Netflix and Stan need local content quotas: Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
The time has come to force Netflix and Stan to create a certain amount of Australian content should they wish to continue to operate here, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young has argued, along with a number of screen industry executives.
Hanson-Young also pleaded with the local commercial free-to-air networks to create more compelling local stories, saying their reliance on reality television formats is not good enough.
Chris Oliver-Taylor, Neil Peplow, Jordan Nguyen, Virginia Trioli, Brooke Satchwell, Kevin Whyte and Sarah Hanson-Young at Screen-Forever
Arguing that now is the time for the Australian screen industry to double down on local content, Hanson-Young said the same rules needed to apply to all players.
“I do think we need to keep strong, local content quotas in Australia [for the free-to-air networks],” she said at the Screen Forever conference. “But I also think we need to be looking at how we adapt the rules and requirements for the streaming services.
“I think it’s time to come up with a quota for Netflix and Stan and Amazon and others coming down the line.”
Hanson-Young took aim at the low-quality of content which can come out of international giants – “It’s cheap, it’s nasty, it’s junk food for the brain” – but also implored the local operators to up their game.
“I’ve had this fight with some of the commercial broadcasters about this. They say that reality television is the new family viewing. I’ll tell you what. I don’t want my daughter learning about her life as a young girl growing up from The Bachelor,” she said.
Chris Oliver-Taylor, now CEO of Fremantle, tended to agree, but said regulators and participants in the industry needed to ensure they were creating an environment in which the existing legacy players could continue to thrive.
“I think the issue with our international friends spending lots of money on content in Australia, is, on one hand, great, for those lucky enough to work in that space, on those stories. The issue is, is our sector going to survive on Netflix commissioning 200, 300, 400 hours of drama a year, and [documentaries], drama and kids shows for the next 10 years? Maybe. Maybe. We don’t know.
“I do think it’s beholden on us as Australians [to fix the problem] … We’ve got a proven place in our regulation that does ensure that our commercial networks, and the ABC and SBS and Foxtel, have a strong remit. We need them to be strong, we need them to want to invest in Australian content. We need viewers to come there. Now if that means we’ve got to stick regulation in place, that’s really unfortunate, but I would agree,” he said.
“We need a strong Seven, Nine, Ten, ABC, SBS and Foxtel. They’ve got to be strong, or we’re all in trouble.”
Kevin Whyte, managing director of Token, said there needed to be more parity between the local players and those coming in from other markets.
“I don’t think in the long-term it’s reasonable for us to expect the commercial free-to-air broadcasters to live with a quota without their competitors living with a quota.
“I do think there’s a reasonableness to quotas, given there’s a pubic spectrum that’s being exploited, and maybe that’s the price, particularly in a non-licence-fee world,” he said.
He also noted other countries were already looking into regulation of the emerging players, and Australia had to be careful not to miss its moment.
“I think there’s going to be a marketplace of regulation around the world. I think if we ignore it, or if we let this moment pass, I think we could find ourselves in a position where not only are we not an attractive place to make content that can go out globally, but also too, importantly as content becomes increasingly global, there’s still going to be those little shows that we want for ourselves. You know? There’s still going to be shows that they’re going to make sense for Australian audiences and maybe don’t travel. And I don’t think that the sole qualifier of a successful show should be ‘Will they watch it in the States? Will they watch it in the UK?’ It comes back to the balanced diet. We need to be producing extraordinary global content because we can, but also we should be producing things that we just like, because we can.”
The local content quotas debate is a recurring theme at the yearly Screen Forever conference.
At last year’s Screen Forever Q&A panel session, Georgina Downer, an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) said taxpayer dollars should not be propping up the local industry, but Screentime’s Bob Campbell hit back arguing TV networks have no right to exist if they don’t follow the rules.
What proponents of quotas on streaming services forget is that if you force rules and quotas to ‘create a level playing field’ then you also have to give the same rights that free to air has to ALL streaming services including the millions of dollars in taxpayers subsidies that free to air channels recieve every year.
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It’s not just about creating Australian jobs in the broadcast industry. Quotas prevent Australia from culturally becoming the 51st state of the US.
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We shouldn’t have quotas period, it’s just a form of Protectionism for an industry that needs the Government to hold its hand, let the market determine the outcome.
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Surprise, a politician and a lobby group conflating two separate arguments.
You could easily make the argument that the average quality of the original programming on Netflix, Stan and Amazon is an order of magnitude higher than that of commercial free to air networks.
Job protection measures for local industry is separate. And always a losing battle. Putting off the inevitable, usually at taxpayer and consumer expense. See: local car assembly.
Netflix has demonstrated a willingness for global production based on the story and production quality. e.g. Dark, Babylon Berlin, Money Heist. It grows their audience in those markets and these shows have proved popular all over the world.
If creative Australians can tell and execute a good story, the opportunities for a global audience are likely better than ever.
It is much easier for lobbyists and politicians to grimly hang on to the past than embrace an unknown future.
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Great to see the Greens supporting local industry unlike the other two mob of idiots supporting their mate Rupert
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I god no , Australian tv shows now are dreadful.
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Our stories, keeping culture alive and carrying us forward. #makeitaustralian
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I agree Nick, but around the other way. It is culture first and the jobs are the icing on the cake.
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I totally agree, with Netflix now at 10 million Australian subscriptions they should at least be bound to reinvesting a small percentage of their turnover back into the local industry for being able to trade here. Even at as little as 1% we’re talking around some $15 million funnelled into exclusively producing, or investing into joint ventures for local content.
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Great. Let’s force streaming companies to buy junk that no-one will watch. How about letting the market provide people with the content they want?
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Every time Australia has dumped its content quotas our film and tv industry simply dies. We are a small market and there is no way we can survive without support which ensures keeping Australian stories on air/in cinemas, Australian people in work locally and a fair playing field against the enormous conglomerates which can dump content here at a fraction of the cost it takes to produce it. Europe has 30% quotas on streaming video services and we should do something similar.
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