Australian Broadcasting Corporation submission to The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts “Meeting the Digital Challenge” Discussion Paper on Media Reform Options April 2006 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Submission to the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts on the Discussion Paper on Media Reform Options Executive Summary • The ABC has a key role in ensuring that audiences have access to a diversity of programming, particularly in regional areas. The ABC is well placed to develop enhanced regional services across its digital platforms. • The ABC supports the development of a Digital Action Plan to guide the transition from analog to digital television in Australia and the introduction of a fixed deadline for the switch-off of analog television services. • The ABC believes that the Digital Action Plan should be overseen by an independent body with responsibility for ensuring a timely switch-over to digital television. • To improve consumer confidence in digital television, the Digital Action Plan should make allowance for the creation of a Digital Test and Conformance Centre and the use of software updates via Over-the-Air Downloads. • Unallocated spectrum set aside for datacasting services should first be used to address existing problems affecting digital television in Australia before consideration is given to new services. • Should this spectrum be used for new services, the ABC would be potentially interested in providing content for mobile television or interactive digital services. • The ABC welcomes the lifting of the genre restrictions on national broadcaster multichannels, as this will allow the Corporation to better contribute to encouraging digital take-up in Australia. • The proposed restriction of sport content on national broadcaster multichannel services inhibits an opportunity to increase the public benefit provided by the anti-siphoning list. • Broadcasters should be allowed to choose whether to use their spectrum for high definition television (HDTV) or for additional services. • As the number of households capable of receiving HDTV services remains very small, the proposed capacity for broadcasters to provide an “HDTV multichannel” seems likely to have limited appeal. 1 ABC SUBMISSION ON MEDIA REFORM OPTIONS 2 Introduction The ABC welcomes this opportunity to provide comments on the Government’s proposed changes to Australia’s digital television and media ownership regimes. As many of the proposed changes, particularly those in relation to media ownership, relate primarily to commercial media services, the Corporation will confine its comments to aspects of the proposals that relate to its services. First, the ABC believes that any discussion of diversity in the Australian media must acknowledge the importance of sectoral diversity. As a national broadcaster, the Corporation has an important role to play in increasing the diversity of programming available to the Australian public, particularly in regional and rural Australia. Further, as the ABC has argued in numerous past submissions on aspects of digital television in Australia, the delivery of new and exciting content to audiences remains the key to the transition to digital broadcasting. Accordingly, the Corporation is pleased to see the inclusion of proposals to substantially lift the current restrictions on the genres of content on its multichannel services. However, the ABC believes that the proposed restrictions on the carriage of sporting events on the “anti-siphoning” list on its multichannel services represents a wasted opportunity to extend the public benefit created by the list. The ABC has also previously indicated its belief that the determination of a fixed, realistic date for the switch-off of analog television transmissions will act as a significant driver of the transition to digital television in Australia. To ensure the smoothest possible transition to digital, the Corporation supports the development of a formalised Digital Action Plan that will support consumers and allow the industry to plan with certainty. Diversity and Regional Services The ABC notes that one of the objectives of the Government’s proposed approach to media ownership regulation is to ensure media diversity through “clear protection against excessive ownership concentration among traditional media outlets, combined with market entry opportunities and regulatory barriers that allow for new platforms and services, that will assist in delivering a competitive sector providing diversity and choice for consumers.”1 The ABC believes that, in addition to such mechanisms, the current diversity of Australia’s media is preserved and enhanced by the balance of complementary national, community, 1 Australian Government, Meeting the Digital Challenge: Reforming Australia’s Media in the Digital Age. Discussion Paper on Media Reform Options, March 2006, p.4. ABC SUBMISSION ON MEDIA REFORM OPTIONS 3 commercial and subscription broadcasting sectors. As a national broadcaster, the ABC plays an important role in guaranteeing that audiences have access to a diversity of sources of news and information, and a variety of programs oriented towards local communities. This is particularly true in regional Australia where the Corporation provides a wide array of localised services and is an active participant in regional communities. The ABC operates 60 ABC Local Radio stations around the country to provide news, information and other programming of direct relevance to local communities. Each station is supported online by a complementary website within The Backyard gateway on ABC Online. A recent report by the Communications Law Centre on media in regional Australia found that local communities generally value ABC Local Radio as a credible alternative to the journalism of local newspapers.2 Since 2001, ABC Radio has applied National Interest Initiatives funding to maintain 25 Radio Online producer positions across Australia. These Radio Online producers gather, source and prepare content from regional Australia to increase the level of community-specific information on ABC Local Radio, The Backyard and other ABC platforms. The ABC also produces Australia Wide, a daily regional news and magazine program delivered via ABC2 and the ABC On Demand broadband service. The half-hour program features regional news from around the country coupled with a magazine-style segment that focuses on a different aspect of regional and rural Australia each day of the week. Magazine segment themes include youth, the environment and the arts. ABC Local Radio has become a primary source of emergency information during natural and other disasters affecting local communities. Most recently, ABC Local Radio Far North established a bureau in the devastated region of Innisfail to ensure that the local community received accurate and up-to-date news and information. This emergency broadcasting role is widely acknowledged and in 2003, the ABC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Emergency Services Australia as the primary disseminator of emergency information at the national level. Since then, the Corporation has entered into a similar agreements and local partnerships with relevant authorities in all states and territories, with the exception of New South Wales, where it has a signed interim agreement with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and is pursuing agreements with other emergency services bodies. The ABC believes its unmatched network of Local Radio and Digital services can provide the basis for increased digital content creation in regional areas in the future. The ABC is well placed to develop enhanced regional services across its digital platforms and to develop each 2 See, for example, Tim Dwyer, Derek Wilding, Helen Wilson and Simon Curtis. Content, Consolidation and Clout: How Will Regional Australia by Affected by Media Ownership Changes? 2006. Melbourne: Communications Law Centre, p.xiii and passim. ABC SUBMISSION ON MEDIA REFORM OPTIONS 4 Local Radio station into a hub for the creation of digital content that can be adapted for delivery on broadband, radio, digital television, and other emerging platforms. In this way, the ABC will continue to be a powerful safeguard of media diversity in coming years. Digital Switchover The ABC supports the development of a Digital Action Plan to guide the process and timing of the cessation of analog television services in Australia, as well as to further promote and encourage take-up of digital television. As previously indicated in its submission to the Department’s December 2005 Review of the Duration of the Analog/Digital Television Simulcast Period, the ABC is willing to actively participate in the development of the Government’s Digital Action Plan. The development of the Digital Action Plan must involve all relevant stakeholders and will require firm leadership from government to ensure that milestones are met in its development. The Plan should establish clear responsibilities for implementation. It may be necessary for the Digital Action Plan to provide financial incentives for broadcasters to develop new content in order to drive take-up of digital receivers. The ABC also supports the introduction of a fixed deadline for the switch-off of analog television services and believes that a strong commitment led by government is necessary to drive take-up of digital television services and encourage digital receiver sales. The ABC does not support the use of take-up rates of