Fed: TV producers call on govt to keep local content quotas
By Krista Hughes
CANBERRA, Feb 14 AAP - The creators of the hit ABC drama series SeaChange have urgedthe government to increase quotas for Australian television programming to stop the airwavesbeing flooded by cheap imports.
Last year was a bumper season for Australian drama, with Channel 10's Secret Life ofUs, Nine's McLeod's Daughters and Seven's Always Greener snaring loyal audiences aroundthe country.
But independent producers and networks are struggling to make money from Australianprograms and are increasingly reliant on selling products overseas.
The broadcasting regulator is reviewing Australian content rules which force networksto show at least 55 per cent Australian programming, and the industry fears any drop inquotas could spell disaster.
Television networks have suggested halving the documentary quota to its original 10hours a year after fears of an influx of New Zealand programs were unfounded.
The rules were changed in 1999 to allow Kiwi programs to count towards local contentrequirements.
Advertisers have called for the government to scrap local content rules for advertisementsand abandon content controls in favour of a more competitive market.
But independent producers Deb Knight and Andrew Cox, the makers of SeaChange and new10 series CrashBurn, urged the regulator not to reduce or scrap quotas.
In a joint submission to the Australian Broadcasting Authority, CoxKnight Productionsand UK production house Granada argued for a 20 per cent increase in local content quotasover three years.
"Australian drama promotes and encourages the development of Australian culture andidentity," they said.
"If the hourly quota requirement for Australian cultural product was abolished or reducedand the broadcasting industry was left to market forces, commercial imperatives to screeninexpensive foreign product would dominate."
Local producer Grundy said the price paid by networks for first-run Australian programminghad fallen as a percentage of budget over the last decade.
The company said quotas should be changed to take account of network's expenditureon local programming, not just broadcast hours.
"Networks need to be encouraged by regulation to provide sufficient financial supportto sustain a healthy, independent production sector," Grundy said.
Under the current system, networks must show at least 80 hours of Australian drama,20 hours of documentaries and 260 hours of children's programming a year.
Film Australia said the government should increase the documentary quota to 26 hoursand impose a minimum fee paid for documentaries.
AAP kmh/daw/mjm/br
KEYWORD: TELEVISION
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