Media Ownership Regulation in Australia
Kim Jackson, Analysis and Policy
Social Policy Group
Although Australia's media
ownership laws have remained unchanged for over a decade, debate on
the desirability of reform has continued unabated. This debate has been
fuelled by the impact of new media technologies, a number of inquiries
proposing regulatory changes, and the self-interest of those media organisations
that report the controversy. The Government has long indicated that
it believed the rules to be anachronistic, and its policy for the 2001
election contained a commitment to amend cross-media and foreign ownership
restrictions.
The major effect of the laws is to prevent the common ownership of
newspapers, television and radio broadcasting licences that serve the
same region. The purpose of the legislation is to encourage diversity
in the ownership of the most influential forms of the commercial media:
the daily press and free-to-air television and radio. The justification
for the rules is that the effective functioning of a democracy requires
a diverse ownership of the daily mass media to ensure that public life
be reported in a fair and open manner.
This brief provides background on the issue, together with links to
relevant sites and documents.
The Constitutional Position
The Commonwealth's legislative controls on media ownership can be divided
into two broad categories:
Thus while the Commonwealth is able to impose prescriptive conditions
on broadcasting licensees, its legislative reach over print media ownership
is largely limited to general competition law and foreign acquisitions.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority
The administration of the Broadcasting Services Act is the responsibility
of the Australian Broadcasting Authority
(ABA). The Corporate Plan and Annual Reports of the ABA are available
from this page. The latter contain detailed
descriptions of the activities of the Authority, which cover the following
broad areas:
- ownership and control;
- planning and licensing;
- program content and complaint handling;
- research into broadcasting issues;
- online services; and
- digital broadcasting and datacasting.
The ABA's news releases, publications and other documents can be obtained
from this page.
Links to other ABA pages dealing with various aspects of ownership regulation
are given in the sections below.
The specific controls over media ownership contained in the Broadcasting
Services Act 1992 are as follows.
Television
A person must not control television broadcasting licences whose combined
licence area exceeds 75 per cent of the population of Australia,
or more than one licence within a licence area (section
53). Foreign persons must not be in a position to control a licence
and the total of foreign interests must not exceed 20 per cent (section
57). There are also limits on multiple directorships (section
55) and foreign directors (section
58).
Radio
A person must not be in a position to control more than two licences
in the same licence area (section
54). Multiple directorships are also limited (section
55).
Cross-Media Control
Under section
60 a person must not control:
- a commercial television broadcasting licence and a commercial radio
broadcasting licence having the same licence area;
- a commercial television broadcasting licence and a newspaper associated
with that licence area;
- or a commercial radio broadcasting licence and newspaper associated
with that licence area.
There are also similar limits on cross-media directorships (section
61).
Subscription Television Broadcasting Licences
A foreign person must not have company interests exceeding 20 per cent
in a broadcasting subscription licence, and the total of foreign company
interests in any licence must not exceed 35 per cent (section
109).
Foreign Investment in the Media
There are a number of controls on foreign investment in the media in
addition to those contained in the Broadcasting Services Act. All direct
(ie. non-portfolio) proposals by foreign interests to invest in the
media sector irrespective of size are subject to prior approval under
the Government's foreign investment policy. Proposals involving portfolio
share holdings of five per cent or more must also be approved.
The maximum permitted aggregate foreign (non-portfolio) interests in
national and metropolitan newspapers is 30 per cent, with a 25 per cent
limit on any single foreign shareholder. The aggregate non-portfolio
limit for provincial and suburban newspapers is 50 per cent.
Details of the Government's foreign investment policy with regard to
the media can be obtained from Appendix
A of the Annual Report of the Foreign Investment Review Board.
In August 1985 the then Minister for Communications, the Hon. Michael
Duffy, directed the Forward Development Unit of the Department of Transport
and Communication to undertake a study of the ownership and control
rules for commercial television. The resulting report Ownership and
Control of Commercial Television: Future Policy Directions (August
1996) proposed various options for imposing limits on cross-media ownership.
On 27 November 1986 the Minister issued a Press Release detailing the
government's proposed changes to the ownership and control provisions
of commercial television licences. In summary, the proposals involved
the replacement of the existing 'two station rule' with an audience
reach rule, which limited any person to controlling interests in licences
serving a maximum of 75 per cent of the population. In addition, cross-media
restrictions were to be imposed which were designed to prevent a person
from controlling both a television licence and a newspaper published
4 times per week and having more than 50 per cent of its circulation
in the same area served by the television licence.
These proposed changes were introduced by the Broadcasting (Ownership
and Control) Act 1987 which amended the Broadcasting
Act 1942. Under this legislation, a person owning a television licence
could not own more than 15 per cent of a newspaper published 4 days
per week which had more than 50 per cent of its circulation in the same
area as that of the licence. However, a newspaper proprietor was restricted
to owning just 5 per cent of a television licence in the same area.
In order to effect passage of the Bill
through the Senate, the Government reduced the maximum population reach
for television licences from 75 per cent to 60 per cent. According to
the then Minister for Communications, the Hon. M.
Duffy MP, the cross-media rules were introduced in
order to:
- support competition policy;
- discourage concentration of media ownership in local markets; and
- enhance public access to a diversity of viewpoints, sources of news,
information and commentary.
Further changes to cross-media regulation were contained in the Broadcasting
(Ownership and Control) Act 1988. This Act extended limits on cross-media
ownership to radio licences. The owner of a radio licence could not
own more than 15 per cent of a television licence serving substantially
the same market and 15 per cent of a newspaper published 4 days per
week and with more than 50 per cent of its circulation in the same area
serviced by the radio licence. Similarly, the owner of a television
licence was restricted to owning 15 per cent of a radio licence serving
substantially the same market, while a newspaper proprietor could own
up to 15 per cent of a radio licence.
Other minor changes to the media ownership rules were introduced by
the following legislation.
- the Broadcasting (Ownership and Control) Act 1989, which
amended provisions relating to cross-media ownership of television
and radio licences by including 'grandfathering' of interests and
directorships held before 29 October 1987.
- The Broadcasting Amendment Act (No.2) 1990, which exempted
networking arrangements between affiliated television licensees from
breaches of the cross-media limits and audience reach limits. It also
exempted lending institutions from breaches of the control provisions
and cross-media limits.
- The Broadcasting Amendment Act 1991, which strengthened the
powers of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal in relation to breaches
of the cross-media rules.
The Broadcasting
Services Act 1992 was a complete rewrite of the Broadcasting
Act 1942 (repealed by the Broadcasting Services (Transitional Provisions
and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992). The Broadcasting Services Act
1992 (the Act) imposed a new regime of regulation on the ownership and
control of commercial radio and television broadcasting licences. Although
little was made of it at the time, this Act altered the limits on cross-media
ownership for a newspaper proprietor from 5 per cent of a television
licence to 15 per cent, by virtue of the definition of 'control'. Other
cross-media limits introduced by earlier legislation remained the same.
Definition of Control
The focus of cross-media ownership limits under the Act is on control.
Section 6 of Schedule 1 of the Act provides a simple '15 per cent' rule
for establishing whether a person has control of a company. If a person
has company interests (for example voting, shareholding, or dividend
interests) in a company exceeding 15 per cent, then in the absence of
proof to the contrary the person is deemed to be in a position to exercise
control of the company. This section does not apply where another person
who is not an associate of the first person has interests in the company
exceeding 50 per cent. The Schedule also makes it clear that a person
can be in control of a company with less than 15 per cent. For example,
a holding of 10 per cent would constitute control if no other persons
had more than 2 per cent and such other persons did not act in concert.
Alternatively, a holding of 51 per cent might not constitute control
if the holder had given undertakings to a lender. In such circumstances
the lender (with no direct company interests) might be in a position
of control. The '15 per cent' rule does not only apply to interests
held directly in a company. Section 7 of Schedule 1 provides for it
to be applied to a succession or chain of companies.
ABA Prior Opinions
Under section
74 of the Broadcasting Services Act, the ABA is able to provide
prior opinions to persons who may be affected by the ownership and control
provisions. This service helps provide a degree of regulatory certainty
in areas where breaches of the Act could result in severe financial
penalties. The ABA maintains a Prior Opinions Page
which discusses control issues and explains the service.
ABA Investigations
The ABA has also conducted a number of investigations into control
issues. Reports of these inquiries are available from this ABA page.
Some of the major findings on ownership and control include:
- an April 1995 determination that although Mr Kerry Packer held 17.7
per cent of the Fairfax newspaper group he was not in a position of
control because Mr Conrad Black had a higher percentage interest.;
- approval of the overseas CanWest Global Communications' purchase
of the Ten network. The ABA determined that subordinated and convertible
debentures were not company interests in the terms of the legislation.
Although CanWest financed 57.5 per cent of the equity capital invested
in the purchase, its voting rights were restricted to 15 per cent.
In April 1997, following a number of share transactions and Board
membership changes, the ABA determined that CanWest now controlled
Ten and ordered it to take action to remedy the breach;
- a March 1999 finding that Mr Brian
Powers and Mr Kerry
Packer were not in breach of the cross-media rules
with regard to their interests in Fairfax.
Notification Provisions
The ABA's page on Notification
Provisions explains the requirements for broadcasting licensees
to provide annual information on ownership matters, as well as notifying
the ABA of any changes in control. These requirements are necessary
to ensure the effective administration of the ownership and control
provisions of the Act.
Sources of Information
There is no official, comprehensive list of media proprietors and their
assets available online. The ABA publishes Current Controllers of
a Broadcasting Licence which contains a list of all commercial radio
and commercial television broadcasting licences and the persons currently
in a position to exercise control of each licence, as defined by the
Act. This is only available in hard copy.
The ABA also maintains an Associated Newspapers
Register to assist it in monitoring compliance with the cross-media
provisions of the Act. The register lists newspapers together with the
commercial radio and television stations that serve the same areas,
in terms of section
59 of the Act.
The best source of information on current media ownership is the 'Media
Ownership Update' published in the journal Communications Update,
although the most recent of these updates was in April 2002. This contains:
- commercial television and radio licence ownership and population
reach;
- newspaper ownership and circulation (including suburban, regional
and multicultural newspapers);
- magazine and publishing ownership;
- information on pay television and Internet services.
Although this data is not available online, the Communications Law Centre (which publishes
the journal) has a website containing much interesting information on
media ownership issues. Their Media Ownership page provides links to
legislation, articles, submissions and other resources.
The Australian interests of the major media companies are summarised
below. The circulation and audience reach figures have been taken from
the April 2002 Media Ownership Update.
It should be noted that the potential audience reach figures for each
broadcaster refer only to the audience of the stations they control,
and not the total audience of a network eg. the stations owned by PBL
(Nine) have an audience of 52 per cent of the population, but the Nine
Network is available throughout most of the country because many stations
not owned by PBL carry the signal. Such affiliated stations pay a negotiated
proportion of their advertising revenue to the major networks.
News Ltd is an Australian subsidiary of News Corporation (Chairman, Mr
Rupert Murdoch). It
has interests in more than one hundred national, metropolitan, regional
and suburban newspapers throughout Australia.
A list of the major titles can be obtained from this page. In terms
of its share of circulation, it has:
- 68 per cent of the capital city and national newspaper market;
- 77 per cent of the Sunday newspaper market;
- 62 per cent of the suburban newspaper market;
- 18 per cent of the regional newspaper market.
These figures include Queensland Press Ltd, jointly owned by Cruden
Investments (Murdoch’s own company) and News Corporation.
Other News Ltd. media interests are AAP Information Services (jointly
controlled with Fairfax), a 25 per cent stake in Foxtel (pay TV) and News
Interactive (online).
Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd (PBL)
Publishing and Broadcasting Limited
(Chairman, Mr James
Packer) is an Australian media and entertainment company
which owns the Nine Network and the magazine publisher, Australian Consolidated Press. PBL controls
three metropolitan and one regional television licences, giving it a
reach of 51.5 per cent of the potential audience. In pay TV, it has
a 25 per cent interest in Foxtel
and a 33 per cent stake in Sky News. It publishes over 65 magazines
and its share of the circulation of the top thirty Australian magazines
is around 40 per cent. It has a joint online venture (ninemsn) with Microsoft
Corporation. The largest shareholder in PBL is Consolidated Press Holdings
(Mr Kerry Packer).
John Fairfax Holdings Ltd
John Fairfax Holdings Ltd (Chairman,
Mr Dean Wills) is an Australian publishing group with
no single dominant shareholder. Major shareholders include Bankers Trust
Australia Ltd (8 per cent) and Tyndall Australia Ltd (10 per cent).
The latter two companies had their voting power limited to five per
cent under foreign investment policy. The Treasurer issued a press release
on this matter in August 1998. Fairfax has also been
the subject of two ABA investigations
with regard to its relationship with Mr Kerry
Packer. In July 2001 Mr Packer's
CPH Investment Corporation (formerly the FXF Trust) sold its 14.9 per
cent share in Fairfax for $436 million. The buyers
were said to be wide range of institutions, of which around 65 per cent
were locally based. Fairfax newspapers have the following
circulation shares:
- 21 per cent of the capital city and national newspaper market;
- 22 per cent of the Sunday newspaper market;
- 17 per cent of the suburban newspaper market;
- 16 per cent of the regional newspaper market.
Other Fairfax interests are AAP Information Services
(jointly controlled with News Ltd), three magazines, and the Fairfax Interactive Network (online).
Telstra Corporation Ltd
Telstra Corporation (Chairman, Mr
Bob Mansfield) owns
most of Australia's telecommunications
infrastructure, 50 per cent of the pay TV operator Foxtel,
and Big Pond Internet Services.
The major shareholder is the Commonwealth Government (51 per cent).
APN News and Media
APN News and Media has extensive
interests in regional newspapers, commercial radio, outdoor advertising,
pay television and digital media. Its largest shareholder is Independent News and Media
PLC of Dublin, Ireland
(Chairman, Dr A.J.F.
O'Reilly). The Australian Radio Network is controlled
by APN and Clear Channel Communications
(a US public company). It has
seven metropolitan and one regional stations, with a potential audience
of 50 per cent of the population. It also shares control of one Brisbane
radio licence with DMG Radio Australia,
and two regional licences with Village Roadshow. The Australian Radio
Network also has a joint venture with Australian Capital Equity and
the Special Broadcasting Service called Pan TV, which produces the pay
TV channel World Movies. APN newspapers have 28 per cent of the
regional newspaper market (13 titles). APN also has more than fifty
non-daily newspapers.
Rural Press Limited
Rural Press Limited (Chairman,
Mr John B.
Fairfax) publishes over 150 regional newspapers and
magazines, including the Canberra Times. It has 14 per cent of
the circulation of daily regional newspapers. The company also controls
five radio licences in South Australia and one in Ipswich, Queensland.
The largest shareholder is Marinya Media, the private company of John
B. and Tim Fairfax.
Seven Network
The Seven Network Ltd (Chairman, Mr Kerry
Stokes) controls five metropolitan and one regional
television licences, with a potential audience reach of 72 per cent
of the population. It also has a number of pay TV interests, including
a 33 per cent stake in Sky News. The largest shareholder is Kerry
Stokes (34 per cent). The Seven Network's relationship
with News Ltd was the subject of an ABA investigation
in 1996. In July 2001 the company acquired fifty per cent of the Australian
and New Zealand magazine business
of PMP Limited for $65 million.
Ten Group Ltd
The Ten Group Ltd controls five metropolitan television licences, with
a potential audience reach of 65 per cent of the population. The largest
shareholder is CanWest Global
Communications (Chairman, Mr Izzy
Asper), which holds a 14.9 per cent voting interest
and an overall 57.5 economic interest in the company. The Ten Group
has been the subject of a number of ABA investigations
concerning foreign control.
Southern Cross Broadcasting Australia Ltd
Southern Cross Broadcasting
(Chairman, J.C. Dahlsen)
has one metropolitan and seven regional television licences, with a
potential audience of 42 per cent of the population. It also controls
six metropolitan radio licences and Sky Radio. The largest shareholder
is the Ten Group Ltd (14 per cent). Its most recent acquisitions were
in March 2001, when it bought the talkback stations 2UE and 4BC, as
well as Sky Radio, from Broadcast Investment Holdings Pty Ltd (owned
by the Lamb family) for $90 million.
Prime Television Ltd
Prime Television (Chairman,
Mr Paul Ramsay)
has eight regional television licences, with a potential audience of
25 per cent of the population. The largest shareholder is Paul Ramsay
Holdings Pty Ltd (39 per cent).
Village Roadshow Ltd
Village Roadshow (Chairman,
Mr John R.
Kirby) controls Austereo
Pty Ltd, which has ten metropolitan and two regional radio licences,
giving it a potential audience reach of 61 per cent of the population.
The largest shareholder is John Kirby,
through the Village Roadshow Corporation (47 per cent).
West Australian Newspapers Holdings Ltd
West Australian
Newspapers Holdings Ltd (Chairman, Mr W.G.
Kent) publishes The West Australian and 18 regional
newspapers. It has nine per cent of the capital city and national newspaper
market, nine per cent of Australian suburban market and one per cent
of the regional market. It also owns eight per cent of AAP Information
Services. The largest shareholders are Westpac Investment Management
Pty Ltd (7 per cent) and Perpetual Trustees Australia Ltd (7 per cent).
WIN Corporation Pty Ltd
WIN Corporation (Chairman,
Mr Bruce Gordon)
controls one metropolitan and nine regional television licences, with
a potential audience of 26 per cent of the population. WIN also has
one radio station in Wollongong. The major shareholder is Mr
Bruce Gordon.
DMG Radio Australia
DMG Radio (Chairman, R.
Gilbert) is controlled by the UK
group, Daily Mail and
General Trust. It operates the largest radio network in Australia
(five metropolitan and 60 regional licences), reaching 61 per cent of
the population.
On 1 October 1996 the Government announced a review of the cross-media
rules and released an Issues Paper on the subject. Some of the submissions
to the review are available from this page.
In October 1999 the Minister for Communications, Information Technology
and the Arts indicated
that the Government would not be attempting to reform the cross-media
rules until the Opposition also supported such a move. The Prime Minister
made similar comments in an interview
on 1 September 2000, as well as indicating that he had long believed
the rules to be anachronistic.
In August 2001 the Minister for Communications, Information Technology
and the Arts stated that the Government would consider a comprehensive
review of the cross-media and foreign ownership rules. In particular,
the Minister
indicated that the Government would grant exemptions in respect
of cross-media if it obtained undertakings that companies would maintain
existing levels of locally produced news and current affairs in respect
of radio and television and that separate and distinct editorial processes
were put in place.
This position was included in the Government's
Election Policy on Broadcasting. The Policy also states that foreign
ownership restrictions on television and newspapers will be removed.
The Government's preferred position is that media acquisitions be governed
by the Trade Practices Act and the Foreign Acquisitions and
Takeovers Act as well as the cross-media undertakings referred to
above. Since the election, the Government has indicated that the relaxation
of cross-media and foreign ownership rules must be implemented together,
or not at all.
On the 21 March 2002 the Government introduced the Broadcasting Services
Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill 2002 to implement its election policy
commitment. The Bill and associated documents
can be obtained from this
page. The Minister’s media release
and the Department’s page of background
on the Bill are also available.
The Bill was referred to the Senate
Environment, Communications, Information and the Arts Committee. The
submissions
made to the Committee and its final Report
(pdf file) are available. The main recommendation of the Committee was
that the Bill be amended so that in regional
markets, cross-media exemptions only be allowed in relation to proposals
that could result in a media company having cross-ownership in only
two of the three generic categories of newspapers, radio and television.
It also made recommendations to promote regional news and current affairs
coverage and to encourage disclosure of cross-media interests. The Government
accepted these recommendations and announced
that it would amend the Bill accordingly.
The proposed amendments can be obtained from this page.
Regional Broadcasting Issues
The Bill contains provisions to ensure
that the granting of exemptions from the cross-media rules does not
result in reductions to local news services in regional areas. The maintenance
of local regional programming first became an issue with the introduction
of 'aggregation' in the late 1980s. This was the process of creating
larger, more viable regional television markets by combining existing
licence areas so that they could be served by three commercial services.
Aggregation was introduced by the Broadcasting Amendment Act 1987.
At the time, it was argued that the larger service areas provided through
aggregation would provide an opportunity for licensees to expand and
develop regional content and that viewers' preferences would provide
an incentive for regional licensees to produce local programs.
These hopes do not appear to have been fulfilled and the issue of localism
in regional broadcasting has emerged once more. The House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Communications, Transport and the Arts report,
Local
Voices: Inquiry into Regional Radio (September 2001) drew attention
to the decline of local radio programming with the consolidation of
ownership in the commercial radio industry and the consequent increase
in networking. In 2001 there was also a decline in regional television
news coverage: Prime Television cut news bulletins in Canberra, Newcastle
and Wollongong, while Southern Cross Broadcasting cut local news in
Canberra, Townsville, Cairns, Darwin and Alice Springs.
On 6 December 2001 the Australian Broadcasting Authority announced
that it would undertake an investigation into the adequacy of local
television news and information programs in regional and rural Australia.
Background to the inquiry, submissions and related documents can be
accessed from this
page. The final
report was published in August 2002. The ABA inquiry focussed on
the four aggregated television markets of Regional Queensland, Northern
NSW, Southern NSW and Regional Victoria. It found that:
- while there has been an overall increase in the quantity of local
news broadcast in the four aggregated markets since aggregation there
has been a decline in competing sources of news since the mid-1990s.
- There has been a significant decline in local information (other
than news) broadcast in the four aggregated markets since aggregation.
- There is a lack of diversity in broadcasts of matters of local significance
by commercial televisions licensees and there is a lack of competition
in delivering local news and information.
- Some regional commercial television broadcasters are not sufficiently
responsive to audience needs for local content, particularly programs
about matters of local significance.
The ABA proposed an additional condition on all regional licensees
in the four aggregated markets. This condition would require them to
broadcast a minimum amount of programs about matters of local significance
to each sub-market.
After considering submissions,
the ABA announced
the new condition in December 2002. A copy of the condition can
be obtained from this
page.
The Productivity Commission Inquiry
into Broadcasting
The Productivity
Commission Inquiry into Broadcasting was released in April 2000.
Part V, 'Diversity, Concentration and Competition', dealt with ownership
and control regulation. The Commission recommended:
- that foreign investment in broadcasting be handled in the normal
way under Australia's foreign
investment policy and that specific controls in the Broadcasting and
Services Act be repealed;
- that the prohibition on owning more than one television licence,
or more than two radio licences, in the one licence area be removed.
The Commission also recommended that the cross-media rules be repealed,
but only after the following conditions were met:
- the insertion of a media-specific public interest test in the Trade
Practices Act;
- the removal of foreign ownership restrictions in the Broadcasting
and Services Act;
- the removal of regulatory barriers to entry into broadcasting, together
with the availability of new spectrum for broadcasters.
It has been argued that the media ownership rules in the Broadcasting
Services Act should be repealed and that the industry should be treated
the same as other areas of the economy ie. be subject to competition
regulation through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
(ACCC). For example, see the article by Michael
Warby, 'Media Regulators Consistently
Sell Australians Short'. The Government's Election
Policy on Broadcasting also supported this position, although with
the addition of specific cross-media undertakings.
The major difficulty with the general competition law approach is that
the merger provision of section
50 of the Trade Practices
Act while maintaining competition within markets, would not necessarily
maintain plurality and diversity across different markets. This means
that a newspaper owner would be able to acquire television and radio
stations that served the same region. It was for this reason that the
Productivity Commission recommended that the insertion of a media-specific
public interest test into the Trade Practices Act be a precondition
to the repeal of the cross-media rules. These matters are dealt with
at more length in the following documents:
- the ACCC's submission to the Government's review of the cross-media
rules; and
- the ACCC's submission to the Productivity Commission's Broadcasting
Inquiry, which can be obtained from this page
(submission No.159).
A member of the ACCC, Mr Ross
Jones, also discussed some of these issues in the speech,
'Telecommunications
and broadcasting regulation' (11 February 2000).
It is possible to quantify the possible impact of the repeal of the
media ownership rules on individual media markets throughout Australia.
The table below details the possible effect of the repeal of the rules
on those Australian media markets which have a daily newspaper. This
constitutes around 86 per cent of the population. Smaller regional markets
without newspapers could also experience a reduction in the number of
media owners, as it would be possible for television and radio licences
to be controlled by the one entity.
The table compares the minimum possible number of owners under the
cross-media rules with the potential minimum ownership if the same markets
were only subject to the competition law administered by the ACCC. It
assumes that the Commission would:
- continue to regard the newspaper, television and radio markets as
separate;
- not permit any one owner to control two television licences, or
more than two radio licences in any one television or radio market.
Effect of the Repeal of the Cross-Media Laws on Australian Media
Markets (1)
| Australian
Media Markets |
Licence
Area Pop. As a Percent-age of the Austral-ian Pop. |
Ownership
under Current Law |
Minimum
Possible Owners Without Cross- Media Ownership Controls |
Reduction
in Minimum Possible Ownership
(%)
|
| Media
Outlets per Market |
Owners
per Market |
| TV
Stations |
Daily
Press |
Radio
Stations |
Actual
Owners |
Minimum
Possible Owners |
| Broken Hill, Darwin,
Kalgoorlie, Mildura, Mt Gambier, Mt
Isa |
1.70
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
66.6
|
| Melbourne
|
17.69
|
3
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
10
|
4
|
60.0
|
| Hobart
|
1.21
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
5
|
2
|
60.0
|
| Brisbane
|
8.37
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
8
|
7
|
3
|
57.1
|
| Adelaide
|
6.09
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
7
|
7
|
3
|
57.1
|
| Perth
|
6.96
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
3
|
57.1
|
| Sydney
|
18.86
|
3
|
2
|
8
|
11
|
9
|
4
|
55.5
|
| Newcastle, Maitland
|
2.66
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
3
|
50.0
|
| Canberra
|
1.90
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
7
|
6
|
3
|
50.0
|
| Toowoomba, Warwick
|
1.76
|
3
|
1
|
3
|
7
|
6
|
3
|
50.0
|
| Launceston
|
0.62
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
4
|
2
|
50.0
|
| Burnie
|
0.33
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
50.0
|
| Wollongong
|
1.38
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
5
|
3
|
40.0
|
| Bendigo
|
1.01
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
5
|
3
|
40.0
|
| Gladstone,
Rockhampton |
0.84
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
5
|
3
|
40.0
|
| Maryborough, Warrnambool
|
0.74
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
5
|
3
|
40.0
|
| Albury, Ballarat,
Bathurst, Bundaberg, Cairns, Dubbo, Geelong, Gold Coast, Goulburn,
Grafton, Gympie, Lismore, Mackay, Orange, Shepparton, Sunshine
Coast, Tamworth, Townsville, The Tweed, Wagga Wagga |
14.03
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
5
|
3
|
40.0
|
| ALL MARKETS |
86.15
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
53.3
|
(1) Media markets according to the Associated Newspaper Register maintained
by the ABA for the purpose of administering the cross-media rules. Note
that the figures refer only to daily newspapers and commercial free-to-air
radio and television broadcasters. The Broadcasting Services Act
1992 permits an owner to control two radio licences in the one area,
so the number of actual owners is sometimes greater than the minimum
possible under the law. The 'Minimum Possible Owners Without Cross-Media
Controls' figures assume that the number of broadcasting licences and
newspapers remains unchanged.
Over the last decade or so developments in information technology have
enabled the digitalisation and transmission of video, image, sound and
text. Television, telecommunications and computer services are becoming
integrated, or converging. This process is said to affect the cross-media
laws by:
- increasing the number of media outlets to such an extent that ownership
limits are no longer required to preserve media diversity, and
- blurring the boundaries between services, so that regulatory distinctions
become meaningless.
Convergence Review and Digital Television
The broader policy implications of convergence were discussed in the
Convergence
Review published in May 2000. It defined convergence as 'services
sector restructuring enabled by digitalisation' and concluded that the
current structure of the broadcasting industry would persist for some
years and that, as a result, the corresponding structure of broadcasting
legislation will remain sound for some time.
The Convergence
Review arose from amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act
made to facilitate the introduction of digital television (Schedule
4 of the Act). Its conclusion regarding the media laws was perhaps
unsurprising, given that the digital television conversion amendments
entrenched the existing structure of the industry in the short to medium
term, namely:
- section
28 of the Act, which prohibits the introduction of any new commercial
television licences before 31 December 2006;
- provisions to ensure that datacasting services did not resemble
broadcasting services and to restrict multi-channelling; and
- mandatory requirements for high definition television (HDTV), which
will restrict the availability of bandwidth for alternative services.
Some of these provisions were criticised in the Productivity
Commission Inquiry into Broadcasting for their restrictive effect.
However, they were enacted by the Parliament in order to provide the
television industry with sufficient security to meet the costs of digital
conversion. In addition, there is a provision for a review of the usage
of the broadcasting service bands to be conducted before 31 December
2005 (section 60 of Schedule
4).
The development of the Internet and the introduction of pay television
have added to the diversity of the Australian media sources over the
last decade. It could be argued that this has reduced the need for the
media ownership rules, which are designed 'to encourage diversity in
control of the more influential broadcasting services' (section
3c of the Broadcasting Services Act). Access to the Internet and
pay TV has increased considerably over the last few years:
- according to ACNielsen,
around 20 per cent of Australian households (or 1.4 million) now have
pay TV subscriptions;
- by September 2002 there were 3.9 million household Internet subscribers
(see the Australian
Bureau of Statistics survey).
However, new media access is well below the near universal household
penetration of free-to-air television and radio, although it is now
comparable to newspaper distribution. The nation's daily newspaper circulation
is around three million (2.4 million national/metropolitan and 0.6 million
regional dailies). Individual newspaper circulation figures can be obtained
from this page,
while newspaper readership statistics are available from Roy Morgan
Research. There are generally two to three readers for each
unit of circulation.
Although new media access is expanding, a closer examination of news
sources available on the Internet and pay TV indicates that they are
controlled by the traditional media. The only significant new Australian
news service provided by the pay TV operators is Sky News Australia. Sky is owned by the
existing networks, Seven and Nine, and British Sky Broadcasting. The
latter is 40 per cent owned by News
Corporation.
The most popular Australian Internet general news sites are also controlled
by existing media operators, namely PBL, News Ltd, Fairfax
and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The only major new operator in Internet news is Telstra Corporation.
However, Telstra's
Australian news service consists of AAP news stories. AAP Information
Services is jointly controlled by News Ltd and Fairfax.
Recent ABA research indicates that most people still rely on the traditional
media as their source of news and current affairs. The
ABA study reveals that:
- 88 per cent use free-to-air television as a source of news and current
affairs;
- 76 per cent use radio;
- 76 per cent use newspapers;
- 10 per cent use pay television; and
- 11 per cent use the Internet.
There is no necessary connection between diversity of ownership and
diversity of views. For example, it is possible for different licensees
to broadcast the same networked program material. Alternatively, a single
proprietor could maintain separate newsrooms for each of their media
outlets. However, ownership is easily monitored and regulated whereas
concepts such 'diversity of views' are much more difficult to assess
and regulate. The relationship between proprietors and editorial staff,
which is relevant to any discussion about media ownership and influence,
is a particularly difficult subject for legislative action. The House
of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media report, News
and Fair Facts The Australian Print Media Industry (March 1992)
acknowledged the importance of editorial independence, but rejected
calls for legislative requirements for mechanisms to support it.
The Productivity
Commission's Inquiry into Broadcasting considered this issue and
concluded that 'the likelihood that a proprietor's business and editorial
interests will influence the content and opinion of their media outlets
is of major significance. The public interest in ensuring diversity
of information and opinion, and in encouraging freedom of expression
in Australian media, leads to a strong preference for more media proprietors
rather than fewer. This is particularly important given the wide business
interests of some media proprietors' (p.314). The Commission also noted
that it was not necessary for proprietors to be heavy-handed about editorial
direction, as self-censorship by journalists may achieve similar outcomes.
The ABA has undertaken research in this area. The ABA
study involved a survey of 100 news producers and in-depth interviews
with 20 key news producers and media experts. Among its conclusions:
- it was broadly accepted that news producers will be influenced by
their proprietors' commercial interests. However, the news producers
seemed eager to compartmentalise occasions where they might compromise
their editorial integrity (for example, the commercial operations
of their own outlets) and also stated that they have an independent
judgment of newsworthiness on all other issues.
