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Taking the temperature: Section 3 – Australian television industry

Results from Encore Magazine‘s industry-wide survey into the mood of the sector and the EncoreLive panel discussion that followed.

How strongly do you agree with the following statements about the Australian television industry:
Strongly disagree = 1 Strongly agree = 5

The introduction of digital multi-channels has benefited
Australian producers – 3

Opportunities for TV Drama projects are limited – 4

Pay TV should be given further incentives to commission more
local content – 4.5

The local industry is doing enough in terms of online and
cross-platform work – 2.5

TV currently receives the same level of funding support as feature film – 2.5

Comments:

“As a feature film producer, who has not been active in television since the seventies, I must acknowledge that eminent television producers are doing better, and making better projects than most film producers, and most importantly, find an enthusiastic audience.”

“We need to give Pay TV more incentive to commission local product, but we need to give them a reason to want to buy it. We need more exciting productions that push the limits of technology and storytelling.”

Your sector of the screen industry is:
Better, more active than it was five years ago – 18.3%

About the same as five years ago – 32.9%

Worse than five years ago, with less work and less opportunities – 46.8%

No response – 1.8%

Comments:
“TV Documentary work is very healthy – better than five years ago for me, where as feature film is in a worse situation.”

“In Hollywood, entire script production commands up to 30% of total budget, here closer to 10-20%.”

Years worked in the industry?
Less than one – 1.8%

One to five – 10.8%

Six to ten – 14.6%

Eleven to twenty – 24.7%

Over twenty – 2.6%

No response – Less than 1%

What can we do to incentivise more Australian productions on digital channels?
Lisa:
How do we get the free-to-air ones to do that?

Tony: Part of the problem is the US free trade agreement which was signed two or three years ago and there were benchmarks set that prevented Australian content regulations being passed on subject to some minor exceptions in the post-analogue world.  Senator Conroy our Communications Minister has a convergence enquiry going on at the moment which will run through next year into early 2013. One of the main thrusts of the convergence review issue is, as viewership migrates from free-to-air channels that have local content and related requirements, and even from the Pay TV channels which have local content spend requirement, to these new media, how do we find a way to make a local content obligation, directly or indirectly for all of this new media? It’s complicated but it’s clearly something that has to be dealt with. While we’re all very excited about the degree of Australian content on free-to-air television, we would like more. Nonetheless, the substantial ratings of Packed to the Rafters, the various Underbellys and everything in between is fascinating and you have Australian TV producers working on budgets substantially less than CSI or NCIS beating these shows in the ratings week in and week out, which is, by the way, a parenthesis of why we can do the same thing in film, budgets not withstanding.
We’re also seeing spending on Cloudstreet, on the Movie Network’s Conspiracy 365 and TV1 have their Killing Time show. Our problem is the Government has its legislative capacity in handcuffs because the government has to find ways around the recent free-trade agreement that has been dropped in our lap.

Chris: In spite of the free-trade agreement we’re still generating so much Australian content on television as opposed to film which means the whole idea that we don’t want to watch Australian stories doesn’t really make sense, except the networks know how to tell us it’s on and so you watch it. They create stories that perpetuate that audience. There is a mentality that just says, ‘we’re going to make this, we’re just going to be smart about where we get our money from and we’re going to deliver it.’ So there isn’t this, ‘if I can’t get it through this channel, I’m not going to do it anymore and I’m going to throw my hands in the air and I’ll get upset.’ They just go ahead and do it.

Tony: They do, I agree with you but you do have to take into account there is a local, long standing guideline, a local content obligation on free-to-air, and a local spend obligation Pay TV, but there is no equivalent obligation on exhibitors to run a film for a certain amount of weeks. Make it clear, I’m not advocating there should be but I’m saying there is a distinction to be made. It’s still an open book to me whether, should the local content obligations be taken away from TV, you would in fact see a massive reduction of Australian content on television as it’s obviously cheaper to buy completed series rather than produce our own. Now whether the ratings of Australian series are so spectacularly good, whether television is so much more of a ‘localisational’ experience than perhaps movies are, maybe you still would, but I have my doubts. Free and Pay television have to run Australian product, they do well with it, they choose well, and we watch it. But no Australian exhibitor is obligated to run one minute of Australian film – so there’s a big difference.

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