A new report from Professor Terry Flew and Dr Rob Nicholls in the Discipline of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney finds that Australia has the second-highest media market concentration in the world, ahead of China, South Korea, and the United States.
Key Findings (from 2019-2022):
- News Corp, Nine, Seven, and Australian Community Media increased market ownership of the newspaper sector from 78 percent to 84 percent.
- Nine, Seven, ABC, and Network 10 increased market ownership in broadcast television from 79% to 87%.
- Southern Cross Media, ABC, ARN, and Nova increased market ownership in radio from 57% to 77%.
- Telstra, TPG, Optus, and Aussie Broadband account for half of the $62.1 billion network media economy.
- Foxtel operates as a monopoly in multichannel video distribution (pay TV).
- Google holds a near-monopoly in desktop and mobile search.
- Google and Meta dominate internet advertising.
- The online video services sector is growing, with Netflix, Foxtel Group, Disney, Nine, and Amazon emerging as key players.
New research data from the Communications, Media and Internet Concentration in Australia, 2019-2022 report has revealed that large media empires continue to expand their operations, widen their reach and influence, and significantly increase their share of revenue in the Australian media economy. Experts say this impacts fair access to public interest journalism, news, and information.
“While we have long been focused on the power of media moguls, it turns out that the new tech giants have an even greater power to shape communications flows and market outcomes,” said Professor of Digital Communication and Culture at the University of Sydney and Australian Research Council Laureate, Terry Flew.
“The digital economy, long seen as the new frontier of media freedom, has strong tendencies towards information monopolies in the absence of government regulation.”
The report also found that traditional media outlets are facing declining audiences and revenues as more Australians turn to online sources, leading to further concentration in the market and the surging influence of advertising giants like Google and Facebook. The level of foreign ownership and control over Australian media is most likely increasing as Australian-owned media companies consolidate to survive. As audience traffic migrates to global platforms, the ability to regulate accuracy in news, TV, and radio, as well as equitable distribution of services such as telecommunications, is compromised.
“Although markets change with the ebb and flow of competition and competitors, there is a major social impact when local rivals are replaced by international behemoths,” said Dr Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications at the University of Sydney.
“Australian public interest journalism and the delivery of Australian stories require locally accountable media. The market is not providing this, and our analysis demonstrates aspects of that market failure.”
Professor Flew added: “In the current digital age, comprised of dominant global conglomerates, data-driven capitalism, and artificial intelligence, and with the possible demise of the News Media Bargaining Code, experts around the world are concerned.”
“The future of public interest journalism is in serious jeopardy.”
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