Media Wave

Australians who produce for commercial TV offer up silent prayers to the gods of content quotas every night. Without quotas, some networks would cut back on local drama quicker than you could say, "cheap imports". (If you are a bit hazy about the regs, see end of this article for a refresher).

As an era of unregulated IPTV content dawns, a few players have sounded cautionary notes.

At SPAA last year, Kim Dalton warned producers of new IPTV channels getting a free ride on the NBN, unfettered by content regulations that apply to FTA and cable providers.

Taking a different regulatory tack, Minister Stephen Conroy foreshadowed that the NBN would make bits of the cross-media rules irrelevant. The anti-siphoning legislation is also looking shaky.

In it's NBN discussion paper: National Broadband Network: Regulatory reform for 21st Century Broadband - the government appears to take no position on these issues, merely saying ; " However, given the significant change that the National Broadband Network will bring to the sector, it makes sense to wait until the new arrangements are further advanced before launching a full-scale review of convergence-related issues."

Screen Australia's response to the discussion paper concluded:
"It is unclear how regulation should apply to the new methods of distribution....and the distributors..... Nevertheless it is essential that the government monitor the development of the industry."

NBN test rollout has started. So we have to ask the question, are Australian content regulations on IPTV stillborn?

Look around:

Sony just launched its new Bravias with around 6 IPTV channels as part of the product offering. Samsung and others will follow.

ISPs like TPG (18 channels) and iiNet (10 channels) offer free IPTV channels.

Do Australian content regulations apply on these channels? No.
Should they apply? Maybe.
Will they apply? The way we are going, probably not.

Are there any arguments for exempting IPTV from content regs?

One goes along the lines of " It's not broadcast - because it's on-demand". Well, this becomes a nonsense when an IPTV server may be delivering more concurrent streams of the same program as a low-rating FTA or cable show.

It can't be done, because an IPTV service targeted at Australian audiences, with Australian advertising, could be served from (say) New Zealand. So it isn't an "Australian" broadcaster and is exempt from regulation.

Perhaps the only way content regulation could work is in tandem with licensing. At the moment, anyone can set up an IPTV channel - no license fees payable (something that must irk the current FTA and cable licensees).

If IPTV license fees were required for commercial players (for example the Sony Bravia channels), then content regulation could travel along with them. The re-location tactic canvassed earlier could also be stymied by applying a proviso of "intent to deliver content primarily to an Australian audience".

Hey - I'm winging it here, because there are no positions coming from the regulators or industry bodies. Does this mean that they have quietly dropped it into the circular filing cabinet, or worse, haven't even thought it through?

What this means to you

It's probable that we will move into a new distribution universe that is beyond such things as local content regulation. But imagine the dividend to local producers if even low-level content regulation was to apply to "commercial" IPTV licensees.

Australian content quotas refresher

FTA Commercial Television
Annual transmission quota of at least 55% Australian content. Sub quotas for drama, documentary and children’s programming. Translates to over 500 hours of first run Australian adult drama and $790 million spent on local content each year.

Pay Television
10% of program expenditure of nominated drama channels must be on Australian drama. Translates into around $26.4 million a year.

ABC-TV, SBS-TV
none

IPTV
None.

Debra Allanson

Carrots anyone?

IPTV as a new distribution avenue committed to backing new Australian content is an appealing idea, but relying on a licensing regime to make it happen is fraught for the reasons outlined in SImon's piece.
The clock's ticking on such regs anyway, so rather than another big stick, how about incentives?
For instance, the Government establishing a fund that backs suitable enterprises committed to creating Australian content made first or principally for IPTV delivery. Let the private sector manage it within a policy framework of fostering majority Australian owned businesses that are in the convergent media game, ie: committed to innovation in content formats and distribution.
The end game would be new Australian content; jobs in the screen production and digital media sectors; enterprise growth; media industry expansion and diversification.
Yes, I expect a grab bag of iffy precedents to be dragged out (say hello to the $45m Australian Multimedia Enterprise, and FLICS) but now that infrastructure is in place and it's all about the content, it just makes sense.
Currently, Screen Australia and the state funding bodies are scrabbling for spare change from existing appropriations to support even modest initiatives around new content formats.
It¹s timely for industry bodies - including the likes of SPAA and AIMIA together with these agencies - to take a lead on this one.

After all, it's all about the content not the pipes.

Kelly Chapman

I've been reading about an interesting argument between the founder of Boxee and the founder of HDNet, that happened at the launch of South by South West (you can read it at http://bit.ly/cEPe1Z).
Will IPTV be able to serve as many simultaneous streams as TV? Probably not. Which excludes it from broadcasting events that attract appointment viewing (major sporting events and final episodes of loved series are probably safe for now on FTA or cable).
But does IPTV suit niche broadcasting? Absolutely.
I suspect the issue will become one that's bigger than just 'Do we enforce mandatory local content quotas?'.
Television has to adapt to an on-demand audience mindset. Our government-subsidised networks are forging ahead in this area and perhaps if HDNet's founder (Mark Cuban) is right, there's a lot going on behind the scenes of network TV as well.
Not that you would know that, looking at most of Australia's network websites.
There will always be blockbuster television, just as there will always be blockbuster 'event' movies; but viewing fare that targets a smaller audience undoubtedly has a better chance of finding its niche through means other than TV... no matter where it's made.

David Court

Set me on my throne on Bondi Beach and I will show you how we are going to regulate IPTV! With a wave of my local content sceptre!
Seriously, I can't see any prospect for local content quotas on IPTV. They are chalk and cheese. If local content's what we want, then we as consumers - and/or the government acting in the public interest - will have to pay for it.
Or maybe we should just make it ourselves and whack it up on YouTube.

Anthony Palmer

The Revolution will not be Regulated

Producers of local content may need to be satisfied with the fact that over the course of 20th century media (though perhaps the Australian film industry is the exception here), local content has often manage to triumph in the face of glossy, low priced imports – audiences have always responded well to quality content made specifically for and about them.
It's reasonable to presume that that audience is still there - the challenge is to navigate the new rivers of bits and bytes to find them all over again.

That was Then - the regulatory backdrop
Let's start with the traditional justifications for regulation of 20th century television and radio in the developed world: by and large, these have historically been:

scarcity of capacity or radio spectrum

public ownership of that spectrum within a specific geographic territory

promotion of local content, specific content (eg childrens programming) and diversity - a political or cultural remit.

Member Comments

Carrots anyone?

After all, it's all about the content not the pipes.

Debra Allanson | 15|Mar|10

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