Local content on regional commercial TV

Commercial TV broadcasting licensees have to meet the local content quota if they are:

• in any of the 7 aggregated regional TV licence areas
• in a non-aggregated regional TV licence area and they have been affected by a ‘trigger event’.

A regional commercial television licence is affected by a trigger event if, after a change in control, the licence becomes part of a TV network that reaches more than 75% of Australia’s population.

Aggregated regional TV licence areas 

Non-aggregated regional TV licence areas 

For each minute of locally significant material that Regional TV licensees broadcast, they accrue:

• 2 points for each minute of news that ‘directly relates to a local area’
• 1 point for each minute of:
• news that ‘directly relates to the licence area’.
• other material that directly relates to the local area or the licence area, such as a community service announcement.

A regional TV licensee of a licence that has been affected by a trigger event accrues:

• 3 points for each minute of news that depicts people, places or things in the local area.

Regional TV licensees must meet the local content quota in each regional licence area. Quotas depend on whether a licence is in an aggregated or non-aggregated regional TV licence area, and whether the licence has been affected by a trigger event. Quotas are calculated each week over a 6-week period.

Regional TV licensees must also meet the following rules:

• at least 50% of points must come from material that relates directly to the local area
• no more than 10% of points can come from community service announcements
• material of local significance must not include advertising or sponsorship material unless it is a community service announcement.

Material of local significance’ – often referred to as ‘local content’ – is information that relates directly to:

• a ‘local area’ or smaller area within a particular licence area
• the whole of a licence area.

Content that might be significant to a particular community can cover a wide range of topics:

• people
• places
• organisations
• events
• market conditions
• relevant local issues.

Details of licence area boundaries and local area populations are available on the ACMA website. In the larger aggregated licence areas of Regional Queensland and Northern NSW, a regional TV licensee does not have to broadcast local content in every local area and can nominate specific local areas where points will be accrued.

In non-aggregated regional TV licence areas, the local area is the entire licence area. However, aggregated licence areas contain a number of local areas to reflect the different sub-markets in the licence area, as shown in the table below.

*Tasmanian Digital Television (TDT) is jointly owned by WIN and Southern Cross (SCA).

The ACMA's report to the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts about the statutory review of the operation of the local programming requirements for regional licensees was tabled by the minister on 14 October 2021.