Multi-Channels: Digital YES, but not yet local

The generous license fee rebate is supposed to protect local content on TV, but it doesn’t require a specific production investment. Digital channels are growing their audiences, yet they don’t have a local content quota. How are Australian creatives going to thrive in this new environment? Micah Chua writes

It’s been almost eight years since the first free-to-air digital multichannel was launched with the now defunct SBS World  News Channel, and the television environment has since been going digital with a slew of more channels joining the lineup over the past yearwith a promise for full conversion by the year 2013.

Opportunities are expanding as the household penetration rate of digital TV stands at 61 percent,  according to Free TV, with each major commercial network broadcasting a digital multichannel with plans for a second in the near future. The public broadcasters are also embracing the digital environment with SBS’s commitment to launch SBS THREE and ABC’s 24-hour news channel on the horizon.

Nine’s Go! reached a milestone in February as the first multi-channel to hit a double digit share at a 5-city level in the key night-time slot with a share of 10.1 percent for the 16-39 demographic.