Making it pay on pay TV

Paul Chai speaks to the commissioners and producers of local content to discover a wealth of opportunities available in the Australian subscription television market for original formats.

When subscription television launched in Australia during the 90s there was initially little to no local content across the network. “Short form content only, that was the extent of it,” says Julie Ward, then head of production at Foxtel. “But there was always the vision of the halcyon days when there would be money for local content.”

In the early days, money went into start-up technology and building a subscriber base. Deals with overseas networks provided the channels with hours of cheap, proven content – a business model more cost effective than commissioning homegrown programming. But as the number of subscribers grew, so too did revenue for the pay television sector – in the six months to December last year, Foxtel subscription income increased 5.1 per cent with revenue from advertising for the 2011 calendar year up 3.75 per cent from the previous year to almost $400 million. The roll-on effect has been an increase in the budget for local content. Industry body the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) says pay TV platforms invested seven per cent more in local content during 2011 than they did the year prior.

Julie Ward saw first hand the lack of opportunities for local producers during pay television’s infancy. Almost two decades after the technology’s launch, the situation has changed dramatically and Ward is now in a position to benefit as the director of entertainment at production house Shine Australia. Shine has produced myriad shows for the pay stations including Australia’s Next Top Model, Foxtel’s poster child for local format adaptation and quirky dating show Dating in the Dark. Shine sees subscription television as a significant part of its business plan. “Most of the production for subscription TV is outsourced so the independent production community is important,” says Ward.