Forgive me if my calculations are slightly off, but under current laws of 720 pts per 6 weeks of local content in the aggregated markets and Tasmania, I calculated that, taking into account a 5 day working week, the current quota is an average of 24 pts per day (or 12 mins news).
Under the proposed increase from 720 to 900 pts for existing markets, and the increase from 0 to 360 pts, the aggregated markets will be required to provide an average of 30 mins per day (15 mins news), while the new markets have 12 pts per day (6 mins news).
The local filming incentive does seem like a good idea though, with 1 minute of local news equal to 3 points. Though would this count individual news reports, or only the bulletin’s studio presentation? And what qualifies as the “local area”, the licence area or the sub-markets?
However, the crossbenchers should’ve proposed a clause into the local content requirements that if broadcasters elect to fill the quota with news, it must be provided in a single block (permitting ad breaks) so that we can finally wipe away the noodle updates.
Edit: I’ve summarised the quotas in a table for easier reading.
