Future Of Public Broadcasting In Australia

In 20th century, every human being on the earth is familiar with television, internet and other form of media. We can see the effect of these forms of the electronic media in our daily life.

With the advent of information technology, the ways different aspects of life work and operate have changed a great deal. Media has always had a great influence in molding the culture of a society. There was a point of time when television and radio were invented and when computer was invented and there was little connection between the two. Time then travelled fast then through the age of cassettes, records, VCDs, DVDs, flash drive and then the internet. Media also started to go satellite on a massive scale and there came a point of time when media and digital communication systems became closely integrated with one another, opening the dimensions to digital media.

Fairfax media, originally John Fairfax and Sons, was founded by John Fairfax in 1941 and for over 170 years has grown to become one of Australia’s largest media companies. The company’s operations include the distribution of newspapers, magazines, radio as well as operating digital media throughout Australia and New Zealand. Some notable figures from Fairfax Media’s current Board of Directors include company chairman Roger Corbett, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Greg Hywood and Chief Financial Officer, David Housego. This report provides a situational analysis regarding the current stage the business’s lifecycle and the internal and external influences on the business. This is followed by an

The advancement and development in delivery of media content has also affected the audience’s behavior in certain manner. In distant past, families use to gather around the only television screen in home and enjoy the prime time programs aired by these limited broadcasters. “Millions of households already have cancelled pay-TV subscriptions - up to 10 million U.S. households are currently broadband-only. And about 45 percent of Americans stream television shows at least once a month, according to research firm eMarketer. That number is expected to increase to 53 percent or 175 million people by 2018.” Anderson, Mae, and Michael Liedtke. "HBO Unleashes Streaming from Cable Contracts." The Charleston Gazette, 16 Oct. 2014. Web.

The television industry is one of the most rapidly changing media industries to date. Its evolution from black and white, to colour, to digital and now three-dimensional viewing, there is nothing slow about its development. Focusing particularly on commercial free-to-air (FTA) television, the FTA television industry plays a critical role in the Australian ecosystem. Due to its free delivery, it generates $3.2 billion per annum in economic and advertising surplus (Venture Consulting, 2015). This is why the value of commercial FTA television to the Australian public remains high whereby FTA television is watched by more than 14 million Australians daily (Free TV Australia, 2014). However, television nowadays is much more than a medium of entertainment and information. It is also used as a method for engaging in social interaction (Morely, 1986, p. 22), and this digital divide of interaction is what harms the television industry. The launch of streaming services not only confronts the traditional ‘linear’ TV format by allowing users to select what they want to watch and when they want it, it also broadens the offering to almost any device (Spooner, 2015). The research methods in the television industry despite its strength as a medium, must however, walk hand in hand with the fast progression of new technology and challenge the rise of digital omnivores.

Television has, without doubt, received more attention from Americanisation critics on media globalization more than any of the other domains e.g. fashion, language. According to Tony Bennett (1999, p.207) the early 1960s represented the peak in the Americanisation of popular culture measured by the proportion of American material transmitted. Most analysists now agree that about half of Australian television scheduled is taken up with imports, with US material dominating the commercial channels and British programs comprising the bulk of overseas material broadcast by the ABC (Bennett 1999, p.212). In what is probably the most systematic comparison of international flows, Tapio Varis reported that Australia has seen a decline from 57 per cent of imported programming to 40 per cent in 1983, although the proportion of imported programs at prime time was slightly higher at 46 per cent. Although Australia’s proportion of imported television is high compared to the Western European countries (yet significantly lower than New Zealand), commentators have generally claimed that such imported programs do not attract

Remember way back in the olden days when TVs only had 10 channels? Well I don’t because I’ve grown up in a world when I have a plethora of visual content at my fingertips. Imagine, it’s the year 1970 and you’ve been waiting all year to watch your favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz. It’s a dark and stormy night you’re sitting around the TV with your family and just as Dorothy begins singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the power goes out. Yes, you read that right, the power has gone out and you are missing your all-time favorite movie and you’re going to have to wait a whole entire year to see it again. Fast forward to 2017 and it’s a dark and stormy night you’re about to watch your favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz. Just as

On average Canadians spend more time watching television, listening to the radio and browsing the Web than they do anything else (Rowland, 2015). What is seen, heard and read has an influence on culture, providing information and resources for information gathering, deliberation and analysis that enables democracy to function (Fenton, 2012). The public radio station was created to support that idea – flush out the subjective, at times propagandist, profit-driven private media and replace it with educational and objective information that would serve the interests of the public. After examining the historical context of public broadcasting in Canada, this case study will analyze the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), looking at its early

As an isolated and largely remote nation, Australia since settlement has been dependent upon all forms of media communication, even more so today. As will be observed in this review, the question of whether Australia needs greater media diversity, by exploring and discussing the existing media landscape within Australia’s current Broadcasting Services Act 1993 (BSA) referred to by critics as protecting Australia’s media moguls, such as Rupert Murdoch. As well as investigating the governments proposed media ownership laws, analysing the consequences and effects on Australia’s media landscape.

Media Industries are significant within the life of modern society, providing the primary sources of information and entertainment. Media industries maintain the role of gatekeepers of news and information, as self-proclaimed guardians of freedom of speech and as self-appointed watchdogs on government and business attracting ever increasing attention from a sceptical public and policy-makers. Self – regulation has been the main structure and determinant within the Australian media industry, however, technological advances are now forcing new developments and fundamental changes upon the media as new approaches from policy-makers are focusing on improved structures that best serve the public interest within the modern world.

The UK PSB has been in operation since the 1920s, making it one of the longest established in all of Europe (Ofcom, 2006). There is no official definition for PSB, but authors of Power Without Responsibility: Press, Broadcasting and the Internet in Britain, James Curran and Jean Seaton, say that it “serves the need of democracy” by impartially reporting the news, promoting social inclusion, giving prominence to public affairs, and “generating content that has cultural value”, which means being the main source of cultural resources for society, rather than merely being for profit (Curran, Seaton, 2010). A general description of the PSB would be “any broadcasting that is influenced by the state” (Henderson, 2009). This includes the BBC, as well as news and current affairs programming that are required by law to “provide balance” (Henderson, 2009). PSB approaches broadcasting with the idea that the viewer is not just a consumer, but also a citizen. Programming should be used to promote social and cultural inclusion, and not just be for entertainment purposes. BBC is not the only network that fits under PSB, but includes ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, which all operate within PSB regulation (Henderson, 2009). According to Curran and Seaton without the PSB framework these stations would be American soap operas, variety shows, game and talk shows, and news would be reserved solely for news bulletins, advertisements would be longer and more frequent and more and more programming

According to Jenkins ‘Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide’, It spectacles that the entertainment industry has taken the advantage of harnessing ‘New Media’ on traditional formats by focussing on the logistics and practices. This evidently helps to increase the popularity and the availability of audience participation through the use of updated technology. This is denoted through old technological formats via applying new interactive media to heighten the participation for numerous audiences. For instance, back in the day many industries i.e. entertainment had to depend on broadcasting and radio for the viewers to receive their audio or visual content. To do these industries had to send out signals globally through a large transmitter so that people can receive their content. Transmitting these signals

Information and entertainment today are usually spread through the development of technology. Due to this, various medias enable us to give and receive information. Media can be divided into traditional media and new media (Christian, 2014). While it is easy to pinpoint the differences of the two medias, there are also some similarities that tie both medias together.

Ever since the emergence of humans, the demand for amusement was prevalent and constantly evolving. From watching gladiators brawl in an arena, to attending operas and plays, to channel surfing, people have continually desired to be entertained. Today, there is another alteration that is changing the way people absorb the content that they want. Streaming, the most productive way to receive internet content, has skyrocketed in our society as the internet has become a “universal medium” (Carr 573). It started with Netflix, and then it was adapted by other platforms. More and more people have gravitated towards their phones and computers as outlets for entertainment and news instead of their televisions, causing traditional media to race to conform to the innovative technology (Carr 576-577) of streaming. For example, there are presidential debates that have been live streamed, and are said to be the most popular stream in internet history. Streaming has become a trend that has yet to lose momentum, and has consistently stayed at the top of the consumer food chain.

What do we really mean by television? The way we watch television has drastically changed over the last fifteen years due to new technologies such as digital television and services providing on-demand access. These drastic changes have had a huge effect on viewers and have “allowed online streaming platforms to dominate and revolutionize the way the audience consumes” (Aliloupour) media, ultimately allowing the viewer to be in total control of how, when and where they want their content. The idea of only being able to watch television on a television set is now a thing of the past. Due to technology, the audience now has a vast variety of options on how they can access content. By using scholarly articles, research in new media and Internet sites I will be analyzing current television and where the future of television will be heading.