Spending and targets

Spending and targets: 2018 to 2019

The subscription TV industry spent $24.67 million on Australian drama programs in the 2018 to 2019 financial year.

Each licensee and channel provider met their minimum spending requirements under the new eligible drama expenditure scheme. There was a shortfall of $0.07 million that industry must make up in 2019 to 2020 to stay within minimum spending rules.

Spending on eligible shows included:

Dramas—A Place to Call Home (series 6), Glitch (series 3), Wentworth (series 7), Secret City (series 2) and The Heights (series 3).
Feature films—Maya the Bee: The Honey Games, Peter Rabbit, Sweet Country and Swinging Safari.
Children’s drama—Bluey (series 1 and 2), Space Chickens in Space and Alphabet Street.

These tables provide total industry results aggregated across licensees, channel providers and pass-through providers.

Table 1: Compliance snapshot

Compliance snapshot	2014–15 ($ m)	2015–16 ($ m)	2016–17 ($ m)	2017–18 ($ m)	2018–19 ($ m)
Total spending on new Australian drama in financial year	$36.43	$51.23	$51.95	$56.72	$24.67
Were all minimum spending requirements met?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Table 2: Compliance analysis

Compliance analysis	2014–15 ($ m)	2015–16 ($ m)	2016–17 ($ m)	2017–18 ($ m)	2018–19 ($ m)
Total new drama spending target	$31.28	$32.79	$34.61	$31.71	$26.36
Total amount of current year spending on new Australian drama plus total previous year carry-forward (as nominated toward target)	$15.84	$30.35	$33.13	$30.22	$26.29
Total shortfall to be made up next financial year	$15.44	$2.44	$1.48	$1.49	$0.07

Drama channels and providers: July 2018 to June 2019

Drama channels: 111 Funny, 13 Street, BBC First, Binge, Boomerang, Box Sets, Cartoon Network, CBeebies, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Fox 8, Fox Classics, Foxtel Movies, FX, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, SyFy, Showcase, Turner Classic Movies, TV Hits, UKTV and Universal.

Subscription TV licensees: Foxtel, Optus, Selectra (Austar), Telstra and Fetch TV.

Channel providers: BBC Worldwide Australia, Foxtel Management, NBC Universal International Networks Australia, Nickelodeon Australia, The Walt Disney Company Australia and VIMN Australia.

Pass-through provider: Turner Broadcasting Systems.