The surge of global streaming services is reshaping the Australian media landscape, and discussion of local content quotas for subscription streaming services risks creating unintended costs for local broadcasters. Free TV CEO Bridget Fair delivered this message remotely in October at the U.S. Chapter of the International Institute of Communications in Washington, D.C.
In her presentation, “Tell Them They’re Streaming,” Fair discussed the impact of SVOD platforms like Netflix, which now account for 35% of local drama production spending. While this investment has tripled production hours, it has also inflated costs, with the average cost per hour for SVOD drama now reaching $3.5 million, according to the Screen Australia Drama Report 2022-23.
It is clear that that rising costs and intense competition for talent are putting financial pressure on other content makers, like traditional broadcasters. “Free TV broadcasters spend more than any other platform on Australian content. They already face significant local content quotas and are competing against well-funded unregulated streaming platforms who don’t even pay tax. As streaming services invest heavily in high-end productions and roll out advertising tiers, commercial television broadcasters are increasingly challenged to deliver affordable, high-quality programming for Australian audiences,” she said “so we have to ensure any new SVOD content quotas do not artificially inflate content costs even further”.