Speaker 1: Already, and this is the daily art.
Speaker 2: This is the daily ohs oh, now it makes sense.
Speaker 2: Good morning and welcome to the Daily Ours. It's Thursday,
Speaker 2: the sixth of November. I'm Emma Gillespie.
Speaker 1: I'm Lucy Tassel.
Speaker 2: Think back to the last time you logged in to
Speaker 2: your Netflix, Disney Plus or any streaming service and ask
Speaker 2: yourself this, how much oussie content do you remember seeing?
Speaker 2: If you're struggling to imagine a single local production, the
Speaker 2: future could look very different. That's because, after years of discussion,
Speaker 2: the federal government has announced it will introduce legislation requiring
Speaker 2: streaming services to boost their spending on Oussie content. Today
Speaker 2: we will explain everything you need to know about this announcement,
Speaker 2: what it means for the film and television industry here,
Speaker 2: and how the streamers themselves are responding. But first, today
Speaker 2: is a big and excite day because we have a
Speaker 2: culture newsletter. It's launching this afternoon. If you want to
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Speaker 2: read it, sign up at the link in our show notes.
Speaker 1: Okay, up, before we get into the details of this announcement,
Speaker 1: can you explain what's the state of play in Australian media.
Speaker 2: Yes. So some really important context for this story is
Speaker 2: that for decades Australia has had really strong content requirements
Speaker 2: for free to air television. So commercial free to air
Speaker 2: the ABC and SBS have their own kind of charters
Speaker 2: and requirements around local content, but commercial networks so seven,
Speaker 2: nine and ten must broadcast an annual minimum of fifty
Speaker 2: five percent Australian content between six am and midnight on
Speaker 2: their primary channels, so more than half of their annual
Speaker 2: content in those hours has to be Aussie programming. They
Speaker 2: also have to meet minimum our requirements on their non
Speaker 2: primary channels each year. So for example, Channel nine has
Speaker 2: that fifty five percent requirement, but a channel like nine
Speaker 2: GEM has slightly different rules.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: PayTV like Foxtel also has obligations to invest in Australian content,
Speaker 2: and these are rules that have been in place for decades.
Speaker 2: They're considered an essential way to protect local productions that
Speaker 2: might otherwise struggle to compete with the massive budgets of
Speaker 2: overseas content, particularly out of the US and the UK.
Speaker 1: You've mentioned freeware channels, and you've mentioned PATV channels, but
Speaker 1: you haven't mentioned where I think I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: know about the statistics, but where I think most Australians
Speaker 1: are watching most of their TV these days, which is
Speaker 1: streaming services. Do they have any requirements?
Speaker 2: In short? No, And this is the gap that the
Speaker 2: government is trying to close with this new policy. So
Speaker 2: when streaming platforms arrived in Australia around ten years ago,
Speaker 2: if you can believe, the likes of Netflix, Amazon's Prime
Speaker 2: Video were able to build huge audiences without the same
Speaker 2: obligation to invest in Australian stories as linear TV traditional
Speaker 2: TV competitors, and as we've seen with many examples of
Speaker 2: new media, digital media regulations basically just have not kept
Speaker 2: up with the popularity and the boom of streaming. So
Speaker 2: the television landscape has changed, but the rules haven't.
Speaker 1: So what's the government's plan to change that?
Speaker 2: So it's announced this proposal that would apply to streaming
Speaker 2: services with more than one million Australian subscribers, so that's Netflix,
Speaker 2: Disney Plus, Prime Video, probably Apple TV plus, although it
Speaker 2: doesn't publish local subscriber numbers. These platforms, though, will need
Speaker 2: to invest at least ten percent of their total Australian
Speaker 2: expenditure or seven and a half percent of their Australian
Speaker 2: revenue in new Aussie content. Now that content must be drama,
Speaker 2: kids programming, documentaries or art and educational programs. And the
Speaker 2: rule also requires post production to happen in Australia, which
Speaker 2: is important because it opens more opportunities for more local
Speaker 2: jobs editors, composers, etc. Now, when it comes to stand
Speaker 2: and Paramount Plus, even though they are owned by Australian
Speaker 2: freedowares nine and ten, they will also be subject to
Speaker 2: these requirements.
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit confused about how much streamers are
Speaker 1: actually going to have to spend. So you mentioned ten
Speaker 1: percent of expenditure and seven point five percent of revenue.
Speaker 1: How will that actually work.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's confusing, let's be honest. But I dug into
Speaker 2: this a little bit more. Expenditure refers to what a
Speaker 2: platform spends on content shown in Australia, so, for example,
Speaker 2: licensing fees what it costs them to secure the rights
Speaker 2: to showing a program to Ossie audiences, whereas revenue refers
Speaker 2: to how much money a streaming platform earns from its subscribers.
Speaker 2: One of the government's proposal, platforms can choose which model
Speaker 2: they want to follow. So for example, let's say streaming
Speaker 2: service spends one hundred million dollars annually in total on
Speaker 2: content for Australia. Their expenditure, they would need to ensure
Speaker 2: at least ten million dollars a year is going towards
Speaker 2: new Australian productions. Alternatively, if they generate one hundred million
Speaker 2: dollars in revenue from Aussie subscribers, they would need to
Speaker 2: invest at least seven and a half million dollars in
Speaker 2: local content. So the idea here is, you know, giving
Speaker 2: platforms some flexibility while ensuring that there is a meaningful
Speaker 2: investment back into the Aussie industry. But in reality the
Speaker 2: contributions from some of these platforms will be much bigger.
Speaker 2: Let's look at Netflix. It reported local revenue of one
Speaker 2: point three billion dollars expenses of about one point twenty
Speaker 2: five billion dollars in the last financial year. So you
Speaker 2: know we're talking about significant investment.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and are we talking about all content from these
Speaker 1: streamers or only new content.
Speaker 2: New content specifically, So this isn't about streaming services increasing
Speaker 2: their spend on Australian content that already exist. It's not
Speaker 2: about Netflix saying okay, what are the pre existing Australian
Speaker 2: shows that we can secure the rights to Arts. Minister
Speaker 2: Tony Burke said that since coming here, these services have
Speaker 2: created some extraordinary shows, but quote this obligation will ensure
Speaker 2: that those stories, our stories continue to be made.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that this is a proposal that's been kind
Speaker 1: of just stating for a while. What's taken so long.
Speaker 2: Debate has been going on around this for almost as
Speaker 2: long as these platforms have been available here. There was
Speaker 2: some momentum in twenty twenty one the former Coalition Governments,
Speaker 2: Arts and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher put forward a five
Speaker 2: percent proposal for local content quotas for streamers. The scheme
Speaker 2: was voluntary, though, and it was criticized by labor as
Speaker 2: not going far enough. In January twenty twenty three, the
Speaker 2: Albaneze government actually committed to introducing streaming quotas. They said
Speaker 2: a deadline of July one, twenty twenty four, but obviously
Speaker 2: that came and went with no legislation, and over the
Speaker 2: past two years there has been extensive consultation with the
Speaker 2: streamers and free to air broadcasters and various industry bodies
Speaker 2: as part of these efforts to kind of get this
Speaker 2: off the ground, but clearly there have been several complications
Speaker 2: along the way. One of the big concerns has been
Speaker 2: around imposing content quotas on largely US owned platforms. There
Speaker 2: was some tension around, you know, whether or not this
Speaker 2: would violate the free trade agreement that exists between Australia
Speaker 2: and the US. US government report on Foreign Trade Barriers
Speaker 2: published in March actually highlighted the planned streaming quotas here,
Speaker 2: warning the White House would quote continue to monitor the
Speaker 2: issue to ensure Australia's compliance with the free trade agreement.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's interesting to bring up the free trade
Speaker 1: agreement because I was of the understanding that US tariffs
Speaker 1: on Australia will also in violated of that free trade
Speaker 1: agreement because they're making trade not free.
Speaker 2: Well exactly. Obviously, since Donald Trump's reelection, the whole trade
Speaker 2: conversation has been turned upside down a little bit. But
Speaker 2: I guess the argument here could be that with those
Speaker 2: added tensions because of ongoing tariff negotiations with Trump, you know,
Speaker 2: could these quotas be seen as a potential provocation to
Speaker 2: worsen or intensify strain on those other negotiations.
Speaker 1: Okay, I see, let's talk about the streaming platforms themselves.
Speaker 1: We haven't heard from them yet. What have they said
Speaker 1: in response to this proposal.
Speaker 2: So the streamers have been pushing back hard. They have
Speaker 2: argued as a collective that they already invest heavily in
Speaker 2: local content. So there's this industry body called the Australian
Speaker 2: New Zealand Screen Association and they represent Netflix, Prime Video,
Speaker 2: Disney Plus, Stan and Paramount Plus. All of those services
Speaker 2: have teamed up to reject earlier versions of the quota proposals.
Speaker 2: They actually published these findings as a group this year
Speaker 2: through a report called Streaming for Australia, which highlighted what
Speaker 2: it called quote evidence that demonstrates that the contribution we
Speaker 2: have made to Australia's creative economy is meaningful. According to
Speaker 2: the report, streaming services invested nearly three billion dollars on
Speaker 2: new Australian and quote Australian related programs between twenty nineteen
Speaker 2: and twenty twenty four to become quote the largest investors
Speaker 2: in Australian content today. Netflix in particular warned all the
Speaker 2: way back in twenty twenty one, when those first conversations
Speaker 2: were happening with the Morrison government that mandatory quotas could
Speaker 2: have serious negative consequences and quote inadvertently lead to a
Speaker 2: reduction in the volume, variety and quality of Australian content
Speaker 2: rather than increase it.
Speaker 1: Okay, what has the Australian screen industry said.
Speaker 2: Well, in contrast to how the streaming platforms have responded,
Speaker 2: this has been a mostly positive response. Screen Produces Australia
Speaker 2: called it a landmark announced after years of global streaming
Speaker 2: services benefiting from local audiences quote without contributing fairly to
Speaker 2: the creation of Australian stories. We reached out to independent
Speaker 2: Aussie TV and film production company Wooden Horse Joint CEO
Speaker 2: Richard Finlayson told TDA, Like most independent producers, Wooden Horse
Speaker 2: quote welcomes the new quota requirement, but he said they
Speaker 2: had hoped to see a higher percentage of revenue committed
Speaker 2: to Australian content. Finlayson also noted that the French government
Speaker 2: interestingly has enforced legislation requiring streamers to invest at least
Speaker 2: twenty percent of local revenue in French and European content.
Speaker 2: In a statement to TDA, he said, quote seven point
Speaker 2: five percent feels like a low bar when you consider
Speaker 2: that premium drama series are now costing between twenty five
Speaker 2: to fifty million dollars. Yeah, okay, there's a lot of
Speaker 2: money in streaming and streaming productions.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. What have we heard from other political parties?
Speaker 2: The Greens won the quota to be higher. They're calling
Speaker 2: for a twenty percent reinvestment, like we have heard from
Speaker 2: within the film industry. They also want a sub quota
Speaker 2: specifically for children's television. I reached out to the Shadow
Speaker 2: Minister for the Arts, Julian Lisa, and he said that
Speaker 2: the Coalition has always fought hard for Australian creatives. He
Speaker 2: accused Labor of spending four years basically doing nothing after
Speaker 2: the Coalition first announced a plan for streaming services in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. He said, quote the government's announcement leaves
Speaker 2: many questions unanswered, like how much new money will actually
Speaker 2: be invested into screen production and quote we need to
Speaker 2: be sure that the announcement delivers for the Australian screen industry.
Speaker 1: The Government obviously has a lot of hurdles to overcome
Speaker 1: before this actually comes into effect. But when it does,
Speaker 1: what do you think it'll look like?
Speaker 2: In theory, the hope is or the hope from the
Speaker 2: government is that we see a lot more Australian content
Speaker 2: on the home pages of those streaming services we are
Speaker 2: so familiar with, so you know, dramas, docos, kids shows,
Speaker 2: more work for writers and actors, directors, crew members, all
Speaker 2: the supporting businesses around film and television production Communications Minister
Speaker 2: annaka Well's said quote, we want to make sure, no
Speaker 2: matter which platform people are watching, Australian stories are part
Speaker 2: of their experience. So the hope is, you know, with
Speaker 2: more Aussie content being made, we will see more stories
Speaker 2: that resonate with us. There's also a hope that you know,
Speaker 2: this content will find international audiences and elevate the profile
Speaker 2: and notoriety of Australian productions. I think it's also worth
Speaker 2: flagging that there are a lot of practical details that
Speaker 2: still remain unknown, things like exactly how spending will be audited,
Speaker 2: what specifically qualifies as Australian content. But Lucy, it's been
Speaker 2: a long and complicated process to get here. It's not
Speaker 2: over yet, but the legislation is due to be tabled today,
Speaker 2: so we will know a lot more pretty soon.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for explaining that, Emma, and if you
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Speaker 1: We will be back this afternoon with the headlines. Until then,
Speaker 1: have a great day. My name is Lily Maddon and
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