Closer Than Ever…
Jenny Buckland, CEO at the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, on the ups and downs of regulatory and funding support in Australia, and the inevitable similarities in audience migration across the world.
Although we’re at the opposite ends of the planet, these days we are perhaps closer than ever, since the whole world can watch The Handmaid’s Tale or Adolescence or Stranger Things all together. But despite these huge touchstone shows on streaming; audiences are fragmenting and free to air television is struggling. It’s relying, more than ever, on live event broadcasting like sport and reality tv contests, and less on drama. Down under, this leaves Australian television drama in a vulnerable position, and Australian children’s drama in an even more vulnerable position.
For nearly 40 years, Australian children’s drama punched above its weight, supported by the C-Drama Quota, which required commercial broadcasters to screen 32 hours of first release Australian children’s drama every year. This content was also supported by considerable investment through Screen Australia, and its predecessor the Film Finance Corporation (FFC), resulting in many Australian children’s shows you might know, such as Round The Twist, Blinky Bill, Spellbinder, Mortified, Lockie Leonard and more.
The ABC does not have any Australian content requirements or requirements to broadcast content for children. There is just a community expectation that the ABC broadcasts children’s programs.
The commercial broadcasters never liked the C-Drama Quota, as it’s obviously much cheaper to screen imports. In 2020 they successfully argued to get rid of it. By then they were competing in a disrupted media environment. None of the pay television channels on Foxtel, nor the SVODs like Netflix, Disney, Apple and so on, or even the public broadcasters, had any formal obligations to screen any Australian children’s content. So, the commercial broadcasters argued it was an unfair burden on their business model, and right in the middle of the Covid lockdowns, the C-Drama obligations were removed.
The impact was profound: there is no longer any children’s drama and barely any children’s content at all on commercial free to air TV in Australia. But it must be acknowledged that by 2020 the children’s audience were no longer watching much on commercial television. Just like the rest of us, they were moving to on demand platforms and by 2025 the process is complete: whilst very young children still adore their ABC Kids, older children are all over YouTube and Netflix, as well as Disney +, Roblox and the rest.
Alongside the C-Drama Quota and direct investment from FFC/Screen Australia, the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) was also supporting Australian children’s content with modest means up until the end of the C-Drama quota. We invested in script development and put up distribution advances in one or two shows a year, taking those shows out to the international market. The Commonwealth Government gave us a cash injection of $20 million AUD over 2 years in 2021-23, to enable us to invest in more shows. Of course, this funding was not sufficient to plug the gap lost when effectively 96 hours per year (across 3 commercial broadcasters) stopped being commissioned. But it did allow us to provide direct funding (equity investment) and/or distribution advances to more shows. This funding has supported the ABC to commission a greater number of series, it has supported small amounts of children’s content on SVODs Stan and Netflix and it has contributed to a few Australian children’s feature films for cinema release. Significantly, it has enabled us to work with a diverse array of producers, and support distinctively Australian projects, including First Nations projects, that don’t always travel and attract co-production funding, but which are vital for children in Australia. Fortunately, when the initial two-year funding boost was over, our funding was returned to a level that was substantially higher than it had been previously, if not quite as high as it was in 2021-23.
The CMF argues that “funding and finding” are the critical issues for children’s content in the UK, and the story in Australia is the same. At the ACTF we’re looking at how we can encourage and support Australian children’s content on all the platforms where children currently look for content – including the public broadcasters, streaming services and YouTube. It’s challenging, though, at a time when algorithms and search engines do not support discovery of local content. We’re therefore considering whether marketing funds and discoverability applications are required, as well as considering what policy interventions might be required to support Australian children finding the content that’s made for especially for them.
All around the world we are grappling with these same issues. It has never been more important to share our experiences and ideas, to ensure that children everywhere enjoy the opportunity to be inspired, represented and celebrated in their own cultures.
CMF Response to the Ofcom Review of the Future of Public Service Media Biddy Baxter MBE 1933-2025