Britbox (which is a joint venture of BBC and ITV) could be the model for a future Freeview subscription channel.
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What do you mean? Like, being able to play an episode from the start if it’s already half-way through on a linear channel?
Yeah, bit like kayo (or Foxtel) allows you to do
Ahh yep. Was going to say Kayo does that extremely well. “From Start” or “From Live”
I don’t think he was talking about ABC2 specifically. He was talking about ABC, in general. He was saying that at this stage, the ABC should be flipping their priorities.
They should be looking at becoming a streaming service, first and foremost and creating content that could be streamed in Australia and throughout the world. And scheduling and screening that content on their channels, should be a secondary priority.
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Announcing the reform package on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government wanted to protect consumers and competition with the “world-leading” reforms while ensuring Australia had a successful digital economy.
As part of efforts to address the complex issue of harmonising regulation across old and new forms of media, the government will look at uniform classification rules and Australian content rules for streaming services.
https://twitter.com/network10comms/status/1204939597601333248?s=21
From Network 10’s chief executive officer Paul Anderson:
“It’s great the Government is making a serious attempt to address the deep-rooted dominance of the online tech and streaming giants.
“On Free to Air content regulation, the issues are clear and the answers are already there. We just have to get cracking and get it done.”
Nine’s repose to ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry
“This is a much needed and timely announcement from the Government in response to the recommendations that had been made by the ACCC as part of their digital platforms inquiry. It provides a clear timeline and platform for our industry to be able to engage with the social media platforms on a basis we ultimately believe will be a win win not only for our industry and the people that work in it, but the social platforms as well. We congratulate the Prime Minister, Minister Fletcher and the Government on its bold statement and look forward to the next steps in achieving recognition of the value that our content and our journalism means to the social platforms and their audiences,” said Hugh Marks, CEO of Nine.
Seven’s repose to ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry
Seven West Media (ASX: SWM) today welcomed the Morrison Government’s response to the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry Final Report.
James Warburton, Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said: “We welcome today’s response from the Government to the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry Final Report, supports the majority of the ACCC’s recommendations.”
“Seven is particularly pleased by the announced process to swiftly address out of date Australian content requirements that are currently holding back Australian media businesses. We encourage the Government to move quickly to provide certainty to industry and put in place a new framework for content that better reflects commercial realities and the changed viewing patterns of Australian audiences.
“The urgent need for regulatory equality between foreign Digital Platforms and Australian companies has been recognised by the Government. We see this as a real turning point, as for too long legislation has lagged well behind technological evolution, disadvantaging Australian companies and providing foreign Digital Platforms with a free ride.”
“We are disappointed that the Government is not pursuing a mandatory take down scheme for copyright infringing material as recommended by the ACCC. But it is pleasing that the Government has committed to reviewing copyright enforcement mechanisms during 2020.”
“We look forward to working with the Government as this process moves forward, to ensure a regulatory environment that is appropriate in the digital age, to better protects consumers and providea more level playing field for Australian businesses.”
how does this affect streaming services like netflix , stan etc?
It sounds like the government will look into having the same Australian content rules for free to air and streaming services.
Government Response and Implementation Roadmap for the Digital Platforms Inquiry
Government statement:
The Government has today released its response and implementation roadmap to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry.
In December 2017, the Government directed the ACCC to inquire into the impact of digital search engines, social media platforms, and digital content aggregators on the state of competition in media and advertising services markets. The Inquiry formed part of a package of reforms to modernise and update Australia’s media laws.
The ACCC conducted an extensive and detailed world-leading inquiry and the report sets out 23 recommendations in response to the substantial market power that has arisen through the growth of digital platforms, their impact on competition in media and advertising markets and implications for news media businesses, advertisers and consumers.
Following receipt of the report, the Government undertook a 12 week public consultation process, receiving more than a hundred written submissions and holding numerous stakeholder meetings.
Both the ACCC Inquiry and the feedback from the consultation process emphasised that there is a need for reform to better protect consumers, improve transparency, address power imbalances and ensure that substantial market power is not used to lessen competition in media and advertising services markets.
Digital technologies are going to be an increasingly important part of our economic and social landscape. The Government wants to get the right regulations in place so Australia can be a leading digital economy.
That also means ensuring the protections that exist in the real world also exist in the digital world.
The reforms agreed to by the Government and outlined in our Implementation Roadmap will strengthen competition and consumer protection and improve the sustainability of the Australian media landscape. The implementation roadmap will provide clarity and certainty for business and consumers on our commitments and the timeframe for implementing our response.
The Government’s role is not to protect domestic businesses from digital competition, but rather to ensure the proper functioning of markets and a fair approach to regulation that ensures the rules of the physical world apply equally to the digital world.
While a number of the ACCC’s recommendations will be progressed immediately and several of the recommendations align with existing commitments, others will need further consideration and engagement given the complexity of the issues and the potential to have economy-wide effects.
The Government’s immediate response includes:
- Investing $26.9 million in a new special unit in the ACCC to monitor and report on the state of competition and consumer protection in digital platform markets, taking enforcement action as necessary, and undertaking inquiries as directed by the Treasurer, starting with the supply of online advertising and ad‑tech services.
- Commencing a staged process to reform media regulation towards a platform-neutral regulatory framework covering both online and offline delivery of media content to Australian consumers.
- Addressing bargaining power imbalances between digital platforms and news media businesses by asking the ACCC to work with the relevant parties to develop and implement voluntary codes to address these concerns. The ACCC will provide a progress report to Government on the code negotiations in May 2020, with the code to be finalised no later than November 2020. If an agreement is not forthcoming, the Government will develop alternative options which may include the creation of a mandatory code.
- Conducting a review of the Privacy Act and ensuring privacy settings empower consumers, protect their data and best serve the Australian economy, which builds on our commitment to increase penalties and introduce a binding social media and online platforms privacy code announced in the 2019–20 Budget.
The first stage of media regulation reforms will commence in 2020 with a focus on:
- Developing a uniform classification framework across all media platforms.
- Determining the extent of Australian content obligations on free-to-air television broadcasters (including drama and children’s content), and whether there should be Australian content obligations on subscription video-on-demand services.
- Identifying other aspects of the policy framework to support Australian film and television content.
In early 2020, the Government will release an options paper co-authored by Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority that will look at how to best support Australian stories on our screens in a modern, multi-platform environment.
Through our response, the Government will deliver a regulatory framework that is fit for purpose and better protects and informs Australian consumers, addresses bargaining power imbalances between digital platforms and media companies, and ensures privacy settings remain appropriate in the digital age.
Summary:
On 26 July 2019, the Government released the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry final report. The Government undertook a 12 week public consultation process to better understand stakeholder views on ACCC’s 23 wide-ranging recommendations and findings and inform its response.
The Government’s response to the Digital Platforms Inquiry outlines a roadmap for a program of work and series of reforms to promote competition, enhance consumer protection and support a sustainable Australian media landscape in the digital age. In the response the Government commits to:
-
establishing a special unit in the ACCC to monitor and report on the state of competition and consumer protection in digital platform markets, take enforcement action as necessary, and undertake inquiries as directed by the Treasurer, starting with the supply of online advertising and ad-tech services
-
addressing bargaining power concerns between digital platforms and media businesses by tasking the ACCC to facilitate the development of a voluntary code of conduct
-
commencing a staged process to reform media regulation towards an end state of a platform-neutral regulatory framework covering both online and offline delivery of media content to Australian consumers
-
ensuring privacy settings empower consumers, protect their data and best serve the Australian economy by building on our commitment to increase penalties and introduce a binding online privacy code announced in the 2019–20 Budget, through further strengthening of Privacy Act protections, subject to consultation and design of specific measures as well as conducting a review of the Privacy Act.
The first stage of media regulation reforms will commence in 2020 with a focus on:
-
Developing a uniform classification framework across all media platforms.
-
Determining the extent of Australian content obligations on free-to-air television broadcasters (including drama and children’s content), and whether there should be Australian content obligations on subscription video-on-demand services.
-
Identifying other aspects of the policy framework to support Australian film and television content.
In early 2020, the Government will release an options paper co-authored by Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority that will look at how to best support Australian stories on our screens in a modern, multi-platform environment.
I’ve seen literally one sentence about it and zero details so hard to know
Seven, nine and 10 must have 55% Australian content between 6am - midnight
ABC and SBS are not required too. Foxtel is not required too. And mujtichannels like 7mate is 10Bold have a small requirement - is it 10%
I doubt we will see Netflix and Stan and amazon and Disney + being required to have 55% Australian content. It’s impossible. And they will withdraw from Australia.
So, it needs to be something viable and achaivable
X hours per year (say 200 hours of original aussie production)
Or
X% of revenue generated in Australia (say 40% of revenue be re-invested in aussie shows)
Then Abc and SBS should also have the 55% applied
I think Foxtel / pay networks must invest 10% of revenue o ro Australian productions - but I think that should be higher
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Here are my media prodictions for this decade and beyond. Iam a firm believer as I stated earlier streaming will take over fta TV. It is bound to happen some time I reacon in the next 10 years or 20 years. Fta TV will be only for the older generation
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Although this is a discussion point for another thread, I’d be extremely surprised if all newspapers & magazines weren’t either online-only or defunct by the end of this decade.
Free to air TV? I think the industry will still be around in some form or another come 2030, however it’ll probably be in a far less healthy state than it was even in 2019. At the moment I’d probably say that a full-on transition to online-only TV (with livestreaming services that are of a far higher quality & more robust than current ones) will happen sometime around 2040, but of course this prediction could be revised if technology advances far enough! Not sure about the rest of the world, but certainly Australia’s commercial networks are doing a good job at fasttracking their eventual demise with their overreliance on four core genres of “reality” TV.
Live sport may be the one thing (aside from perhaps news/current affairs) which keeps the traditional delivery models relevant, however I can see a point in the future where the major sporting bodies decide to bypass the FTA/Pay TV networks and launch their own streaming services - you’ll eventually go to the official websites of the AFL, NRL, Cricket Australia or whatever the case may be and pay them a certain amount per month to access all the games.
Perhaps the biggest question that all networks will have to ask themselves over the next few years is how they’re going to attract the next generation of media consumers into their universes. Most of today’s kids/teenagers probably get more entertainment out of the internet than terrestrial TV and when you consider how Australia’s FTA networks (especially commercial ones) treat their programming for younger viewers, you can’t really blame them for preferring something on YouTube or Netflix over ABC ME or Toasted TV!
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well i am taking my prediction from my recent trip to melbourne. many people i saw and asked watch subscription over fta . even when i was on the trams and train in melbourne heaps were watching netflix and not even bothering with tradtional tv
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Although I agree with you regarding people watching subscription over fta I do think this comment is a bit obvious. Its easier to watch subscription on the go than fta.
I hope your prediction is wrong. I believe there is a market for all types of entertainment. Its just a question whether FTA can reinvent itself.
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well i hope iam wrong to but i thinking my prediction might be right fta wont be able to reinvent itself in time and will be lost to the elderly . it starting to go that way now .and only going to get worse in the future.streaming and subscrtion tv will eventally take over fta
Well, lots of people have predicted that.
I think there would be a case for network television to continue. The shows on network television still have the largest audiences and therefore can still attract advertisers. Content is king though. The networks need to produce shows that viewers want to watch.
I think there’s a case for arguing that the at least one channel will survive for each network for live and first run programs. But I can see a future where most of their multichannels shut down and that content is just available from their streaming services.
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“What is this?!”
“Old people connector” lol
How long before new televisions are made without tuners/coaxial connectors in favour of more HDMI?
Might have to bring forward the death of FTA from 2030 to 2025.