Australian TV drama spending falls 44% in five years as sport investment rises – Spending on Australian adult drama by commercial television networks has fallen sharply over five years. Screen Producers Australia (SPA) says their overall investment in local content has nonetheless broadly held steady.
For viewers, the headline total does not tell the whole story: the mix of programmes being funded is changing. SPA says the shift towards sport and away from scripted and factual commissions matters to viewers. It affects the range of Australian stories that reach television screens. It also affects the production companies and crews behind them.
Responding to new Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) expenditure data for 2024-25, SPA said commercial networks spent $1.625 billion on Australian content. Adult drama accounted for $44.3 million, down 9% on the previous year. Documentary spending fell 16% to $17.6 million. Light entertainment fell 12% to $501.2 million. Sport moved in the opposite direction, rising 20% to $682.2 million.
Drama investment falls despite steady total spending
SPA’s longer-term comparison is more striking. Commercial television investment in adult drama has declined 44% from $79.1 million in 2019-20, it says. Total spending on Australian content has increased by around 10% over that period. The organisation says children’s drama attracted just $1.8 million in 2024-25, with a further $674,000 spent on other children’s programming.
SPA chief executive Matthew Deaner argues that the figures show investment becoming more concentrated, rather than supporting a broad range of productions. He says this affects independent production businesses and opportunities to develop a skilled creative workforce. It also narrows the diversity of local stories available to Australian audiences.
The figures do not mean networks have stopped funding Australian content. Rather, SPA is concerned about a shrinking share for categories that depend on new local commissions. Sport is taking a larger share. The distinction is particularly important for drama and children’s television, where regular commissions can sustain writers, performers, production teams and training pathways over time.
How networks meet their Australian-content obligations
SPA also points to the first-release Australian-content points framework introduced in 2021. Broadcasters can meet their obligations through commissioned Australian drama, documentary and children’s programmes. They can also acquire Australian feature films for first release. The points awarded for a film take account of its licence fee.
According to SPA, Nine used a broad range of Australian feature films in 2025. The organisation welcomes a secondary television market for local films. But it says buying an existing film does not provide the same continuing production activity as commissioning a new series. Deaner put the difference plainly: “acquired films cannot substitute for sustained commissioning and investment across the Australian production ecosystem.”
SPA says Channel 7 relies heavily on Home and Away to meet its first-release obligations. It also points to the long-running role Neighbours played for Channel 10. The series provided employment, training and skills development over many years. With that programme concluded, SPA sees an opening for Channel 10 to commission a new returning Australian production.
These are different network strategies within the same regulatory framework. SPA argues that meeting the points target should not obscure a bigger question. Is the system generating a healthy pipeline of new Australian drama, documentary and children’s work? It says the decline in drama and children’s expenditure supports concerns it raised when dedicated genre protections were removed.
SPA calls for a broader view of screen investment
Deaner says commercial television is only one part of the picture. SPA wants sustained investment from public broadcasters and subscription streaming services. It says ACMA data from the subscription video-on-demand content scheme will help show the full level and type of investment in Australian production.
The organisation cites Bluey as an example of Australian-owned intellectual property finding a global audience and creating value beyond its original domestic release. SPA argues that such successes depend on a strong local production pipeline where new ideas can be developed and produced in the first place.
For more TV Central Screen Producers Australia news, head here. Explore the ACMA’s public commercial TV expenditure report for the underlying data.