According to recent reports, it’s confirmed that the Australian TV drama industry is sadly not what it used to be.
And there’s a multitude of reasons and factors that have played into the weakening of the industry, both locally and globally, as per Phys.org.
While the number of Australian drama production companies now is double that of the late ’90s, they are making far less drama.
And on top of that, they are receiving significantly less broadcast hours. 20% fewer, to be exact.
Professor Kevin Sanson who was involved in the research said that, “Australian production companies are decreasingly Australian owned, especially among those producing sizable quantities of adult drama hours.”
“A healthy production sector prioritizes diversity and sustainability, but it is difficult to accomplish both at the diminished level of production now characteristic of the sector.”
In addition to this, Australian broadcasters have also decreased their contribution to Australian drama, meaning that the number of episodes in a season are smaller, while there is also less allocation for children’s TV.
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And this is depsite streaming platform’s drama commissions and other expansions.
Sanson said, “Despite the ABC expanding its role in drama production, and drama commissions from streaming services such as Netflix and Stan now matching Foxtel’s commissions, together they commission only a fraction of what commercial broadcasters provided in the early 2000s. Combined, these new sources of drama production do not come close to replacing the steady falls in what commercial broadcasters offer.”
Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly common for Aussie production company to be Australian owned.
Sanson said, “Such acquisitions raise questions about the extent to which Australian stories continue to feature in their productions, although they continue to access significant sums of Australian supports. They also leave local companies in a position of being without the significant resources provided by such conglomerates.”
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