Networks push for local content points on multichannels
How do you encourage more local content on multichannels without diluting the quality of Australian drama on primary channels?
- Published by David Knox
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The argument about local content points on multichannels is a complex one, but will have a renewed push after Free TV’s submission to the Convergence Review calls for local shows on ELEVEN, GO!, GEM, 7TWO, 7mate and ONE to count towards annual totals.
The Australian reports that the Free TV submission argues that, “With Australia transitioning to a fully digital environment by the end of 2013, this kind of regulatory distinction becomes irrelevant and there is scope to consider additional flexibility in how broadcasters meet cultural objectives.
“We need to debate how we can provide more flexibility to enable broadcasters to serve the public interest in a way that does not put us at a competitive disadvantage in comparison to other platforms or delivery mechanisms.”
Public interest is far more important than any competitive disadvantage by private sector media.
In principle it would be good to see more local content on channels that are smothered by US and UK content. Steps to encourage this would be a positive thing.
At the moment Neighbours attracts no local drama points on ELEVEN, although TEN knew this at the time it made the move, and was probably optimistic the landscape might have changed by now. On Monday, the soap pulled its best audience this year on the channel, an impressive 455,000 viewers -close to the average it was attracting in its final days on TEN.
But there are risks in allowing such shows to count -principally that it does not lead to a watering down of quality Aussie dramas. If dramas can attract points on multichannels what’s to stop networks filling our primary channels with more US content and playing B grade dramas on multichannels just to get the points?
If a drama isn’t rating on a primary channel it could be sent to a multichannel to die a slow death. Who remembers Blue Heelers ending its long run on a Saturday night? McLeod’s Daughters suffered the same fate.
Requiring first run drama on primary channels in primetime ensures quality controls -if the show isn’t well-produced it won’t rate, and a network will have to stump up with a better product.
We have already seen what happened when New Zealand content was allowed to count as Australian.
Some networks have also run little-known Aussie films on Saturday nights in summer just to top up their points. It’s legal and technically they are doing nothing wrong.
But in their defence, we are also enjoying a string of local drama investments. This is because it is well-made Australian drama that resonates with viewers. So they must be preserved not diluted.
The government will have to devise a working formula that does not compromise the quality of local drama, delivered to a broad audience on Free to Air television.
One option might be to allow local content points for some genres, but keep points for Drama and Children’s television on Primary Channels.
The Screen Producers Association has previously welcomed the notion of drama on multichannels as ways of supporting emerging talent but is aware of wider repercussions by opening up the floodgates.
“We recognise that it won’t be Drama at $750,000 an hour because of the economics of those channels. It will probably be different forms of Drama. It might be more comedy focused or experimental, as a way of seeing whether programmes might work to be brought over to a primary service,” SPAA president Geoff Brown has previously stated.
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- Tagged with Blue Heelers, McLeod's Daughters, Neighbours
34 Responses
I was thinking of this the other night that if TEN have such a close output deal now with CBS in getting in getting their shows for both 10 & 11, why couldn’t TEN start producing some quality Aussie shows and continuing that deal with CBS and selling those shows to them for something like their cable channel Showtime??
I mean it would mean more Aussie shows and because they would be getting sold to America (and perhaps even the UK like Neighbours) more money could be spent to make them world class!! They could work closely with CBS to make both parties happy something CBS wants and something TEN wants and consult with each other!
Only problem is Americans seem to have such a hard time understanding our accents… but they do love us!! 🙂
Nine seems to have a pretty close relationship with Warner Bros. why couldn’t they do something similar??
Why would anyone other than a network exec support this? It’s just a way for them to make cheaper quality drama, and less of it, and pocket the funding they get for it. As a viewer there is nothing to be gained.
To expand on my previous post, I agree with them putting more local content on the digital channels but at this stage I don’t think they need a minim quantity but I do think those shows on the secondary channels should count for something, or they might vanish from our screens all together.
@David – does PayTV have min requirements for the first run local shows (Small Time Gangster, Spirited, Satisfaction etc) they put on the different channels?
Pay TV “drama channels” must spend about 10% of their annual budget on producing local drama ie. FOX8, W, Showcase etc.
The solution is simple. Just tie the points awarded to the ratings achieved. The threshold for full points can be set at some suitable value, say 500k. That would mean that a show only needs to rate moderately well for full credit.
Below that threshold there should be a sliding scale of partial points so that if a network makes a cheap and nasty drama or broadcasts it at 10:30 on a multichannel, they don’t receive much credit for it.
The system will need to be sufficiently finely tuned so that the risible shows like Cops LAC never appear on our screens again.
If they can do it on pay tv channels to far less viewers than why not on the digitals? Each should have it’s own quota to fill, not the network, and who knows we may find more quirky and different Aussie dramas like Tangled, spirited, etc, possible boost to industry as well.
Networks should be given a reward for airing dramas on multichannels (not a cash reward) but at least be able to have it add to their drama quota.
If the aim is to keep Australians employeed in the industry then no matter where it airs it is achieving this goal.
Just because a program is of lesser worth in terms of budget does not mean that the program is poor in quality – many UK shows that are successful originate from their digital offshoots – looks at programs like Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Skins, Inbetweeners, Misfits these are all digital only programs.
For our digital channels to grow they need to be able to invest in local content that isn’t going to break the budget but they also at the same time should not be regulated as in must meet 30% local content per night because right now that is an unachievable goal.
The main channels still need their content quotas as a ‘minimum’ but allow dramas on digitals to count toward this.
It needs a total overview its a dated and flawed system at the moment and with the digital revolution it makes it even more redundant; its not my job but its needs work and Neighbours airing on digital first run deserves quota points – people are still watching and it is keeping workers employeed – win for all right?
I agree with iolanthe. I refuse to watch Australian crap TV on the main channels and really hate the idea of polluting the secondary channels with it. That said I do like good Australian television: too bad most of it was made before the nineties i.e. most of Grundy’s stuff. I did used to watch Blue Heelers and got sick of it as well as All Saints. I even watched Neighbours and so many others. But got sick of them before the nineties. The last Australian scripted content that wasn’t one of the imaginative Australian childrens shows on at disastrous times was Sea Change. Loved that show because the characters were well realised and it was quirky. That said next year I might be interested in Phyrne Fisher. So I guess adult scripted programming only comes up with something worth watching perhaps once every ten years. Not good. I will admit I like the docu-dramas too because I like a show that likes to help you learn something too. In this case history. By the way I do like decent current affairs (non-commercial ) , news and documentaries. History and science programmes. Including and especially from Australia as well as the rest of the world. But I want imaginative stuff from fictional content that transports you to a different place. Sometimes historic or futuristic or just quirky. I just don’t like the mundane. I gave up on it and won’t put up with it. By the way I glad some people have jobs I’m not against that. Just against watching it if it doesn’t appeal to me.
Neighbours sucks! it just can’t match H&A right now, Emily Symons & Georgie Parker were great last night.
at the end of the day it the quantity versus quality debate.
There should be a minimum for each individual digital channel. Frankly, tv has dumbed down further since the digital channels. rather than watching educational or intelligent content, there is always a sitcom on one of the multichannels to stop people. There should be a journalistic quota for each too.
aw, harold looks really sad in this pic.
Digital channels should be treated the same as any other channel and content should be counted as an overall percentage or hours of airtime across all channels of a network.
I think the standard of Aussie TV on main channels is good and there should be Aussie content required on all digital channels. Separate rules so that it doesn’t detract from quality of the Aussie productions now!
I don’t see the problem.
If i enjoyed a local drama and for some reason the audience started to drop off, I would rather it be moved to a multi channel where i can still enjoy it as well as the actors, producers, writers, camera crews ect still having employment.
“In principle it would be good to see more local content on channels that are smothered by US and UK content. Steps to encourage this would be a positive thing.”
Why? Most Australian TV is crap with a very few honourable exceptions and this has much to do with it operating behind a sheltered workshop of local content quotas. Increasing the local content requirement will only exacerbate this. But fortunately in the age of the internet we can watch what we want regardless of what our betters think we should see. And to those worried about local jobs – forcing Australian TV channels to carry unwatchable local crap in the age of the internet is far more likely to result in viewers fleeting those channels than allowing the channels to program what the viewers actually want.
Do away with points and use a percentage of programming like pay tv, that’s the system that seems to be producing the best drama and most in the spirit of this policy.
I say just add more points in a separate category from what there is now. Have like two categories… one for the main channel as it is now, one for digital ones
I think its time to change the rules and realize TV has changed, the majority have access to digital and fans will follow shows to the new channels. As for ratings if fans don’t like the US/UK shows on the main channels they will go to the local content on digital.
Good on TEN for taking the gamble with Neighbours and not just canceling it, which could have happened just a few years ago.
I just can’t believe that Neigh-bores is still around. It has to be the worst show on the planet. I’m glad it has been moved to Channel 11 though…as I don’t have to sit through its promos ….and the minority of viewers can still get their nightly dose of this rubbish….no accounting for taste is there?????
But surely you have to get away from the idea of one primary channel being better in a multi channel? In 10 years, it won’t even matter. Sure, networks will have a flagship channel but what’s wrong with pushing Australian or otherwise content onto a Multichannel where it’s better suited?
I think the multis should have a content point requirement. They should also have a higher quota of points consdering we now have three times the number of channels than five years ago and the commercial ones are all making a great profit and have a value greater than any of the pay channels.
Come on Conroy, get your house in order!
Why not offer people a choice? If viewers want to watch Australian drama they can vote with their remote.
I think one of the first steps needs to be is that the digital channels need to meet a required amount of first run Australian content, drama or otherwise. This should not be linked to they’re content requirements of their primary channel, because like we’ve heard from the networks time and time again, the digital channels aren’t simply extensions of their primary networks but new entities in their own right. For the past 12 months the networks have been writing great revenue simply by playing old Us and UK content. It’s time for them to take the next step and transition them to real networks who play Australian first run content.
“If dramas can attract points on multichannels what’s to stop networks filling our primary channels with more US content and playing B grade dramas on multichannels just to get the points?”
@DavidKnox – Increasingly networks are realising the only things that rate anymore are live news, live sport, big event reality shows and Aussie drama. What US dramas / shows really rate anymore?
The fact that the FTA is more competitive than ever now (witness the $1 millon per ep price tag of shows like Renovators, Amazing race, X Factor etc) and the networks Need to make money – Aussie shows dominate the ratings.
That said, I think the new digital networks should have Australian content requirements just like the big legacy networks.
55% Australian between 6am-Midnight for Seven Nine Ten
15% Australian between 6am-Midnight for Go, One, Gem, Eleven, 7TWO, 7mate
I was waiting for this. I think no, it should be on all be on primary channels. I don’t mind that they use aussie movies to top up the points. That’s still aussie content, that gave aussies jobs.
That said, maybe they should have ‘minor’ points for aussie drama that is first run on digital channels – ie. Neighbours. I don’t think repeats on digital should count though.
But I think if they do this, they’ll just use digital channels as a dumping ground, because they’re not going to rate anyway, so let’s just use it for points!