Green Paper media reform: a new agenda takes shape

Contents

Introduction

With its launch of a media reform Green Paper in November 2020, the Federal Government has acknowledged the impact of digital transformation on the television broadcasting industry. Though focussed in scope, the Green Paper process is an important step towards a regulatory framework for broadcasting that will be fit for a digital economy. Submissions to the process were made public recently.

In this report, we have analysed the proposed reforms and the submissions made by the various media players and industry bodies to determine where consensus is emerging, and where the points of difference lie. There is little resistance to the idea of refarming 600MHz spectrum , but there is disagreement on timing and the extent to which this should be linked to wider changes in the industry. In contrast, there is significant resistance to the extension of local content production requirements, often driven by concerns about the impact of rising demand on production costs. We have also looked for clues about the issues that will drive the next inevitable round of change, and how different media players are trying to position themselves for the emerging media reform agenda.

Our view

Recommendations

The Green Paper proposals

Industry response: spectrum

Industry response: Australian content rules

Industry response: Other issues

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Figures

Figure 1. Proposed 600MHz spectrum reallocation

Figure 2. Australian urban low and mid band MNO spectrum holdings