Chapter 2
Discussion of key issues
2.1
The committee received four submissions to the inquiry. Three
submitters—Imparja Television, the WIN Network (WIN) and the Anxiety Disorders
Association South East (ADASE)—commented on the Broadcasting Services Amendment
(Material of Local Significance) Bill 2013. The final submission from the ABC commented
on the services it provides to regional Australia.
Broadcasting Services Amendment (Material of Local Significance) Bill 2013
2.2
Imparja Television, a 100 per cent indigenous owned commercial
broadcaster in remote central and eastern Australia, informed the committee
that it is not directly affected by the bill.[1]
Imparja did wish however to highlight to the committee the unique aspect of
broadcasting in remote areas and the difficulties in defining local content.[2]
Impraja stated:
The area covered is over 3.6 million square kilometres with a
population base fewer than 700,000 people. The area covers a diversity of
cultural, climatic and geographic location all with a relatively small
population. With this in mind it is near on impossible to define an
economically viable model for material of local significance that would cover
all viewers in the license area.[3]
2.3
Imparja recommended to the committee that 'no changes be made now or in
the future with regard to the Remote and Eastern license area'.[4]
2.4
ADASE submitted that the decision by WIN to cease its local news
bulletin will ensure that the local community will be in a 'media blackout'.
ADASE remarked:
Thousands of people in the South East area will be in a media
blackout from Friday to Tuesday now that the news program has been cancelled.
The Border Watch (Mount Gambier) and other local town newspapers do not publish
newspapers every day of the week. The Border Watch does not publish on Mondays
which means that besides the local radio stations, there is a black out of
media from Fridays to Tuesdays.[5]
2.5
In particular ADASE was concerned that people in the community may feel
isolated due to WIN's decision and that the community will suffer in response
to a lack of community updates and announcements.[6]
2.6
The WIN Network, which is the licensee for the Mount Gambier/South East
and Riverland License Areas in regional South Australia, requested that the
committee reject the bill.[7]
WIN argued that the relatively small population of the region, the slowing
local economy and the increased cost of delivering additional digital channels have
made it unfeasible to continue to provide a local news bulletin.[8]
2.7
According to WIN, when licence conditions were placed on regional
aggregated commercial broadcasters in licence areas specified under subsection
43A(2) of the Act, features such as population, revenue, profitability and
service delivery were taken into consideration.[9]
It was argued that currently the populations of Mt Gambier (86 000) and
the Riverland (38 100) combined did not meet the population average within
each of the aggregated markets (278 281).[10]
WIN stated:
The WIN Regional South Australia licenses are Solus markets
and on population alone do not meet the population average within each of the
Aggregated markets, that average being 278,281 people per local area. Mt
Cambier/Limestone Coast has a population of approx 86,000 people, the Riverland
has a population of approx. 38,100 people, a combined population of approx.
124,100 people. Neither license meets the test applied at the time the local
licence conditions were imposed on regional broadcasters, nor do they now
separately or combined.[11]
2.8
WIN also outlined that in terms of revenue, in the current 2012-13
financial year to date, 14 local advertising clients of WIN in Mount Gambier
have closed and 13 local advertising clients in the Riverland area have closed.[12]
A further 76 clients have cut back their advertising spend in the same period.[13]
2.9
As it is a private company, WIN did not disclose to the committee its
financial returns however it stated that revenue declined 2 per cent in the
2011 fiscal year, 8 per cent in 2012 and 9 per cent to the third quarter in
2013.[14]
2.10
WIN also advised the committee that government requirements to provide additional
digital stations and digital transmitters are a significant cost to their
business.[15]
2.11
In December 2010, analogue services in Mount Gambier were switched off
and replaced with digital services. According to WIN, at approximately the same
time, the license areas that it operates in were required to deliver the three
network digital multichannels (GO, GEM, 7TWO, 7MATE, ELEVEN, and ONE). The Commonwealth
government and the broadcasters agreed to each fund 50 per cent of the
additional transmitters and operating costs up until 31 December 2013.[16]
From 2014 onwards, broadcasters will be required to take over the full costs.
2.12
The WIN Network stated that the provision of more digital multichannels
has diluted the number of viewers available to watch a dedicated news bulletin.
WIN observed that:
The exercise was designed to give Mount Gambier and the
Riverland the same digital services that their metropolitan counterparts
received. With a combined population of approximately 124 100 and the
choice of viewing nine commercial free-to-air channels and ABC and SBS national
free-to-air networks (provided by WIN), there are not enough viewers to support
a dedicated local news service, nor enough news. WIN was faced with the reality
of spending an immense amount to produce a news bulletin for an audience of 3–4
thousand viewers.[17]
2.13
In considering the implications of the bill, WIN noted that its current
decision to ensure that Channel 9 news in Adelaide provide more regional
content is more meaningful than if it was obligated to provide a local news
bulletin. WIN stated that in considering scrapping the local new bulletin:
...the decision making pretty much came down to: do we do what
we believe are cynical updates or do we make an effort to ensure that Channel 9
Adelaide News gives greater coverage into the regional market? Under the
legislation, if that legislation applied to South Australia, it would have been
fine for us to do two-minute updates or 90-second updates as other broadcasters
do across the country.[18]
2.14
WIN informed the committee that since local news production ceased in
the Mount Gambier and Riverland areas in February 2013, over 65 news stories
from these regions have been broadcast on Channel 9 news in Adelaide.[19]
2.15
WIN concluded that it will continue to monitor its business model and
will ensure it will 'make the changes essential to ensure that [they] can
continue to provide the viewing services that the community needs'.[20]
It also committed to providing the local community with access to advertising
services and to provide local charities, sporting groups and community groups
with support and promotion at WIN's cost.[21]
Delivery of regional news coverage by the ABC
2.16
The ABC informed the committee that is has 'an enduring relationship
with rural and regional communities and an unrivalled commitment to providing
news and information for and from regional Australia'.[22]
The ABC also noted that it is not impacted by the proposed legislation.[23]
2.17
The ABC provides all Australian communities with a wide range of news
services.[24]
It provides access to local news and information via radio and online,
including state and territory-based nightly 7pm news bulletins and a weekly
episode of the current affairs program 7.30. ABC audiences are all able
to access numerous national news and current affairs programs on radio,
television, online and mobile platforms, including the dedicated 24-hour
digital television news channel ABC News 24 and the recent ABC News
Youtube channel.[25]
According to the ABC:
Overall, the ABC provides more than 3,400 hours of regional
radio news bulletins across Australia each year. Journalists in regional
stations provide morning, lunchtime and afternoon bulletins focused on their
local communities. These are usually at 6.30 am, 7.30 am, 8.30 am, 12.30 pm and
5.30 pm. Durations may vary between three and five minutes each, with most
centres also providing headlines. These bulletins are also complemented by
comprehensive online news services, with users able to customise the ABC news
online page according to their location.[26]
2.18
The ABC also services regional and rural communities though ABC Local
Radio, which has 51 regional multimedia studios across Australia. ABC Local
Radio schedules regulator news bulletins and current affairs programs in
addition to Rural Reports and The Country Hour.[27]
2.19
The ABC has a total of 88 reporters working in 48 regional newsrooms.[28]
Increases in funding to the ABC will enable it to expand its resources in
regional Australia, with a particular focus on increasing its capacity to
produce video content, including live content from regional areas.[29]
The additional funding consists of $10 million in news funding (committed
in February 2013) and $69.4 million over four years for placing more
journalists outside metropolitan cities (committed in the 2013–14 Commonwealth
budget).[30]
2.20
The ABC explained how the new allocation in funding would be spent:
This all is part of a restructuring overhaul of our entire
news operation. It is due to the pressures of convergence. We have audiences
who want information supplied in different ways in different formats. So the
first step was to restructure the entire news operation to better commission
stories, to remove efficiencies so that we were not doubling up in terms of
sending out news crews to cover stories, and then to work out new ways to
actually deliver the content to audiences.
The $10 million in February was the recruitment stage of the
restructure, whereby the ABC looked at priorities in terms of delivering new
content to audiences, a focus on fact checking, the setting up of new bureaus
and new specialist reporters, and an increase in our regional presence. The
third step, which is based on the funding we got in the budget, is about the
content and the program that comes as a result of those initiatives. In regard
to extra regional presence, we are putting new VJs [video journalists] into
particular areas, including Renmark.[31]
2.21
The ABC concluded that 'within available resources, the Corporation
provides the most comprehensive regional news and information service in the
country'.[32]
Committee comment
2.22
The committee expresses its concern at WIN's decision to stop producing
a local news bulletin for the Mount Gambier and Riverland areas of regional
South Australia. Local news bulletins provide communities with relevant and
up-to-date information on events and happenings around their area. Regional and
rural communities particularly rely on these bulletins for important updates
concerning local services, weather reports, agricultural reports and traffic.
2.23
The lack of a regular television news bulletin combined with the
infrequent publication of local newspapers means that people in these regional
areas of South Australia may feel a sense of isolation from their communities.
2.24
The committee believes that the arguments put forward by WIN in
justification of the cancellation of the local news bulletin are weak. WIN
operates the world's largest privately owned television network which reaches
more than 5.2 million viewers.[33]
The privilege and market power afforded to WIN through its broadcasting
licences ensure that it has access to a large audience and customer base.
2.25
Although revenue from advertising may have declined in the regional
areas of South Australia, the reach of WIN to such a large customer base—made
possible by its broadcasting licenses—should enable it to cross subsidise the
cost of producing local news bulletins around the country. This would ensure
that rural and regional areas could continue to benefit from the important
community information services that broadcasters provide.
2.26
The committee believes that there is incentive enough for WIN to provide
a local news bulletin especially when other broadcasters are prepared to make
enforceable undertakings (for example see Nine Network's submission to Joint
Select Committee on Broadcasting Legislation).[34]
Recommendation 1
2.27
The committee recommends that the bill not be passed.
2.28
The actions taken by WIN in regards to providing rural and regional
audiences with less local news and information highlights the need for
Australia to have a strong national public broadcaster. The decision by WIN to
cease its news bulletin in light of purported cost pressures illustrates that
private media companies are answerable firstly to shareholders and that providing
information to regional and rural Australia is a secondary consideration and is
a clear example of market failure.
2.29
The additional funding that the Commonwealth government committed to the
ABC in February 2013 and in the 2013–14 budget will provide the Corporation
with the ability to broadcast more in-depth news reporting from rural and
regional areas. The employment of more reporters with greater capabilities to
provide video content online will help to connect local people and local towns.
The committee believes that a strong, well-funded national broadcaster that is
able to inform and report on rural, regional and metropolitan areas is essential
in order to deal with the profit priorities of television companies and the
market failure that results in rural and regional areas being denied local news
content.
Senator Doug Cameron
Chair
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