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Devil in the detail for Drama

The Convergence Review calls for an increase in Drama, Doco and Children's -but would it all move 'off-Broadway?'

The Convergence Review Report issued yesterday makes many recommendations amongst its 176 pages.

One of the key areas I’m sure will interest many readers is that of Australian content.

The good news is the Report recognises the value of Australian content, although there was division from submissions about how best to support this.

“The Review heard a range of views on measures to protect Australian content, ranging from no action through to greater protection. However, the social and cultural value of Australian content in all its forms was not contested,” it notes.

It recommended the existing 55 per cent local content quota continue and that the government create and partly-fund a new production fund to support Australian content.

It also recommended replacing the current quota system for Drama, Documentary and Children’s content, which is based on hours per year, to a system based on a percentage of their total revenue. Pay TV Drama channels, such as Showcase and FOX8, already work on this system. Alternatively, they would be able to contribute a percentage of revenue to a ‘converged content production fund’ for reinvestment into Australian content.

The Review also calls for a 50% increase in these three sub-quota genres.

While it does not recommend minimum quotas on multichannels, it does want more flexibility for such content to count on multichannels. At the moment Neighbours attracts no such points on ELEVEN. This would allow networks to decide for themselves about where to distribute such content across their suit of channels.

The Review recommends that a 55% be applied to ABC1 and a 22.5% quota for SBS ONE.

For subscription television providers it recommends the 10% minimum expenditure requirement on drama channels be maintained plus the introduction of a 10 per cent minimum expenditure requirement on children’s and documentary channels.

TEN is already objecting to the call to increase sub-quotas.

“Free-to-air broadcasters already invest more than $1.2 billion a year in local productions,” CEO James Warburton said.

“There is no justification for the proposed increase, particularly at a time when the free-to-air television industry is already under pressure.

“It is simply unfair to continue to squeeze free-to-air broadcasters while some of our competitors are allowed to operate without contributing to local production and without excessive regulation.”

However the Report does not appear to address some consequences which may arise if the Government were to accept these recommendations.

1) If networks can meet quotas by playing them on multichannels, would they produce low-rent Drama / Documentary / Children’s on multichannels and fill our primary channels with US imports? Would Australian content become ‘off-Broadway?’

2) If networks are allowed to meet quotas via the budget spend, will we move towards all the money being shuffled to high-end ‘event’ drama? More Cloudstreet, The Pacific, less Offspring and Winners and Losers?

3) Does Drama still have to air in Prime Time? What if networks decide to divest the spend on film investment, and run them in summer? Where do co-productions stand?

We’ve already seen what happens when ‘flexibility’ is added to the current system. A NZ drama suddenly qualifies as Australian content.

It’s great that the Review supports local content, but there’s still a lot of devil in the detail…

6 Responses

  1. The FTA Broadcasters need to understand it is time to put something back into the Australian content industry – not just take profits out. The licence fee rebate is not about transferring taxpayers money to their bottom line – with it comes a responsibility to commission Australian content from independent content producers. Equally that does not mean setting up in-house production units to access the 40% Offset, together with a licence fee rebate. Ian Warbuton’s knee jerk reaction to these recommendations prove he has a lot to learn about running a network.

  2. Was there any mention about the federal government’s very generous rebate on commercial television licence fees and how this should be spent?

    Its very big of Mr Warburton to bitch about spending billions of dollars already on drama, especially when his station was given a nice big chunk of money back.

    All three are just as bad as each other…

  3. We need less Australian content requirements, not more. I’m tired of this ridiculous protection of the Australian industry.

    A 55% requirement on the ABC1 will kill the channel, just look at the ABC3. The ABC3 is constantly filled with endless repeats of Australian series. While most of the new Australian content on the ABC3 is cheap to produce junk (i.e. game shows, infotainment).

    There is barely any decent new content for children anymore, and this will just make that situation even worse. Since the budgets for overseas content would be even less.

  4. Wondered who would be the first to spit the dummy. Thanks Mr Warburton. You are a major Australian TV network and so quite rightly we want you to produce the goods. I enjoy Offspring and am looking forward to Bikie Wars Brothers In Arms but beyond that I need to look else where for Aussie drama. At the moment the big networks have a hold on freeview so who are the other competitors? If you can’t handle it let somebody else try.

  5. Revenue quotas is the way to go as it has a built-in quality governor. Networks are not going to produce hundreds of hours of cheap dramas because they won’t be able to fit them into their schedules nor get the ratings to attract advertising dollars. The sweetspot will be to produce moderately expensive, decent quality drama series that will achieve good ratings, with the occasional expensive high-quality short-run high impact mini-series/telemovie.

    If we move to revenue quotas, we can also let the networks play the content on whatever channel they wish – if it’s not cheap, they won’t hide it away on a multi-channel plus, eventually, the main population will “discover”/get in the habit of watching, the other ten channels.

  6. Thanks for the summary! I believe 55% Aussie content is too low! However more drama would be better, not less! I enjoy mini series, but we do need series dramas too!

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