Australia - The Broadcasting Market in 2015

Synopsis

This report provides information and analysis on the broadcasting market into 2015. It also provides an overview of some of the important changes over the last couple of years. These changes include the completion of the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting, completed in December 2013, and the frequency retuning which resulted from ASO, completed by the end of 2014. The cessation of analogue TV transmissions released additional spectrum for use by mobile broadband and mobile data services. This spectrum, in the 700MHz band, was auctioned in April 2013 and was made available for the licensees Telstra and Optus from January 2015.

Although subscription TV household penetration is still under 30%, there will be considerable changes as the year progresses following the near simultaneous launch of services in early 2015 from over-the-top (OTT) providers including Presto TV, Stan and Netflix. Content through video streaming (which includes VoD, IPTV and mobile TV) has seen a considerable increase in network traffic. In addition, a greater volume of traffic has been made available on the additional digital FTA channels, through catch-up apps or web-based access. Radio streaming online or on digital radio in the capital cities is also attracting additional listeners to the radio market.

The main broadcasters will need to move quickly if they are to remain viable beyond 2020, by which time most of the NBN infrastructure will have been rolled out and most Australians will have sufficiently fast broadband capacity to enable full-streaming digital access. This report assesses some of the options available to broadcasters as they seek to retain viewers and revenues in the face of these market pressures. The report also provides updates and analyses of the overall broadcasting market as well as background information and statistics.

Key developments:

Smart TVs are key to getting more viewers, Free-to-Air advertising revenue loses to online advertising, subscription TV enters a new era with the launch of Presto TV, Stan and Netflix in early 2015; Big TV, video streaming, SVoD, advertising spending moving to the internet.

Companies covered in this report:

FOXTEL, Telstra, FetchTV, Quickflix, Netflix, TPG, Nine Entertainment.