Free-to-air channels in Australia aired 84% less local kids programming in 2022 than they did in 2019, and streamers aren’t picking up the slack.
A new report released yesterday by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) shows that just 95 hours of locally produced kids content was broadcast on the country’s commercial free-to-air channels last year. This represents a drastic drop from 391 hours in 2019. Over the last three years, domestic production of children’s television programming has also been low. Only 25 kids shows went into production between 2019 and 2022.
This lower output is undoubtedly related to changes to Australia’s simplified content quota system that came into effect in 2021. The new system removed children’s programming quotas for local broadcasters, which previously needed to air 260 hours of kids content and at least 130 hours of preschool content each year. The government is currently working on new quotas for streamers that will be implemented in 2024.
Industry organization Screen Producers Australia (SPA) responded to the ACMA report in a scathing press release, calling for broadcasters to do more to represent kids.
“These results are damning evidence of the failure of this framework to provide Australian children with any content that reflects their own lives and their own experiences,” said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.
ABC Australia’s head of children’s and family programming, Libbie Doherty, says the pubcaster is doing its best to add more content to its pipeline amid industry challenges. “Public media organizations like the ABC are supporting creators and producers with consistency and stability, resulting in some of the world’s biggest shows, like Bluey,” she says. “Children and families are driving streaming choices and viewership, and we value and understand this connection to the ABC and to our global partners.”
But Australia’s kids content producers are not just having trouble getting onto free-to-air broadcasters; there are also problems afoot with streamers.
As part of SPA’s second annual Commissioning Survey, which it released last week, producers expressed concerns that streamers aren’t offering enough money for budgets; are encouraging production without official greenlights; and are pressuring for additional rights and deliverables without giving anything in return.
SPA surveyed 110 Australian production companies between December 2022 and January 2023 to gather data for the report, which is designed to provide a better understanding of the challenges producers face in their dealings with major buyers in Australia.
In its previous survey (2021), roughly 19% of survey respondents reported that streamers would change agreements in ways that benefited the platforms and not producers.
Photo courtesy of Jakob Owens via Unsplash