Subscription video on demand (SVOD) providers spent $341 million on Australian programs in the 2023–24 financial year, up from $324 million in 2022–23, according to new data from the ACMA.
This included a $6 million increase in expenditure for commissioned programs, mainly across the adult drama and light entertainment genres, and an $11 million increase in expenditure on acquired programs. However, there was decreased expenditure on Australian children’s programs and Australian documentary.
The data comes from the fifth ACMA SVOD Australian content report and includes figures provided on a voluntary basis from Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+ and Stan.
Overall, Australians were able to watch more Australian content across all five SVOD services. At 30 June 2024, 3,776 Australian program titles were available to Australian audiences across these services, up from 3,757 in the previous year.
Australian programs continued to be available to international audiences. For 2023–24, the largest number of Australian program titles and hours were available in North and South American countries.
In addition to expenditure on Australian content, providers also spent $200 million on acquiring, producing, or investing in 32 Australian-related programs, which meet some, but not all the criteria to be classified as Australian content.
This expenditure included commissioning Australian-related programs, producing foreign programs in Australia, and providing long-term employment opportunities through local production facilities.