Commercial TV broadcasters once commissioned around 300 hours of Australian drama each year. Last year, they commissioned just nine hours of new, non-soap drama.
- Professor in Digital Media and Cutural Studies, Queensland University of Technology
Australian teenagers have grown up with abundant choices in digital screen entertainment. But they aren’t watching much Aussie content.
Australian TV drama series have shrunk in length from their heyday, and broadcasters are making 20% less of them than they did two decades ago.
Pursuing local content requirements on streaming services is a high risk, low reward campaign. The reality is global streamers can’t save Australian television.
Australian drama, documentary and children’s programs deserve better support – removing content quotas may be the way forward.
With commercial broadcasters threatening to thumb their noses at local content quotas, it’s time government finds new tools appropriate for the 21st century television environment.
Amid endless reviews into the future of local screen content, uncertainty reigns on issues such as the impact of Netflix, the fate of local content quotas and funding for original children’s TV.
Netflix’s edgy teen dramas attract criticism, but it is targeting a demographic that Australian broadcasters have almost entirely abandoned. We need more local stories that speak to teenagers.
TV networks must produce new local children’s TV drama each year - but they are increasingly making animation, with little sense of place. We need shows that will reflect kids’ lives back to them.
We know the ABC is facing tough times, given the decision last year to cut its budget by A$254 million over five years. But how hard are those cuts falling on locally-produced children’s TV?
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