Thursday, 26 April 2007
Individual Progress Report
Surprise surprise, the server is down - again. So I can't access the report I was writing earlier, so have to do it again!
My Role
Specifically, I have been looking at the following:
* Government Related Issues
- Media Ownership: defining what the changes in law are. This includes also looking at the current laws and discussing the possible implications that these laws may have for Australian free-to-air television.
- I have also taken note of the Labor Party's $4.7 billion broadband proposal into consideration. If the party win at the September election this year and implement the proposal it could then give the technological cababilities for quicker developments in Internet and Digital television.
* Content on Free-to-Air
- I am going to be looking at the current state of content on free-to-air television and research into what the future content may look like in the near future.
Progress
Note - have some drafts on my blog which I can't access, only have access to some of it at the moment via our group blog which I have been contributing to regulalry, by copying and pasting it from my raws server blog. I have researched a fair bit into media ownership in Australia and into television as a whole. e.g. overview of ownership, who owns what
However, I found when looking at these subjects, that I have also needed to look into some technical aspects of the industry such as IPTV and voIP as well as looking at the industry more broadly, its history and where it might be headed in the future, who to contact.
My next section that I will be looking at is content - for this one I would like to arrange a couple of interviews from our list of contacts, (media industry & stations themselves) as it will be more of a speculative nature perhaps than the media ownership issue.
Research Strategies
I have spent a lot of time on the internet, as a lot of the information which is published as a book, in the library are often out of date technologically. The online journals have also been valuable in terms of gathering expert opinions on the subject of the future of television. The newspaper, (in particular the Green Guide is a wealth of informaton as well). I have found some relevant books on ownership as it stands (although, again in the coming months this is also likely to change), and some information on the history of television and the media in Australia. I have created a delicious account also which enables me to collate the research I have found in the hope of creating a bibliography when we upload all of our material together. I have also been lucky in terms of another class I have, The Media, Australian and Global which has had a couple of specific lectures on television, past and present. The group blog has also been fantastic in terms of seeing where the others are at in terms of research. Where I am wanting to go next is to compile some questions between the group and get some interviews organised. I also think that it might be valuable to do some research into advertising - as this is how television is currently paid for it would be interesting to get a perspective on how they see the future of television and whether there is decrease in advertising revenue.
Problems
Being a large group, sometimes it has been hard for us to meet together, especially because of pp as well - only really occasionally, however, we have resolved this by communicating with whoever could not make the meeting straight after by email or in person.
A potential problem might be how to collate the information we have sourced, some of our research already tends to have overlapping issues, however, I think that in bringing this up we can come up arrangements. For instance, the other week when I was looking at ownership and I found info on IPTV, I told Skye who was looking at Broadband TV so that we didn't end up with 2 of the same things down the track.
Some of the information I have found has been pretty dense, particularly legal documents, so I have found that also looking at newspaper articles has been immensely helpful because it simplifies the content and lists major points of interest.
Project Intersecting/Connecting with other research
I think our project intersects with quite a few of the other projects people are doing - lots of them are connected to content, new media, advertising, interactivity etc which are issues that influence the focus of our research project.
There is a lot of interest in the subject particularly aspects of it. I think our research has its own place as it is more of a broad overview of the topic which can touch on other more specific research. Some external examples include:
My Role
Specifically, I have been looking at the following:
* Government Related Issues
- Media Ownership: defining what the changes in law are. This includes also looking at the current laws and discussing the possible implications that these laws may have for Australian free-to-air television.
- I have also taken note of the Labor Party's $4.7 billion broadband proposal into consideration. If the party win at the September election this year and implement the proposal it could then give the technological cababilities for quicker developments in Internet and Digital television.
* Content on Free-to-Air
- I am going to be looking at the current state of content on free-to-air television and research into what the future content may look like in the near future.
Progress
Note - have some drafts on my blog which I can't access, only have access to some of it at the moment via our group blog which I have been contributing to regulalry, by copying and pasting it from my raws server blog. I have researched a fair bit into media ownership in Australia and into television as a whole. e.g. overview of ownership, who owns what
However, I found when looking at these subjects, that I have also needed to look into some technical aspects of the industry such as IPTV and voIP as well as looking at the industry more broadly, its history and where it might be headed in the future, who to contact.
My next section that I will be looking at is content - for this one I would like to arrange a couple of interviews from our list of contacts, (media industry & stations themselves) as it will be more of a speculative nature perhaps than the media ownership issue.
Research Strategies
I have spent a lot of time on the internet, as a lot of the information which is published as a book, in the library are often out of date technologically. The online journals have also been valuable in terms of gathering expert opinions on the subject of the future of television. The newspaper, (in particular the Green Guide is a wealth of informaton as well). I have found some relevant books on ownership as it stands (although, again in the coming months this is also likely to change), and some information on the history of television and the media in Australia. I have created a delicious account also which enables me to collate the research I have found in the hope of creating a bibliography when we upload all of our material together. I have also been lucky in terms of another class I have, The Media, Australian and Global which has had a couple of specific lectures on television, past and present. The group blog has also been fantastic in terms of seeing where the others are at in terms of research. Where I am wanting to go next is to compile some questions between the group and get some interviews organised. I also think that it might be valuable to do some research into advertising - as this is how television is currently paid for it would be interesting to get a perspective on how they see the future of television and whether there is decrease in advertising revenue.
Problems
Being a large group, sometimes it has been hard for us to meet together, especially because of pp as well - only really occasionally, however, we have resolved this by communicating with whoever could not make the meeting straight after by email or in person.
A potential problem might be how to collate the information we have sourced, some of our research already tends to have overlapping issues, however, I think that in bringing this up we can come up arrangements. For instance, the other week when I was looking at ownership and I found info on IPTV, I told Skye who was looking at Broadband TV so that we didn't end up with 2 of the same things down the track.
Some of the information I have found has been pretty dense, particularly legal documents, so I have found that also looking at newspaper articles has been immensely helpful because it simplifies the content and lists major points of interest.
Project Intersecting/Connecting with other research
I think our project intersects with quite a few of the other projects people are doing - lots of them are connected to content, new media, advertising, interactivity etc which are issues that influence the focus of our research project.
There is a lot of interest in the subject particularly aspects of it. I think our research has its own place as it is more of a broad overview of the topic which can touch on other more specific research. Some external examples include:
- Melbourne Uni PHD Assignment on Project: Interactive Television: Impact on Australian TV Industry - ---
PHD candidate Maria Jakovljevic's research is more focussed than what we are looking at, but highlights issues which are relevant to our research as well. - Age Article 'Stop tiptoeing around TV's future'
Discusses the failure in uptake of digital free to air television and proposes reasons why - C Net Article, 'The internet and the future of TV'
- Mark Pesce Report (link on my other blog)
- Paul Budde Report - mentioned in previous post - more of a broad overview - costs a bit to purchase report. Budde has discovered through research an upturn in television viewing, however, attributes this to the increase of pay TV subscriptions. May be worth trying to track him down for an interview - perhaps phone as he is in NSW.
- Geoff also forwarded an email a while back from the University of Queensland's publication - Media International Australia who had a call for papers for 'Beyond Broadcasting: TV for the Twenty-first Century' which was great in terms of giving us possible avenues to go down. Some suggested topics to research include:
- What is television in the twenty-first century? Should our definition of television change? What new cultural habits are emerging?
- Does television require an industry? How are audiences reinventing themselves as producers?
- What are the relationships between free to air, pay TV, public broadcasting and emerging new formats?
- What are the impacts of new distribution models, legal and illegal?
- What impacts do the new technologies and habits have on traditional institutions, policies and regulatory frameworks?
American TV article
I found a really good recent article on the CNN website called ‘The transformation of American TV’, which is about the way Americans watch TV is changing, which is very similar to what’s happening in Australia at the moment.
Some facts about US TV:
• 2004-05- Average American house watched more than 8 hours of TV a day, which has increased more than 12% since 1995.
• The ‘typical American home has access to 104 different channels, almost double the number available just six years ago’.
• Even with the huge amount of channels US viewers can watch, they are watching ‘7 percent fewer stations available to them in 2000’, which reflects the changing viewing patterns of audiences.
Peter Francese, a Demographic Trends Analyst from New York says that "People are spending far less time on network television because ... the consumer now has so many more venues that they control. They don't have to wait for a movie to come on TV; they can download it off the Internet, watch it on their computers, television or iPods."
Americans are also using TiVo a lot to record their favourite shows and watch them at a time that is convenient for them, not always at a time that the networks dictate to them. Also, You Tube is a way for people to be able to watch content they may have missed on TV.
He also said "We will never go back to the way it was in the past. Before the invention of the VCR and the DVR, watching TV was a passive act. The broadcaster controlled content and the time you watched the content, and if you missed it, you could never see it again unless it was in reruns".
At the moment, our version of the DVR is Foxtel's iQ box. Hard drive recorders like the iQ box I think are only going to increase in popularity and become a central part of our TV viewing experience in the future.
The article also mentioned how young people are more comfortable with this new technology, so they’re more likely to use it and change the way they watch TV. It says that “young people are experts in multi-tasking and are not content to sit in front of the television and watch one program”. They will watch TV, while they’re on the internet, listen to their music, do homework or watch programs they’ve downloaded while they’re online.
Some facts about US TV:
• 2004-05- Average American house watched more than 8 hours of TV a day, which has increased more than 12% since 1995.
• The ‘typical American home has access to 104 different channels, almost double the number available just six years ago’.
• Even with the huge amount of channels US viewers can watch, they are watching ‘7 percent fewer stations available to them in 2000’, which reflects the changing viewing patterns of audiences.
Peter Francese, a Demographic Trends Analyst from New York says that "People are spending far less time on network television because ... the consumer now has so many more venues that they control. They don't have to wait for a movie to come on TV; they can download it off the Internet, watch it on their computers, television or iPods."
Americans are also using TiVo a lot to record their favourite shows and watch them at a time that is convenient for them, not always at a time that the networks dictate to them. Also, You Tube is a way for people to be able to watch content they may have missed on TV.
He also said "We will never go back to the way it was in the past. Before the invention of the VCR and the DVR, watching TV was a passive act. The broadcaster controlled content and the time you watched the content, and if you missed it, you could never see it again unless it was in reruns".
At the moment, our version of the DVR is Foxtel's iQ box. Hard drive recorders like the iQ box I think are only going to increase in popularity and become a central part of our TV viewing experience in the future.
The article also mentioned how young people are more comfortable with this new technology, so they’re more likely to use it and change the way they watch TV. It says that “young people are experts in multi-tasking and are not content to sit in front of the television and watch one program”. They will watch TV, while they’re on the internet, listen to their music, do homework or watch programs they’ve downloaded while they’re online.
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
Podcasts of tv shows and Youtube
Youtube is a video sharing website which enables users to upload, view and share video clips. I was interested to find out whether Youtube will affect Australian television shows since Youtube enables users to upload up to 10 minute segments of an episode.
It enables viewers who had work or went out and didn’t record the show on their VCR to watch the episode via streaming internet.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mcleods+daughters
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:QeRIlwP7hDgJ:mashable.com/2006/11/21/the-youtube-effect-cbs-gets-massive-boost/+affect+of+youtube+on+television+shows&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=au
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:XEyUbUOQ0mMJ:ezinearticles.com/index.php%3FYouTube-In-Trouble-for-24-Television-Show-Postings%26id%3D431636+affect+of+youtube+on+television+shows&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=11&gl=au
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=affect+of+youtube+on+television+shows&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLR_enAU204AU204&start=10&sa=N
It enables viewers who had work or went out and didn’t record the show on their VCR to watch the episode via streaming internet.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mcleods+daughters
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:QeRIlwP7hDgJ:mashable.com/2006/11/21/the-youtube-effect-cbs-gets-massive-boost/+affect+of+youtube+on+television+shows&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=au
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:XEyUbUOQ0mMJ:ezinearticles.com/index.php%3FYouTube-In-Trouble-for-24-Television-Show-Postings%26id%3D431636+affect+of+youtube+on+television+shows&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=11&gl=au
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=affect+of+youtube+on+television+shows&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLR_enAU204AU204&start=10&sa=N
Friday, 20 April 2007
Pay TV Table
Here is the table from the report published in last post - apologies for formatting...
(Source: BuddeComm www.budde.com.au)
Note:*year ends December; **year ends June.
| Year | Austar* | Foxtel** retail | Foxtel wholesale (Optus & TransACT) | Foxtel** total | Others | Total |
| 2004 | 490,000 | 930,000 | 186,000 | 1,116,000 | 12,500 | 1,618,500 |
| 2005 | 534,000 | 1,025,000 | 157,000 | 1,182,000 | 15,000 | 1,731,000 |
| 2006 | 601,100 | 1,129,000 | 140,000 | 1,269,000 | 19,000 | 1,889,100 |
| 2007 (e) | 661,200 | 1,219,000 | 130,000 | 1,349,000 | 20,000 | 2,030,200 |
Differing Viewpoints
The following is the executive summary of the 2007 Australia Broadcasting and Pay TV report written by BuddeComm, an independent global telecommunications research and consultancy company run by Paul Budde from NSW. His findings have been used by the ABA, so I think it is of note to include them.
In contrast, a media release issued by Free TV Australia last year to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of television issued the following figures:
I guess some discrepancy might be explained by Free TV only looking at particular ratings periods and types of shows e.g. news and sport which traditionally rate well and only looking at one year instead of trying to see a trend as Budde's report does.
Executive Summary
BuddeComms 2007 Broadcasting and Pay TV Annual Publication, profiles key market sectors in Australia's Free-to-Air (FTA) TV, Digital TV, Pay TV and radio markets. It provides revenue and subscriber statistics as well comprehensive market overviews in areas such as Personal Video Recorders (PVRs), digital radio, Interactive TV, Set-top Boxes and datacasting.
The report reveals that FTA television industry is now facing challenges from a number of fronts as incumbent broadcasters cling to their lucrative oligopolies. Marketing and media buyers are increasingly turning to alternative media, such as through Internet and mobile channels in order to reach consumers. Digital FTA TV has been held up in a vicious cycle since its launch. Available digital content, beyond simply offering better picture qualities, has been nowhere near sufficient to help drive digital TV. The main driver of growth has been 'user experience' delivered by DVDs and plasma screens.
By early 2007 with the vast majority of subscribers on digital services, pay TV penetration had only reached just over 25% and we expect penetration to reach only 26% in 2007. An overall pay TV revenue growth of 15% was recorded in 2006 and we expect growth to remain reasonably strong in 2007, while not increasing. A launch date for digital radio of 2009 is scheduled for Australia.
Free-to-Air TV
* The Internet will become increasingly entertainment-based as broadband penetration is predicted to continue to rise steadily over next few years. Consumers will be demanding a richer and extensive online experience through services such as video based entertainment.
* During the six years from 2001 to 2006, viewing of FTA television fell by over 11%, while overall TV viewing increased, mainly driven by the rise of pay TV. The FTA networks are expected to see intense competition for viewers and advertising in 2007 and beyond, which will impact on their cost margins as they will be forced to put more money into programming and marketing.
* TV stations must market themselves more aggressively due to threats from the new media sector. Broadcasting ad revenues are already gradually being squeezed due to falling audiences and rising costs.
* Australian audiences have increasing choice and control over when, where and how they consume media. These choices have been facilitated by the rise of technologies such as digital media players (iPods and MP3 players), digital personal video recorders, and video and audio downloads.
* From 2002 to 2006, subscription television increased its average audience by approximately 30%. This increase has been at the expense of FTA networks.
Digital TV
* By the beginning of 2007, penetration of digital TVs (digital receivers or digital integrated TVs) stood at only 25% of Australian households, which still classifies digital TV as a niche medium.
* The main driver of growth has been �user experience� delivered by DVDs and plasma screens. This has been a bigger driver for digital TV devices than digital TV itself.
* Rate of adoption increased significantly in 2006 as the price of widescreen TVs (plasma and LCD) dropped to below $2000 at the lower end of the market.
* By early 2007, the move towards flat panel TVs had further accelerated with CRT TVs only constituting a small proportion of TV sales as the price of the smaller screen LCD TVs and standard definition plasmas had dropped further. This trend will continue to accelerate through to 2008 as CRT televisions are totally phased out by retailers.
* The estimated number of free to view digital television receivers sold to retailers and installers in the Australian market during the period 1 October to 31 December 2006 reached 302,000 units, raising the cumulative total sales figure since digital television transmissions began to over 2.3 million.
Pay TV
* With the introduction of digital pay TV, the industry only saw modest growth through 2004 and 2005. Growth in 2006 in fact even slowed a bit further.
* By early 2007 with the vast majority of subscribers on digital services, penetration had only reached just over 25% and we expect penetration to reach only 26% in 2007.
* While it is still not impossible for pay TV reach the 35-40% penetration mark, this level can only be reached these targets if more attractive price packages are offered, or a broadband offering within an affordable priced package is offered. So far both Foxtel and Telstra have not been able to come up with such attractive packages.
* For the year to December 2006, pay TV subscribers in Australia increased by just over 9%, only a modest increase on the previous year. A similar growth pattern is expected to continue further into 2007 and 2008.
* An overall pay TV revenue growth of 15% was recorded in 2006 and we expect growth to remain reasonably strong in 2007, while not increasing.
In contrast, a media release issued by Free TV Australia last year to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of television issued the following figures:
FREE TV FACTS:
Viewing
· Free TV reaches more than 14 million Australians every day1
· In 2006, viewing of Free TV is up two per cent in metro markets and three per cent in regional areas2
· In the key demographic of 25-54s, viewing is up nearly four per cent2
· Every one of the top 40 programs each week on Free TV attracts an average metro audience of at least 1 million viewers*
· The top rating program on Free TV frequently attracts an average audience of more than 2 million viewers in metro areas alone*
Drama
· Commercial television spend on Australian drama in 2004/05 was more than $113 million – up 26% on 1999-20003
· In 2005, the commercial networks broadcast more than 500 hours of first release Australian Adult drama3
· Broadcasters also screened 96 hours of first release Children’s drama3
Sport
· Eleven of the top 20 programs so far in 2006, have been sports programs**
· Viewing of sport on Free TV has increased 28% this year4
· Viewing of sport by Women 25-54 has increased by 44%4
· Free TV broadcasters use the rights they acquire to sports events on the anti-siphoning list
· Crosby Textor Research conducted in late 2005 found that 89% of those surveyed believed that it is important to keep the antisiphoning rules in place and 64% said it’s important to maintain the current level of sporting coverage on free to air television Free TV Australia Page 3 Media Release
News
· More than 14 million Australians tuned in to a commercial free-to-air news and current affairs program last week alone5
· Spend on news and current affairs in 2004/05 by commercial television networks was more than $167 million3
Contribution to Australian production
· Free TV broadcasters spent $813 million on Australian programming in 2004/05 representing 70% of all programming costs3
· Spending on Australian programming has increased 16% since 1999/20003
· Free TV networks remain the major underwriters of the audio-visual production industry in Australia6
Contribution to consolidated revenue
· Free TV networks have contributed over $2 billion dollars in licence fees over the last decade (over and above normal tax payments)
Figures compiled by Free TV Australia
1 Figures sourced from OzTAM and RegionalTAM: survey weeks 7-16, 2006
2 Figures sourced from OzTAM and RegionalTAM data; Free TV analysis of survey weeks 7-34, 2006
3 ACMA Broadcasting Financial Results 2004-05
4 Figures sourced from OzTAM and RegionalTAM data; Free TV analysis of survey weeks 7-31, 2006
5 Figures sourced from OzTAM and RegionalTAM data; Free TV analysis of survey week 36, 2006
6 Australian Film Commission, Get the Picture 2005
* Figures sourced from OzTAM and RegionalTAM
** Figures sourced from OzTAM and RegionalTAM; weeks 1-35, 2006
I guess some discrepancy might be explained by Free TV only looking at particular ratings periods and types of shows e.g. news and sport which traditionally rate well and only looking at one year instead of trying to see a trend as Budde's report does.
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Darwin
* Programming trends
* How this affects employment
* Content, ratings
* Podcasts of TV Shows, You Tube
Laura
* Cable TV in Aus, digitalisation.
* Playstation, X-Box
* You Tube
* P2P Software
Jade
* Overseas trends in UK, UK markets
* How this compares in Aus.
* Which model will we follow/ are we following?
* Relationship b/w free-to-air and cable TV in Aus
Jo
* Ownership Laws
* Content- how to go about getting shows on Aus Free-to-air.
* Aus Drama?
Skye
* Broadband TV
* How online technologies affect Free-to-Air
* Other new technologies, maybe DVD sales? People buying DVD sets as Aus TV channels put their favourite shows late at night, e.g Nip/Tuck. Does this affect free-to-air TV?
We also thought of some potential interviewees, so we'll have to start working on contacting them and seeing if they're interested in speaking to us:
* Allan James Thomas
Lecturer at RMIT
Mobile Phones, Future of TV
* Michelle Davies (aka Laura's sister)
Solicitor for Southern Cross Broadcasting, Broadcast Lawyer
* Posie Graeme-Evans
Co-creator of McLeod's Daughters, Exec. Producer on many Aus Productions like The Alice, Stingers, Hi-5. Based in Sydney.
* Diane Cook
Previously lectured in Television Cultures
Based at La Trobe Uni now
* Sue Masters
* Grant Roff
RMIT Lecturer
* Programming trends
* How this affects employment
* Content, ratings
* Podcasts of TV Shows, You Tube
Laura
* Cable TV in Aus, digitalisation.
* Playstation, X-Box
* You Tube
* P2P Software
Jade
* Overseas trends in UK, UK markets
* How this compares in Aus.
* Which model will we follow/ are we following?
* Relationship b/w free-to-air and cable TV in Aus
Jo
* Ownership Laws
* Content- how to go about getting shows on Aus Free-to-air.
* Aus Drama?
Skye
* Broadband TV
* How online technologies affect Free-to-Air
* Other new technologies, maybe DVD sales? People buying DVD sets as Aus TV channels put their favourite shows late at night, e.g Nip/Tuck. Does this affect free-to-air TV?
We also thought of some potential interviewees, so we'll have to start working on contacting them and seeing if they're interested in speaking to us:
* Allan James Thomas
Lecturer at RMIT
Mobile Phones, Future of TV
* Michelle Davies (aka Laura's sister)
Solicitor for Southern Cross Broadcasting, Broadcast Lawyer
* Posie Graeme-Evans
Co-creator of McLeod's Daughters, Exec. Producer on many Aus Productions like The Alice, Stingers, Hi-5. Based in Sydney.
* Diane Cook
Previously lectured in Television Cultures
Based at La Trobe Uni now
* Sue Masters
* Grant Roff
RMIT Lecturer
online TV australia = shit
I typed 'online TV autralia' into google and it came up with a German site that has Australian news on it. I watched the National Nine News TV one, and was really disappointed after reading so much about the Joost site. This was grainy, slow and so small. Hurry up Joost and get here!
Interesting online video statistics from: http://www2.cio.com/cmo/metrics/viewmetric.cfm?METRIC=866
A little old but still relevant?
October 26, 2005
In June 2005, more than 94 million people in the U.S., or 56 percent of the domestic Internet population, viewed a streaming video online. The average consumer viewed 73 minutes of streaming video content per month. Interestingly, male users, who represent 50 percent of the total online population, accounted for 61 percent of video streamers, but both male and female viewers spent roughly the same amount of time watching online video content. The 18 to 34 year-old male segment, which is the most difficult to reach through other media, watches for longer than other population segments at 84 minutes per viewer. The daytime was also the most popular time for viewing streaming video from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Source: Comscore Networks
Some statistics on Youtube found on Steve Rubels blog. http://www.micropersuasion.com/2006/08/youtube_by_the_.html
* In a single month the number of videos on the site grew 20% to 6.1 million
* YouTube has some 45 terabytes of videos
* Video views reached 1.73 billion
* 70% of YouTube's registered users are American, roughly 50% are under 20
* The total time people spent watching YouTube since it started last year is 9,305 years
Joost online TV
Joost is an online TV site that brings many channels together. Some of the channels and where they are available include:
| Channel | Available in |
|---|---|
| Alliance Atlantis Sci-Fi | Worldwide excluding United States and Canada |
| Atlantic Street | United States |
| BET | United States |
| Beyond the Pit | United States |
| Bite TV | Worldwide |
| BoomChicago | Worldwide |
| Braindead | Worldwide |
| Bridezillas | Worldwide excluding United States |
| Channel Frederator | Worldwide |
| Chat the Planet | Worldwide |
| Classica Channel | Worldwide excluding Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland |
| Comedy Central | United States |
| Critical Shorts | Worldwide |
| DR | Worldwide |
| Explora Channel | Worldwide |
| Fabchannel Concerts | Worldwide |
| Fifth Gear Shortcuts | Worldwide |
| Fight Network | Worldwide |
| Floating Worlds | Worldwide |
| GameStar TV | Worldwide |
| GONG | Europe |
| Guinness World Records TV | Worldwide |
| Havoc Action Sports TV | Worldwide excluding Japan |
| Havoc Music TV | Worldwide excluding Japan |
| Healthination | Worldwide |
| Hot & Wet | Worldwide |
| i-concerts | UK |
| IndieFlix Premier Hits | Worldwide |
| IndyCar Series | Worldwide |
| Intimate & Interactive | Worldwide |
| Joost Suggests | Worldwide |
| Jump TV Arabia | Worldwide excluding Middle East |
| Jump TV Latino | Worldwide excluding Canada and Latin America |
| Lassie | Worldwide |
| Lazy TV | United States |
| Lazy TV UK | Worldwide |
| Life on Terra | Worldwide |
| Lime | Worldwide |
| Live @ Much | Worldwide |
| Logo | United States |
| LXTV | Worldwide |
| Ministry of Sound Access All Areas | Worldwide |
| Ministry of Sound Music Videos | Worldwide |
| MTV | United States |
| MTV Benelux | Selected countries in Europe, South America, US and Japan |
| MTV Nordic | Selected countries in Europe, South America, US and Japan |
| MTV Staying Alive | Worldwide |
| Much Does Wakestock | Worldwide |
| MuchAdrenaline | Worldwide |
| MuchMusic Video Awards | Worldwide |
| MuchNews Weekly | Worldwide |
| MuchOnDemand | Worldwide |
| Music Nation | Worldwide |
| Nardwuar | Worldwide |
| National Geographic | United States, Canada |
| Nettwerk | Worldwide |
| New Atlantis | Worldwide |
| Off the Fence Docs | Worldwide |
| OnSet | Worldwide |
| PokerHeaven TV | Worldwide |
| Ren and Stimpy | United States |
| Rehearsals.com | Worldwide |
| Saavn | Worldwide |
| Saturday Morning TV | Worldwide |
| SecondsOut.tv | Worldwide |
| The Circus Channel | Worldwide excl IT |
| The Diddy Channel | United States |
| The Hobby Channel | Worldwide |
| The New Music | Worldwide |
| The Recipe Channel | Worldwide excl ES, PT |
| The Roger Sisters | Worldwide |
| The Soccer Channel | Europe, United States, Middle East |
| The Trance Channel | Worldwide |
| VH1 | United States |
| Virgin Fest 2006 | Worldwide |
| VOY TV | Worldwide |
| Warner Bros. Records | United States |
| Whereitsat.tv | Worldwide |
| WildLight | Worldwide |
| Witness | Worldwide |
| World Poker Tour | Worldwide excluding United States |
| World’s Strongest Man | Worldwide |
| XL Recordings Channel | Worldwide |
Information below from article ‘Idiot box smartens up its act‘, in ‘The Age‘ Livewire, 22 March 2007.
- Joost plans to give users access to free online, high quality, full screen TV, with hundreds of channels to choose from, full length features, as well as extras like instant messaging and chat.
- Joost will be released mid year (end of June). 14,000 ‘invited’ users are currently testing the service.
- What does Joost bring that is differnt to current online TV? is that it brings high-quality, full screen and feature length programs.
- The control panel (that appears when users move the mouse during a program), includes suggestions of shows by Joost, as well as volume control and the program information. A program search box is also on the panel.
- Joost is made by the people who founded KaZaA and Skype, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom.
- Joost’s viewers will be able to select programs from up to 100,000 channels.
- Users can use widgets as overlays, BUT content owners can disable widgets from being used during their program. Zennstrom is discouraging this, as he believes that these overlays are the future of TV.
- “Joost will make money by creating what amounts to an individualised mass market for advertisers, Mr de Wahl says. And advertisers will love the fact that there is no way for viewers to avoid the advertisements, but there will be only three minutes of advertising an hour.”
- Viewers in the US of prime-time TV put up with up to 15 min of ads an hour. British commercial channels show between 7 and 8 min an hour. So 3 sounds pretty darn good.
- Ads will be tailored to each persons viewing history and postcode. They understand that the postcode part is a problem, as many people lie about where they live. “More Skype users claim to live in the Bahamas than the entire population of the Islands.
IPTV (& voIP) About
When researching about ownership issues in Australian free-to-air tv I came across this term IPTV - which I now know means Internet Protocol Television. IPTV can operate with the internet andVoIP this bundling referred to as triple play.
About VoIP
VoIP basically using the internet to make telephone calls - saving money in the process for the consumer - often VoIP to VoIP calls are free. Now that I think about it I know people that use it now - for calling overseas and interstate. It has also been adopted commercially, e.g. Coles Myer also uses the technology to call between offices.
About IPTV
IPTV operates over a closed network and is in competition with content delivered over the internet (Internet Television).
Simple Definition
IPTV began in 1994 with the ABC's World News Now being the first TV show to be broadcast over the net. Projected audiences of IPTV are expected to be 400 million by 2010. (Wikipedia 2007)
IPTV can be free or fee based. Currently there are 1300 free IPTV channels available on the net. IPTV can also work with HDTV.
How does it work?
IPTV can use both live TV and Video on Demand (VoD).
Advantages of IPTV
Disadvantages
Other Sources
About VoIP
VoIP basically using the internet to make telephone calls - saving money in the process for the consumer - often VoIP to VoIP calls are free. Now that I think about it I know people that use it now - for calling overseas and interstate. It has also been adopted commercially, e.g. Coles Myer also uses the technology to call between offices.
VoIP challenges:
* Delay/Network Latency
* Packet loss
* Jitter
* Echo
* Security
About IPTV
IPTV operates over a closed network and is in competition with content delivered over the internet (Internet Television).
Simple Definition
simpler definition of IPTV would be television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional formats and cabling, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.
IPTV began in 1994 with the ABC's World News Now being the first TV show to be broadcast over the net. Projected audiences of IPTV are expected to be 400 million by 2010. (Wikipedia 2007)
IPTV can be free or fee based. Currently there are 1300 free IPTV channels available on the net. IPTV can also work with HDTV.
How does it work?
IPTV uses a two-way digital broadcast signal sent through a switched telephone or cable network by way of a broadband connection and a set-top box programmed with software (much like a cable or DSS box) that can handle viewer requests to access to many available media sources.
IPTV can use both live TV and Video on Demand (VoD).
Advantages of IPTV
- frees up bandwidth
- increases interactivity
- VoD
- better compression
- triple play
- IPTV based Converged Services
Disadvantages
- sensitive to packet loss and delays if Internet speed slow
- Security
Other Sources
Issues with IPTV - ‘Order Chaos and Anarchy’
In March this year, Swinburne University commissioned Mark D. Pesce of Smart Internet Technology CRC Pty Ltd to undertake a report on IPTV - entitled now as 'IPTV - Order Chaos and Anarchy'
Pesce highlights the issue of the slow broadband speed in Australia - not high enough for IPTV (needing to be a 'thousand times greater than the aggregate peak throughput offered by Australian ISPs' .) (Pesce 2007 p8) to function at its best and believes that the inability of the commercial networks in Australia to embrace the technology in the past has meant that 'It may already be too late to bring commercial IPTV to Australia'. (Pesce 2007 p4) Pesce also reinforces that he believes that Australia and its insistence on hanging onto the broadcast model of commercial television is behind other developed countries 'the most advanced nations – in
South Korea, Japan, Western Europe, and North America – broadcasting is leaving'. (Pesce 2007 p4)
He also highlights the "chaos" element - the opposition to the broadcast model - using the term '“hyperdistribution” (which allow any audiovisual content to be shared with anyone, anywhere, at little or now cost)' (Pesce 2007 p5) Here the issues of copyright are still being difficult to handle. (Incidentally, on the news the other day it mentioned down the track service providers being able to detect illegal downloading and then blocking users from the net).
At the moment, there is only one IPTV service in Australia - in Canberra. To have the service to the whole of the country - Pesce estimates it would require 'possibly tens of billions...and could only come from a partnership between industry and government' (Pesce 2007 p 8-9) So it will be interesting if the proposed changes by the Labor government will come into effect if the party wins the next election this September.
More soon...
Pesce highlights the issue of the slow broadband speed in Australia - not high enough for IPTV (needing to be a 'thousand times greater than the aggregate peak throughput offered by Australian ISPs' .) (Pesce 2007 p8) to function at its best and believes that the inability of the commercial networks in Australia to embrace the technology in the past has meant that 'It may already be too late to bring commercial IPTV to Australia'. (Pesce 2007 p4) Pesce also reinforces that he believes that Australia and its insistence on hanging onto the broadcast model of commercial television is behind other developed countries 'the most advanced nations – in
South Korea, Japan, Western Europe, and North America – broadcasting is leaving'. (Pesce 2007 p4)
He also highlights the "chaos" element - the opposition to the broadcast model - using the term '“hyperdistribution” (which allow any audiovisual content to be shared with anyone, anywhere, at little or now cost)' (Pesce 2007 p5) Here the issues of copyright are still being difficult to handle. (Incidentally, on the news the other day it mentioned down the track service providers being able to detect illegal downloading and then blocking users from the net).
At the moment, there is only one IPTV service in Australia - in Canberra. To have the service to the whole of the country - Pesce estimates it would require 'possibly tens of billions...and could only come from a partnership between industry and government' (Pesce 2007 p 8-9) So it will be interesting if the proposed changes by the Labor government will come into effect if the party wins the next election this September.
More soon...
Wednesday, 18 April 2007
Contact Details – TV Stations in Australia
Commercial Stations
Imparja Television
PO Box 52
ALICE SPRINGS NT 5750
Telephone: (08) 8950 1411
Fax: (08) 8950 1422
NBN Television
PO Box 750L
NEWCASTLE NSW 2300
Telephone: (02) 4929 2933
Fax: (02) 4926 2936
Network Ten
GPO Box 10
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Telephone: (02) 9650 1010
Fax: (02) 9650 1111
Ten Melbourne
Network Ten (Melbourne) Ltd
Private Bag 5000
SOUTH YARRA VIC 3141
Tel: (03) 9275 1010
Fax: (03) 9275 1011
Nine Network
PO Box 27
WILLOUGHBY NSW 2068
Telephone: (02) 9906 9999
Fax: (02) 9436 0406
Nine Melbourne
General Television Corporation Pty Ltd
PO Box 100
RICHMOND VIC 3121
Tel: (03) 9420 3111
Fax: (03) 9429 3670
Prime Television
PO Box 878
DICKSON ACT 2602
Telephone: (02) 6264 3700
Fax: (02) 6242 3764
Seven Network
Seven Network Limited
PO Box 777
PYRMONT NSW 2009
Telephone: (02) 8777 7777
Fax: (02) 8777 7778
Seven Melbourne
Seven Network (Melbourne) Pty Limited
GPO Box 4477
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Tel: (03) 9697 7777
Fax: (03) 9697 7676
Southern Cross Broadcasting
GPO Box 1837
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Telephone: (03) 9243 2100
Fax: (03) 9682 5158
WIN Television
Locked Bag 8800
SOUTH COAST MAIL CENTRE NSW 2521
Telephone: (02) 4223 4199
Fax: (02) 4227 3682
Community Broadcasters Association of Australia
Postal Address
P.O. Box 564
Alexandria NSW
1435
Physical Address
Level 3
44 - 54 Botany Road
Alexandria NSW
2015
Phone: (02) 9310 2999
Fax: (02) 9319 4545
email: office@cbaa.org.au
Public Broadcasters
ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/contact/
SBS
Direct
(02) 94302828 (Sydney)
(03) 99492121 (Melbourne)
Toll Free
1800 500 727 (Nationwide)
or TTY 1800 502 828
WRITE TO OR FAX:
Director Radio,
Director Content (Television and Online)
SBS, Locked Bag 028
Crows Nest, NSW 1585
Fax: (02) 9430 3047
Source - Free TV Network Links and websites of channels
Imparja Television
PO Box 52
ALICE SPRINGS NT 5750
Telephone: (08) 8950 1411
Fax: (08) 8950 1422
NBN Television
PO Box 750L
NEWCASTLE NSW 2300
Telephone: (02) 4929 2933
Fax: (02) 4926 2936
Network Ten
GPO Box 10
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Telephone: (02) 9650 1010
Fax: (02) 9650 1111
Ten Melbourne
Network Ten (Melbourne) Ltd
Private Bag 5000
SOUTH YARRA VIC 3141
Tel: (03) 9275 1010
Fax: (03) 9275 1011
Nine Network
PO Box 27
WILLOUGHBY NSW 2068
Telephone: (02) 9906 9999
Fax: (02) 9436 0406
Nine Melbourne
General Television Corporation Pty Ltd
PO Box 100
RICHMOND VIC 3121
Tel: (03) 9420 3111
Fax: (03) 9429 3670
Prime Television
PO Box 878
DICKSON ACT 2602
Telephone: (02) 6264 3700
Fax: (02) 6242 3764
Seven Network
Seven Network Limited
PO Box 777
PYRMONT NSW 2009
Telephone: (02) 8777 7777
Fax: (02) 8777 7778
Seven Melbourne
Seven Network (Melbourne) Pty Limited
GPO Box 4477
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Tel: (03) 9697 7777
Fax: (03) 9697 7676
Southern Cross Broadcasting
GPO Box 1837
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Telephone: (03) 9243 2100
Fax: (03) 9682 5158
WIN Television
Locked Bag 8800
SOUTH COAST MAIL CENTRE NSW 2521
Telephone: (02) 4223 4199
Fax: (02) 4227 3682
Community Broadcasters Association of Australia
Postal Address
P.O. Box 564
Alexandria NSW
1435
Physical Address
Level 3
44 - 54 Botany Road
Alexandria NSW
2015
Phone: (02) 9310 2999
Fax: (02) 9319 4545
email: office@cbaa.org.au
Public Broadcasters
ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/contact/
SBS
Direct
(02) 94302828 (Sydney)
(03) 99492121 (Melbourne)
Toll Free
1800 500 727 (Nationwide)
or TTY 1800 502 828
WRITE TO OR FAX:
Director Radio,
Director Content (Television and Online)
SBS, Locked Bag 028
Crows Nest, NSW 1585
Fax: (02) 9430 3047
Source - Free TV Network Links and websites of channels
Media Ownership in Australia - Part 1 Intro
Phew - I forgot my username and password briefly - this is just a copy of the first ownership post I did a couple of weeks ago. I am going to get some more information tonight.
I have looked at the following to try and get an understanding of ownership laws in Australia, particularly in relation to TV. I have had a look at the Parliament of Australia's website which outlines the current laws. The Media Laws Blueprint, which was rejected in 2002 is now going to become legislation after the Liberal Government's victory in the upper and lower houses in the previous election. The date mentioned by Communications Minister, Helen Coonan is June or July this year.
The following laws are from the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.
The obvious implication of these changes are lack of diversity in the media, which if you saw the doco we watched 'US Media Blues' by Yves Bosset about the passive nature of the US media post 9/11 is terrifying and the effect of the media on politics.
I think that the decision to only have the 3 commercial stations currently in existence is ridiculous - it would be great for competition to have a new player in the market. This appears to be a clause put in by the big guns, so this is again concerning to see the influence the media has on pollies.
Government Bodies overseeing Reforms once Implemented
Some useful sources I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_in_Australia
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21423667-7582,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2006/1711568.htm
I have looked at the following to try and get an understanding of ownership laws in Australia, particularly in relation to TV. I have had a look at the Parliament of Australia's website which outlines the current laws. The Media Laws Blueprint, which was rejected in 2002 is now going to become legislation after the Liberal Government's victory in the upper and lower houses in the previous election. The date mentioned by Communications Minister, Helen Coonan is June or July this year.
The following laws are from the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.
TelevisionLuckily, yesterday I had a lecture in another of my subjects, The Media, Australian and Global which went over in brief the laws that are changing.
A person must not control television broadcasting licences whose combined licence area exceeds 75 per cent of the population of Australia, or more than one licence within a licence area (section 53). Foreign persons must not be in a position to control a licence and the total of foreign interests must not exceed 20 per cent (section 57). There are also limits on multiple directorships (section 55) and foreign directors (section 58).
Cross-Media Control
Under section 60 a person must not control:
* a commercial television broadcasting licence and a commercial radio broadcasting licence having the same licence area;
* a commercial television broadcasting licence and a newspaper associated with that licence area;
* or a commercial radio broadcasting licence and newspaper associated with that licence area.
Subscription Television Broadcasting Licences
A foreign person must not have company interests exceeding 20 per cent in a broadcasting subscription licence, and the total of foreign company interests in any licence must not exceed 35 per cent (section 109).
- Digital Action Plan b 2010-2012 (digitisation of TV)
- No new free-to-air television stations, however, multi-channeling of the current stations is allowed
- Anti-syphoning laws - means that if you buy the rights to show a program you must show it. In past, have been cases where channel e.g. 9 will buy rights to two shows then only show one so that people will tune into that and not have competition.
- Foreign ownership restrictions will be removed except for conditions mentioned in other legislations e.g. Competition
- Cross-media Ownership - removal of this with conditions. There is still a requirement for a number of players in the marketplace - 5 in the city and 4 in the country, (drop from current level of 11).
The obvious implication of these changes are lack of diversity in the media, which if you saw the doco we watched 'US Media Blues' by Yves Bosset about the passive nature of the US media post 9/11 is terrifying and the effect of the media on politics.
I think that the decision to only have the 3 commercial stations currently in existence is ridiculous - it would be great for competition to have a new player in the market. This appears to be a clause put in by the big guns, so this is again concerning to see the influence the media has on pollies.
Government Bodies overseeing Reforms once Implemented
- Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
Some useful sources I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_in_Australia
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21423667-7582,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2006/1711568.htm
Testing
ok FINALLY got a google account and can add to this blog........when i actually have something of use to say. hope to be saying something intelligent soon, but please, don't get your hopes up.
cheers, laura.
cheers, laura.
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Some statistics.......
Australian Film Commission- TV Industry Statistics
This site is really good, its has some outdated stats but some current (2006) ones as well (and graphs!!). I still have to go though the links and see which stats and info we can actually use, but at first glance, these links looked useful. We could maybe take some older graphs and use our awesome Year 12 maths skills to predict current statistics?? Yes! Go team go!
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/freetv.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wptvanalysis.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wftvviewdigitalrec.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wftvpbroadabccontent.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wftvpbroadabchours.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/nps/npstrends.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/nps/npsover.html
Also found this......
The Australian Film and Television Industry - An Overview
Australian Film Television and Radio School
March 1999
Again, pretty outdated, but has some good general info about the TV industry, that's still relevant.
This site is really good, its has some outdated stats but some current (2006) ones as well (and graphs!!). I still have to go though the links and see which stats and info we can actually use, but at first glance, these links looked useful. We could maybe take some older graphs and use our awesome Year 12 maths skills to predict current statistics?? Yes! Go team go!
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/freetv.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wptvanalysis.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wftvviewdigitalrec.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wftvpbroadabccontent.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wftvpbroadabchours.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/nps/npstrends.html
http://www.afc.gov.au/nps/npsover.html
Also found this......
The Australian Film and Television Industry - An Overview
Australian Film Television and Radio School
March 1999
Again, pretty outdated, but has some good general info about the TV industry, that's still relevant.
News articles about Australian TV
Some of these are a bit outdated, but they all have some interesting info that maybe we could use.....
‘Stop tiptoeing around TV's future’
Jock Given
September 28, 2006
About Australian Digital TV, and how our conversion from analogue to digital hasn’t been as successful as hoped.
‘Media Futures’
The Media Report- ABC Radio National Transcript
12 May 2005
Talks about how the introduction of technologies like the internet have affected and will affect commercial television (also talks about how it affects newspapers).
‘Fight for sore eyes’
October 8, 2004
Not very recent, but has some interesting info.
Talks about the huge amount of content needed to fill all the TV channels we have now with the introduction all so many channels on Foxtel, and where it is all coming from, e.g endless repeats, timeshift channels.
Back in 2004, there were plans to introduce another free-to-air channel. Advertising executive John Singleton had plans at the time for an ‘Australian Only’ channel with 100% local content. He didn’t get much support on the idea, as it would cost too much to produce that many shows to a high enough standard that people would actually watch, and the channel would be profitable.
‘Australia must make its own films and TV’
November 21, 2003
Talks about the Australian film and TV industry in relation to free trade agreements.
‘Let's not throw in the towel on media diversity’
June 24 2003
Talks about cross-ownership laws
‘Pay TV futures, the morning after the launch of Optus Vision’
The Media Report- ABC Radio National Transcript
Thursday 21st September 1995
Really old article, so not sure how relevant it is, but interesting to see how cable was launched in Australia, and the kind of press coverage it got, and what people thought of cable back then.
‘Stop tiptoeing around TV's future’
Jock Given
September 28, 2006
About Australian Digital TV, and how our conversion from analogue to digital hasn’t been as successful as hoped.
‘Media Futures’
The Media Report- ABC Radio National Transcript
12 May 2005
Talks about how the introduction of technologies like the internet have affected and will affect commercial television (also talks about how it affects newspapers).
‘Fight for sore eyes’
October 8, 2004
Not very recent, but has some interesting info.
Talks about the huge amount of content needed to fill all the TV channels we have now with the introduction all so many channels on Foxtel, and where it is all coming from, e.g endless repeats, timeshift channels.
Back in 2004, there were plans to introduce another free-to-air channel. Advertising executive John Singleton had plans at the time for an ‘Australian Only’ channel with 100% local content. He didn’t get much support on the idea, as it would cost too much to produce that many shows to a high enough standard that people would actually watch, and the channel would be profitable.
‘Australia must make its own films and TV’
November 21, 2003
Talks about the Australian film and TV industry in relation to free trade agreements.
‘Let's not throw in the towel on media diversity’
June 24 2003
Talks about cross-ownership laws
‘Pay TV futures, the morning after the launch of Optus Vision’
The Media Report- ABC Radio National Transcript
Thursday 21st September 1995
Really old article, so not sure how relevant it is, but interesting to see how cable was launched in Australia, and the kind of press coverage it got, and what people thought of cable back then.
Useful TV Industry Links
Australian TV Industry news
www.mediaspy.org
www.australian-media.com.au
Australian TV Industry blogs or forums
www.tvtonight.com.au
http://www.televisionau.braveblog.com/
http://idents.tv/blog
http://forum.australian-media.com.au
http://www.mediaspy.org/forum/
History of Australian TV
http://www.televisionau.siv.net.au/
Astra (Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association)
http://www.astra.org.au/home.asp
www.mediaspy.org
www.australian-media.com.au
Australian TV Industry blogs or forums
www.tvtonight.com.au
http://www.televisionau.braveblog.com/
http://idents.tv/blog
http://forum.australian-media.com.au
http://www.mediaspy.org/forum/
History of Australian TV
http://www.televisionau.siv.net.au/
Astra (Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association)
http://www.astra.org.au/home.asp
Monday, 16 April 2007
Media Ownership in Australia - Who Owns What?
Well, since Helen Coonan's announcement of the new media ownership laws, the media barons have been dashing to get their hands on some of the booty. No longer do they have to be 'Princes of Print' of 'Queens of the Screen' - removal of cross-media ownership laws means they can have their fingers in a few pies.
The Government's media law changes will allow foreign investors to control Australian media companies. The new laws will also allow local owners to control two of the three main media platforms - newspapers, radio and television - in the same geographical markets.
Source - The Age
Back to the current state of events, starting with the easiest.
The Australian Government owns the ABC and SBS.
Most of the following is taken from
M Armstrong and H Molnar (eds) Control and Ownership of Australian Communication, Media and Telecommunications Policy Group, RMIT, Melbourne, September 1996.
A 1995 Australian Press Council article by Professor David Flint looked at the current ownership laws and discussed the need for reform. There is also a handy table on the site which displays the current media barons and their shares in TV, Radio, Print, (although not internet, as it is a bit old).
According to PM, a ABC Radio National broadcast on 13 January 2005, Channel 10 has reportedly been approached by Fairfax Publishing Group (a previous owner of Channel 7 in Sydney in the 1980s), with key shareholder CanWest Global from Canada of Mr Izzy Asper who currently own 58% of the network are prepared to sell their voting share of 15% to Fairfax. Ten also have an affiliation with Southern Cross and Ten Victoria - rural stations. For more of a history of channel 10.
Channel 7 is owned by News Ltd (Murdoch) with 14% share as well as Kerry Stokes 19%. The network also shares control of MGM studios with Kirk Kerkorian.
Channel 9 is wholly owned by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) (Packers family) whose controlling shareholder is Consolidated Press Holdings Limited. PBL is also involved in Pay TV, film production, leisure, entertainment and newspapers. Recently it has been in competition with its rural affiliate Win Television in a bid for Newcastle station NBN. PBL also have a 25% share in Foxtel.
Other Sources
Parliament of Australia - Media Regulation Notes - includes information on major media players in Australia.
Inside Business article 'Media Barons to 'road test' new laws'
The Government's media law changes will allow foreign investors to control Australian media companies. The new laws will also allow local owners to control two of the three main media platforms - newspapers, radio and television - in the same geographical markets.
Source - The Age
Back to the current state of events, starting with the easiest.
The Australian Government owns the ABC and SBS.
Most of the following is taken from
M Armstrong and H Molnar (eds) Control and Ownership of Australian Communication, Media and Telecommunications Policy Group, RMIT, Melbourne, September 1996.
A 1995 Australian Press Council article by Professor David Flint looked at the current ownership laws and discussed the need for reform. There is also a handy table on the site which displays the current media barons and their shares in TV, Radio, Print, (although not internet, as it is a bit old).
According to PM, a ABC Radio National broadcast on 13 January 2005, Channel 10 has reportedly been approached by Fairfax Publishing Group (a previous owner of Channel 7 in Sydney in the 1980s), with key shareholder CanWest Global from Canada of Mr Izzy Asper who currently own 58% of the network are prepared to sell their voting share of 15% to Fairfax. Ten also have an affiliation with Southern Cross and Ten Victoria - rural stations. For more of a history of channel 10.
Channel 7 is owned by News Ltd (Murdoch) with 14% share as well as Kerry Stokes 19%. The network also shares control of MGM studios with Kirk Kerkorian.
Channel 9 is wholly owned by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) (Packers family) whose controlling shareholder is Consolidated Press Holdings Limited. PBL is also involved in Pay TV, film production, leisure, entertainment and newspapers. Recently it has been in competition with its rural affiliate Win Television in a bid for Newcastle station NBN. PBL also have a 25% share in Foxtel.
Other Sources
Parliament of Australia - Media Regulation Notes - includes information on major media players in Australia.
Inside Business article 'Media Barons to 'road test' new laws'
Thursday, 12 April 2007
Contact list
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2AIRYPD6GBQZN/ref=cm_blog_pdp/104-3059267-7451169 -
http://www.mcleodsdroversrun.com/Posie.html
Posie Graeme-Evans
co-creator of mcleods daughters
exec producer of The Alice, Mc Leods, Stingers
http://www.mcleodsdroversrun.com/Posie.html
Posie Graeme-Evans
co-creator of mcleods daughters
exec producer of The Alice, Mc Leods, Stingers
Trends of Programming (and how it affects employment)
One of my initial research questions related to the trends of free to air programming and how it affects local employment. I think this is important to find out because we all want to work in the television industry and this will assist us in knowing what sectors we are able to work in, within the future.
One way of finding out the trends of current programming is viewing OZtam’s Top 20 programs. By seeing this weeks chart (1st – 7th April), local employment will not be affected that much considering that 17 out of the top 20 shows are Australian which is up from the last time I checked, which was about 3 weeks ago (11th – 17th March) where there was 13/20 local content.
However, the type of shows evident demonstrates a real problem for the area in which certain individuals can work in. Only one dramatic production is on the list – All Saints which is at #4. The rest are variety and game show programs such as Rove Live, which is at #1, Dancing with the stars (#2), News, 1 vs 100, so if employees want to specialise in a television drama series, options are limited (this is also why people have to be multi skilled in other areas).
This is demonstrated by the recent announcements relating to free to air network’s upcoming schedules. Commitments to drama production by the channel 10 and 7 networks does not look good for local employment. With channel 10 only supporting local drama with the telemovie The Joanne Lees Story, which aired in the past month, priorities certainly lie in other areas.
Among the local productions, Ten stated that they will offer a new family entertainment series, a game show, as well as two factual series. Ten has also entered into new programming deals with 20th Century Fox and CBS Entertainment. The new overseas products that will screen this year includes a great number of Jamie Oliver projects and three US series.
(I think this is due to cost issues with a drama production costing approximately $500,000 to make while importing an episode of a US drama costs networks $80,000)
Seven's announcement of the first phase of its plans for 2007 featured just one new local program, the format show Australia's Got Talent, alongside six new US series and a major emphasis on sporting coverage. So Seven – at the moment – will not be contributing to local dramatic content.
Nine has announced the mini-series Tsunami, to join series, Sea Patrol. It will also screen the NZ-set reality series The Lost Tribes, two new local factual series; and talk show The Dame Edna Experience, as well as three series from the US and NZ's Outrageous Fortune.
Thanks to the increasing ad revenue, SBS Independent (SBSi) has pledged $94.5 million dollars to independent producers over the next four years. SBS has pre-bought the three-part series Desperately Seeking Doctors and Adam Elliot's new animated feature Mary and Max, while giving in-principle approval to one six-part and two three-part series and five new local documentaries. Which sounds promising.
Finally, ABC TV will screen an additional 15 hours of Australian drama and 25 hours of local documentaries from the additional allocation of $10 million over three years. Thus far, the ABC has commissioned two new one-off one-hour dramas; telemovies Valentine's Day and Curtin; the mini-series Bastard Boys, and six-part dramas The Librarians and Rainshadow. Outside of drama, new programming will include Wendy Harmer's four-part series Stuff, a debate and discussion show, and a one-hour topical comedy program with Ted Robinson.
It seems that the 3 dominating networks are interested in winning the ratings race rather than helping fund our striving local drama productions. This is evident where Channel 10 is set to axe plans for a second season of Tripping Over after it tanked in the UK, even though it has respectable ratings here(2). While SBS and ABC are interested in developing drama content.
There are many avenues for work however it is hard to specialise in a specific area like drama due to the limited productions which are offered (on the other hand all productions are similar eg. studio lights/ camera etc SoooOooo yeah *fix later).
Next, I will talk about Ratings and how affective they are considering how ratings are collated.
(1) (2)
One way of finding out the trends of current programming is viewing OZtam’s Top 20 programs. By seeing this weeks chart (1st – 7th April), local employment will not be affected that much considering that 17 out of the top 20 shows are Australian which is up from the last time I checked, which was about 3 weeks ago (11th – 17th March) where there was 13/20 local content.
However, the type of shows evident demonstrates a real problem for the area in which certain individuals can work in. Only one dramatic production is on the list – All Saints which is at #4. The rest are variety and game show programs such as Rove Live, which is at #1, Dancing with the stars (#2), News, 1 vs 100, so if employees want to specialise in a television drama series, options are limited (this is also why people have to be multi skilled in other areas).
This is demonstrated by the recent announcements relating to free to air network’s upcoming schedules. Commitments to drama production by the channel 10 and 7 networks does not look good for local employment. With channel 10 only supporting local drama with the telemovie The Joanne Lees Story, which aired in the past month, priorities certainly lie in other areas.
Among the local productions, Ten stated that they will offer a new family entertainment series, a game show, as well as two factual series. Ten has also entered into new programming deals with 20th Century Fox and CBS Entertainment. The new overseas products that will screen this year includes a great number of Jamie Oliver projects and three US series.
(I think this is due to cost issues with a drama production costing approximately $500,000 to make while importing an episode of a US drama costs networks $80,000)
Seven's announcement of the first phase of its plans for 2007 featured just one new local program, the format show Australia's Got Talent, alongside six new US series and a major emphasis on sporting coverage. So Seven – at the moment – will not be contributing to local dramatic content.
Nine has announced the mini-series Tsunami, to join series, Sea Patrol. It will also screen the NZ-set reality series The Lost Tribes, two new local factual series; and talk show The Dame Edna Experience, as well as three series from the US and NZ's Outrageous Fortune.
Thanks to the increasing ad revenue, SBS Independent (SBSi) has pledged $94.5 million dollars to independent producers over the next four years. SBS has pre-bought the three-part series Desperately Seeking Doctors and Adam Elliot's new animated feature Mary and Max, while giving in-principle approval to one six-part and two three-part series and five new local documentaries. Which sounds promising.
Finally, ABC TV will screen an additional 15 hours of Australian drama and 25 hours of local documentaries from the additional allocation of $10 million over three years. Thus far, the ABC has commissioned two new one-off one-hour dramas; telemovies Valentine's Day and Curtin; the mini-series Bastard Boys, and six-part dramas The Librarians and Rainshadow. Outside of drama, new programming will include Wendy Harmer's four-part series Stuff, a debate and discussion show, and a one-hour topical comedy program with Ted Robinson.
It seems that the 3 dominating networks are interested in winning the ratings race rather than helping fund our striving local drama productions. This is evident where Channel 10 is set to axe plans for a second season of Tripping Over after it tanked in the UK, even though it has respectable ratings here(2). While SBS and ABC are interested in developing drama content.
There are many avenues for work however it is hard to specialise in a specific area like drama due to the limited productions which are offered (on the other hand all productions are similar eg. studio lights/ camera etc SoooOooo yeah *fix later).
Next, I will talk about Ratings and how affective they are considering how ratings are collated.
(1) (2)
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
more articles
Drama out of focus in 2007 network programming: as 2006 draws to a close, the free-to-air networks made announcements about the year ahead but the approach to local product differs greatly.(TELEVISION)
Local drama is not on the agenda for the three major networks - 10, 9 and 7.
television trends results
TV your way: from IPTV to cell phone services, new technologies are poised to change how and where we watch TV-not to mention the programming itself.(NEWS & TRENDS)(Product/service evaluation)
TV`s Hits & Misses: New Trends In Programming, CNNfn
Will TV programming ring up sales for cell-phone carriers?(Trends: upcoming technologies and products)(Brief Article)
Local drama is not on the agenda for the three major networks - 10, 9 and 7.
television trends results
TV your way: from IPTV to cell phone services, new technologies are poised to change how and where we watch TV-not to mention the programming itself.(NEWS & TRENDS)(Product/service evaluation)
TV`s Hits & Misses: New Trends In Programming, CNNfn
Will TV programming ring up sales for cell-phone carriers?(Trends: upcoming technologies and products)(Brief Article)
Saturday, 7 April 2007
Useful articles
Found some articles relating to Digital and PayTV - I think Lauras researching on this but might as well put it up here.
Pay tv plays to its strengths.(pay-per-view wins over free-to-air television)
Free to air networks are confronting shrinking profits and dwindling ratings, while for the first time both Foxtel and Austar have reported positive earnings due to growing subscriber numbers and improved revenue per user.
Cable is becoming even more appealing due to the more developed interactive application (compared to free to air’s teletext) as well as the ability to pause, fast forward and rewind content with the help of the personal recording device (PRD)
a reason as to why payTV has had slow subscription numbers over previous years: Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association's (ASTRA) executive director, Debra Richard, points out that pay TV was not allowed to advertise for the first five years and so it has had to play catch-up. It's also subject to prohibitions on multi-channelling as well as anti-siphoning legislation that gives it limited access to sport. But Richard believes pay TV is now "well ahead of the game" because it has been forced to be innovative.
Is free-to-air television the new pay TV?
Networks are considering a solution where free to air TV viewers subscribe to watch a network without commercials, so its uninterrupted (or alternatively fewer commercials for a lower fee)
Television as something special? Content control technologies and free-to-air TV.
"Proposals exist in the United States and Europe for applying content control technologies to free-to-air digital television to limit the reuse of broadcast content."
Pay tv plays to its strengths.(pay-per-view wins over free-to-air television)
Free to air networks are confronting shrinking profits and dwindling ratings, while for the first time both Foxtel and Austar have reported positive earnings due to growing subscriber numbers and improved revenue per user.
Cable is becoming even more appealing due to the more developed interactive application (compared to free to air’s teletext) as well as the ability to pause, fast forward and rewind content with the help of the personal recording device (PRD)
a reason as to why payTV has had slow subscription numbers over previous years: Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association's (ASTRA) executive director, Debra Richard, points out that pay TV was not allowed to advertise for the first five years and so it has had to play catch-up. It's also subject to prohibitions on multi-channelling as well as anti-siphoning legislation that gives it limited access to sport. But Richard believes pay TV is now "well ahead of the game" because it has been forced to be innovative.
Is free-to-air television the new pay TV?
Networks are considering a solution where free to air TV viewers subscribe to watch a network without commercials, so its uninterrupted (or alternatively fewer commercials for a lower fee)
Television as something special? Content control technologies and free-to-air TV.
"Proposals exist in the United States and Europe for applying content control technologies to free-to-air digital television to limit the reuse of broadcast content."
Monday, 2 April 2007
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