure decreases include ‘Australian children’s – other (non-drama)’ with expenditure of $883,445 down from $1.64 million in 2020–21 and ‘Australian sport’ with expenditure of $545.00 million down from $623.07 million in 2020–21.”
The full ACMA report is available via https://www.acma.gov.au/node/3758