Streamers invested nearly $1.1 billion in Australian and Australian related programs in the last year – Today, the ACMA released its annual subscription video on demand (SVOD) investment report, which showed a $1.1 billion investment in Australian and Australian related programs by Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+ and Stan in the 2024-25 financial year.
This is the highest level of investment since voluntary reporting began in 2020, and includes $414 million spent on Australian content and $687.8 million on Australian-related programs. Of the $414 million invested in Australian content, 76% ($316.6 million) was spent on new commissions and co-commissions – a 40% increase in investment from 2023-24 ($225.2 million).
The report follows the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video on Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill which passed in the Senate last Thursday, introducing mandatory Australian content obligations for SVOD services.
Paul Muller, Chair of the Streaming for Australia Coalition said:
“Contrary to misleading claims that SVOD services have been reducing investment in the Australian screen industry, the ACMA data clearly shows that Australia’s SVOD services are already investing at a higher rate than Australia’s broadcasters. This further demonstrates that the legislation passed last week is trying to solve a problem that simply doesn’t exist.”
This year also marks the sixth consecutive year that SVOD services have voluntarily reported their investment in Australia. In the absence of regulation, SVOD services’ cumulative investment has now totalled almost $4 billion, supporting local jobs, infrastructure, and global visibility for Australian creative talent.
“While the ACMA report highlights that SVOD services commissioned or co-commissioned fewer programs from the year before, SVOD services operate in a highly competitive environment and have focused on what their audiences want; bigger, bolder and more ambitious Australian stories. The increased investment clearly shows that SVOD services are committed to creating quality and authentic Australian content to win audiences’ attention at home and overseas,”
– continued Muller.
SVOD services invest more in Australian scripted drama than all subscription and commercial broadcasters combined, despite being only 23 percent of total TV viewing time. In fact, the increase in expenditure on Australian content is almost the same amount as the $72.8 million that all commercial broadcasters spent in total on Australian drama, children’s, documentary and “other Australian programming” last year.
“Licensing Australian content for global audiences is an important part of telling Australian stories on an international stage, and in the last year alone, ACMA data shows that SVOD services have invested $97 million in acquired content. However, with the mandated investment obligation, there is now an active disincentive for SVOD services to continue investing in this type of content, as it cannot be used to meet the new investment obligations.”
– said Muller.
As ACMA highlights in the report, Australians were able to watch a record 3,919 titles of Australian content across all five SVOD services in the last financial year, reflecting the ongoing commitment of Streaming for Australia members to giving Australian audiences access to great Australian stories.
Media Release – Netflix
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Streamers invested nearly $1.1 billion in Australian and Australian related programs in the last year
