Australian Free TV Generates A$3.2 Billion in Economic Surplus Annually

“There’s been a lot of nonsense talked about the future of television recently without much factual basis to support it,” said Harold Mitchell, Free TV chairman. “We commissioned the Venture report to provide an independent analysis of the economic value commercial free-to-air broadcasters provide to the economy, to viewers and to advertisers. We’ve always known that our members are the major investors in Australian content and the broader economy, and this report quantifies that contribution for the first time.

“We have a fantastic story to tell. This report provides the hard data on our contribution to the whole Australian television ecosystem and demonstrates what is at risk if we are held back by outdated rules and regulations.”

The analysis shows that commercial free-to-air television is by far the largest contributor to domestic content production in Australia and underpins the entire production sector, spending over A$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) a year on Australian programming and increasing at 10 percent year on year, while being responsible for the majority (A$6 out of every A$10) of spending on domestic content.

The report also indicates that commercial free-to-air’s direct contribution to the Australian economy is unmatched by any other television provider, pumping A$2.8 billion ($2.2 billion) per year back into the economy through production, payroll, technology, advertising and taxation and supporting over 15,000 jobs in broadcasting and the independent production sector. Commercial free-to-air TV was also found to generate a significant economic surplus of A$3.2 billion ($2.6 billion) per year across viewers, advertisers and broadcasters.

“We are at a critical time for broadcasters. We are all investing in new services to respond to audience demands for our content when and where they want. But nearly 18 months after we switched off analog, we are still saddled with a range of outdated rules and regulations that don’t apply to anyone else,” Mitchell said.

“This is unsustainable. Governments and the community can't afford to be complacent about this. Google, Apple, Netflix and all the other global players who are now entering our market are not going to employ 15,000 Australians, or invest over A$1.5 billion in Australian content annually."