Spending by subscription video on demand providers

Subscription video on demand (SVOD) providers voluntarily report to us about their investment in Australian content. 

SVOD providers Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix and Stan have reported to us each financial year since 2019–20. Paramount+ commenced reporting in 2021–22.

The interactive report below provides insight into the information we collected about SVOD providers. The data collected includes expenditure on commissioned and acquired Australian programs/titles, broken down by genre. It also includes the total number of titles and hours of Australian content on Australian services and rest-of-the-world services, as well as expenditure on Australian related programs. 

The report provides aggregated expenditure data and program information for SVOD providers for the 2019–20 financial year onwards. This year, we have also published some information about the discoverability of Australian programs on SVOD services.  

View the interactive report for SVOD spending on Australian content below.

View the data quality statement and access the data file for the SVOD content in Australia: Spending on Australian programs by SVOD providers report below. 

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Spending by subscription video on demand: Data file 2023–24 financial year

Five SVOD providers – Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+ and Stan – spent $341.5 million in the 2023–24 financial year. This included 1,527 commissioned, co-commissioned or acquired ‘Australian programs’.

Australian programs are shows that meet minimum requirements for key creative roles. This includes producers, directors, writers and cast. 

SVOD reporting uses the following terms and genre definitions from the Broadcasting Services (Australian Content and Children’s Television) Standards 2020 (ACCTS):

• Australian program
• commissioned
• co-commissioned
• acquired programs.

Total expenditure on Australian programs increased by $17.4 million – from $324.1 million in 2022–23 to $341.5 million in 2023–24.

• Expenditure on commissioned and co-commissioned programs increased by $6 million – from $219.2 million in 2022–23 to $225.2 million in 2023–24.
• Expenditure on acquired programs increased by $11.4 million – from $105 million in 2022–23 to $116.3 million in 2023–24.

In terms of genres: 

• Australian drama, sport and light entertainment expenditure increased from 2022–23:
  • Drama expenditure was up from $195.3 million to $201.6 million in 2023–24.
  • Sports expenditure was up from $70.9 million to $103.3 million in 2023–24.
  • Light entertainment was up from $20.1 million to $21.3 million in 2023–24.
• However, expenditure on children’s drama, children’s non-drama and documentary programs decreased to their lowest levels since reporting started in 2019–20.

Expenditure on commissioned or co-commissioned programs

In 2023–24 financial year, SVOD providers spent $225.2 million on 55 commissioned or co-commissioned Australian programs.

Commissioned and co-commissioned programs/titles made up 66% of total SVOD provider expenditure on Australian programs. New Australian programs included:

• The Artful Dodger (Disney+)
• Territory (Netflix)
• Last King of the Cross (Paramount+)
• Neighbours (Amazon Prime Video)
• Prosper (Stan).

You can see the non-confidential commissioned or co-commissioned Australian programs reported to us for the 2023–24 financial year in the table below.

Table 1: Commissioned and co-commissioned Australian programs on SVOD provider Australian services, where expenditure was incurred in the 2023–24 financial year

Please note: Not all commissioned and co-commissioned Australian programs are in Table 1. Some SVOD providers asked for commercial confidentiality.

Expenditure on acquired programs

In 2023–24, 1,472 Australian programs were acquired by SVOD providers. 

Acquisition expenditure was $116.3 million. All 1,274 sport programs reported were acquired programs. Sport programs comprised 86.5% of acquired titles.

New Zealand and Australia co-productions programs

For the purposes of SVOD reporting, and noting Australia’s international obligations, Australian and New Zealand programs are treated consistently. This aligns with sections 10 and 11 of the ACCTS.

In 2023–24, SVODs reported expenditure of $4.1 million on one Australian/New Zealand co-commissioned program and 7 acquired New Zealand programs.

Expenditure on Australian-related programs

SVOD providers also support the production of content made in Australia in ways other than directly commissioning or acquiring Australian programs.

In 2023–24, SVOD providers spent $200.5 million on acquiring, producing or investing in 32 ‘Australian-related’ programs. This support includes:

• commissioning Australian-related programs 
• producing foreign programs in Australia
• providing long-term employment opportunities through local production facilities. 

Australian-related programs meet some but not all the criteria for an 'Australian program'. These programs included Skeleton Crew, Alien: Romulus and Ricky Stanicky.

At 30 June 2024, there were 3,776 Australian program titles (11,383 hours) available on the 5 SVOD services. This is an increase of 19 from the 3,757 Australian titles (10,465 hours) available on SVOD services at 30 June 2023.

Table 2 shows the number of titles and hours by all SVOD providers by genre as of 30 June each year.

Table 2: Australian programs made available on services in Australia at 30 June 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 by genre

Notes on Table 2: 

• Durations are rounded to the nearest hour.
• SVOD providers acquired sports programming for the first time in the 2020–21 financial year.
• For sports programs, some SVODs report entire seasons as a single title, while others report individual matches/games as a single title.
• For confidentiality, the 'Sport' and 'Other' genres were combined for the 2020–21 financial year.
• The genre 'Light entertainment' is a combination of reporting categories 'Light entertainment – other' and 'Light entertainment – variety'.
• Where SVOD providers were unable to provide a detailed breakdown of genres of some Australian programs, they have used the 'No genre provided' categorisation.
• The genres of some programs reported in previous years have been recategorised and are reflected in this 2023–24 financial year report.

Some SVOD providers also reported the number of Australian programs made available on services outside Australia (Table 3). The data was aggregated into continental regions and reported on in those regions.

SVOD providers reported making Australian programs available to international audiences. The largest number of Australian program titles and hours are available in North and South America.

Table 3: Average number of Australian program hours and titles available across countries within each continent, by financial year

Notes on Table 3: 

• The figures are the number of titles or hours across the reported countries in each continent. Continental figures are reported where 2 or more SVODs reported for countries within a continent.
• The decrease in the number of and hours of Australian program in the 2021–22 financial year can be attributed to one SVOD’s shift in their reporting framework.

You can find previous financial year reporting below:

Spending by SVOD providers 2022–23

Spending by SVOD providers 2021–22

Spending by SVOD providers 2020–21

Spending by SVOD providers 2019–20

1. Amazon Prime Video, Disney, Netflix and Stan have been reporting on their investment in Australian programs since the 2019–20 financial year. Paramount+ reported for the first time in the 2021–22 financial year.
2. The reports present aggregated expenditure and program information reported by SVOD providers in Australia. All information published is consistent with SVOD providers’ confidentiality requests.
3. SVOD providers have voluntarily reported this information. We cannot confirm its accuracy, however where possible, we have verified the information based on publicly available information, data reported under Australian content requirements for commercial and subscription television broadcasters, and additional material provided by SVOD providers. 
4. We have standardised the reports where possible to allow for consistency with information reported by TV broadcasters and Screen Australia. Due to differences between SVOD services and TV broadcasters, there are some areas where direct comparison is not possible.
5. SVOD providers reported total hours and numbers of distinct Australian programs available on their Australian services. ‘Distinct programs’ can include series or seasons of programs, or matches or episodes of programs. We requested this data include only Australian programs and official co-productions.
6. If the provider does not have its own services outside Australia, commissioned Australian programs distributed to foreign-owned services are reported on an aggregated basis for the number and hours of Australian programs on services outside Australia.