FreeTV: Death of Free to Air is “a lot of nonsense”
Commercial networks reiterate their value to the economy -but are still waiting for media reform against new competition.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
Commercial TV networks are stepping up their campaign for media reform after commissioning a report which shows their value to the economy.
The Value Of Free TV: The Contribution Of Commercial Free-To-Air Television To The Australian Economy, prepared by Venture Consulting, shows commercial networks generate $3.2 billion per year across viewers, advertisers and broadcasters supporting over 15,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, in broadcasting and independent production.
It comes amid a landscape of a flat advertising market, new online competition, talk of increased advertising revenue on SBS and a call to decrease licence fees.
Free TV Chairman, Harold Mitchell said, “There’s been a lot of nonsense talked about the future of television recently without much factual basis to support it.
“We have a fantastic story to tell. This report provides the hard data on our contribution to the whole Australian television eco-system and demonstrates what is at risk if we are held back by outdated rules and regulations.
“We are at a critical time for broadcasters. We are all investing in new services to respond to audience demands for our content when and where they want. But nearly 18 months after we switched off analogue we are still saddled with a range of outdated rules and regulations – that don’t apply to anyone else,” he said.
“This is unsustainable. Governments and the community can’t afford to be complacent about this. Google, Apple, Netflix and all the other global players who are now entering our market are not going to employ 15,000 Australians, or invest over $1.5 billion in Australian content annually.”
The research also showed:
• 81% of people watch free-to-air television daily
• 88% believe that commercial free-to-air is valuable to the Australian community
• 88% believe major sporting events should be available to all Australians for free
• 72% are satisfied with commercial free-to-air programmes and services such as trusted news and current affairs, entertainment, live sport, and the industry’s support of Australian production and content
“Online services like Netflix may be flavour of the month but we have been a valued part of the Australian community for decades and we continue to be the most important platform for the vast majority of Australian viewers,” he said.
31 Responses
I feel Free TV Chairman, Harold Mitchell is over exaggerating figures as I believe people these days don’t rely on News and Enterainment from our broadcasters? . It has turned into a wasteland for silly American and UK so called Reality TV Shows with Endless repeat after repeat shows.. Even time shifting using the EPG TV Guide is useless as 90% of programs run over time mainly due to many ads. The Federal Government wants to kick off Community TV to make way for more reality and shopping channels? Pure Garbage TV is coming
FTA numbers are still high, but also dropping as viewers vary their content offerings. It’s possible to argue both cases without being inaccurate. It’s more a question of painting the full picture. It will be a long time before FTA is not a serious contender. The things that make it unique still hold.
Regional television though is in deep do do…and most likely will not be relevant in 10 years time.
Usually I agree with Harold Mitchell he usually has a good brain for media and has his finger right on the button. However this time around he is wrong. Thee Commercial FTA Networks have themselves to blame for the issues they now have to confront. For years they have had it good and now they are whining. This whole thing smacks of protectionism. I am partial to the Anit-Siphoning list however not the other protectionist policies that the FTA industry wants. All I see is take take take from the Networks where is the give. No where. I too believe FTA is not dead but if they don’t shape up they will be dead.
Seems like Harold Mitchell and his FTA buddies are still living the ‘Mad Men’ existence with its spin, arrogance and mythology. Just like the show Mad Men which finished its run today, the FTA industry in its current form will do the same, sooner than we think. The only thing that will keep FTA going for the moment is live sport, notwithstanding recent reports that Netflix may get into sport. Keep living the Mad Men existence if you must Harrold?
No one I know watches free to air anymore. They’re watching other media platforms on their telly now. If I say i watch free to air they look at me like I’m an alien.
Now that I have Netflix I will never watch a movie again on free to air with constant interruptions ( ad breaks ) I’m sure this will view will increase as people realise they can watch shows without long annoying ad breaks!
““Online services like Netflix may be flavour of the month” – Joining other famous quotes –
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” – Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of DEC
“As to Bell’s talking telegraph, it only creates interest in scientific circles, and, as a toy it is beautiful; but … its commercial value will be limited.” ― Elisha Gray
…and from HBO co-president Eric Kessler- “the move away from traditional television to an internet-based model is just a fad that will pass – a “temporary phenomenon” tied to the down economy.”
“Guitar groups are on the way out” …… “The Beatles have no future in show business.” – Decca Records.
“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.” – president of Michigan Savings Bank (advising Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in Ford Motor Co), 1903
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” – internal memo, Western Union, 1876
and my personal favourite:
“Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.” – Dr. Dionysius Lardner, 1830
I think I’d like a second opinion as long as it’s not from Harold Mitchell.
If FTA folds, it has no one to blame but itself. As previously mentioned, people are fed up with erratic scheduling, excessive ads and too many reality programs. We love FTA but its just too frustrating. A huge percentage of the audience are middle aged or older, yet they refuse to cater to their tastes (a few old re-runs of Heartbeat or MASH will not cut it folks. We want something new!!.) FTA has treated it’s audience with contempt for too long. Either they rethink their approach or face extinction.
We watch a bit of FTA – the ABC and SBS only though. The news and a few documentaries and drama on SBS in particular. The poor ABC has lost most of their decent programs to BBC1.
The other FTA stations were scrapped years ago, due to their inability to keep to program schedules. Chasing programs all over different timeslots and days, late starts due to rubbish reality – eventually we gave up and got Foxtel. Reasonably happy with it. If only there were no ads! FX is now unwatchable due to ads and screen clutter, just like a FTA station, however they still manage stable scheduling.
What rules/regulations are holding back FTA? The thing that is killing FTA is old school attitudes such as Mr Mitchell. A great example – ‘Netflix may be flavour of the month’! Is he aware how many people have already subscribed? In the last 2 weeks I’ve had conservations with people every day about Netflix and they are all loving it. 5 friends have dumped Foxtel in favour of Netflix. 2 kept it purely for sport – they want to cancel it but there is no alternative. I am the only one who is trying Stan but I’m going to cancel. I want to try Presto but it’s not available on Apple TV so it is inconvenient for me.
Look at it this way: Netflix has been around in the US for 18 years, has been streaming there for 8 years, has been such a popular success that they now make their own exclusive content, and the name is synonymous world-wide with ‘streaming TV’.
And the networks here get together to say it’s a ‘fad’ – but one that, if left unchecked and the playing field ‘un-levelled’, will be the death of FTA TV. Or not. Depends on the day of the week you ask.
Either the networks are stupid, or they think their viewing public are. Guess which is more likely?
“There’s been a lot of nonsense talked about the future of television recently without much factual basis to support it.”
Most of it by Mitchell himself. Two weeks ago he made reference to Netflix being a fad, and now he calls it a flavour of the month. If SVOD is going to go the way of slinkies and yoyos then there’s nothing for him to worry about and no need to make any changes.
You always have to take reports commissioned by vested interests with a very large bag of salt, just like all those medical reports by tobacco companies that concluded that there was no link between smoking and cancer.
Commercial FTA have done themselves no favours with their constant schedule changes, falsely advertised start times, and failure to play drama series within a reasonable time (or at all). I stopped watching them a while ago.
The greed of metropolitan stations in wanting to swallow up regional affiliates, and the greed of one regional TCN affiliate, WIN, is what will kill off FTA broadcasting in Australia. Watch Prime on any night and note the programme promo spots – Prime is virtually non-existent! Better than half of this situation can be blamed on the obscenity of market aggregation(of which I’ve commented elsewhere). Look at WIN shutting down news services in McKay and elsewhere without giving a rat’s as to the future employment of those it shafted. WIN has become far too big and needs to be cut down to size.
If you add up all the figures put out by industries about what they contribute in GDP and and employment you end up with a totals 2-3 times size of the economy and labour market. They all exaggerate in their models.
The reason there haven’t been media reforms is that the commercial networks are rent seeking and keep trying to get regulations that increase their profits and decrease their competitors. There idea of reform in more ads and paying less for spectrum that is increasing become more valuable for telecommunications, which is essential infrastructure.
FTA will survive but it won’t be as large or the same as the in the past. Buy up all the US content cheaply and showing it whenever they feel like will not work anymore. Viewer have more choices and they will have to make interesting TV to get an audience.
Maybe if they air something more then cooking and Reno shows, I would believe him but as that is not the case, I will jump to this conclusion.
RIP – Free TV – 1950’s to 2020’s
Well, I’ve just read on this site that Seven had a Telethon on the weekend…first I’ve heard of it? I’m a middle aged white woman (I know, we’re almost invisible!) and finding I am watching less and less FTA, and what I do watch, I record to watch at a convenient time to me. Love ABC Iview too!
I first filed on the Telethon in February but unfortunately I received nothing again until yesterday -when it was over.
I’d miss much more if I didn’t read about it here, David! 🙂
The threat is to the likes of Foxtel. A lot of friends l have have elected to disconnect it. They see little value in the product now
So so true, Foxtel’s subscribers are going to dramatically drop and FTA’s continue to decline.
I am one of the older ones, I do not have Foxtel, not interested in streaming services and i watch FTA all the time. However, I do buy series on DVD, especially stuff that has been started on Nine and then dropped, so much that I do not watch much on Nine at all, I watch FTA TV, mainly TEN, a bit of Seven and a fair bit of ABC.
Same here.
Is the research manipulated the way ratings are manipulated these days?
So “we’re doing fine – but please don’t allow anyone to compete with us, we can’t afford it”?
Having read it, the FreeTV report mentioned is the biggest contradiction in terms since Edmund Blackadder asked Lord Percy to be his Best Man…
he even looks like he’s across the current trends
I think they are deluding themselves. I haven’t watched FTA TV for years, and since the advent of cheap legal streaming services like Apple TV and Netflix, my use of Foxtel has seriously decreased. We are seriously considering dropping Foxtel completely. The “research” quoted sounds like they asked a few people around the office, as the results are ridiculously positive. Referring to Netflix etc as a “flavour of the month” just shows how completely in denial FTA is about their imminent extinction.
Nailed it is one! Completely and utterly delusional. Love to see how this research was obtained. 72% of people are satisfied with free to air programmes?! That is truly LOL, I’d like to meet 1 person who is ‘satisfied’.
Time now for Malcolm Turnbull to do a backflip and let Community TV have its FTA channels allocated permanently, and for aspirant stations like Hunter TV to be granted their licence as well. Community TV Rules – Okay!