Subscription video on demand (SVOD) providers spent $324 million on Australian programs in the 2022-23 financial year, down from $335 million in 2021-22, according to new data from the ACMA.
This included a $35 million decrease in commissioned program investment, mainly across the adult drama and documentary genres, and a $24 million increase in expenditure on acquired programs.
The data comes from the fourth annual ACMA SVOD investment in Australian content report, and includes figures provided on a voluntary basis from Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+, Prime Video and Stan.
While overall expenditure dropped slightly, Australians were able to watch more Australian content across all five SVOD services. At 30 June 2023, 3,757 Australian program titles were available to Australian audiences across these services, up from 2,345 the previous year.
In addition to expenditure on Australian content, providers also spent $453 million on acquiring, producing or investing in 39 Australian-related programs, which meet some, but not all, of the criteria to be classified as Australian content.
This expenditure included commissioning Australian-related programs, producing foreign programs in Australia, and providing long-term employment opportunities through local production facilities.
The ACMA report also includes new information summarising how SVOD providers make Australian content discoverable on their platforms. SVODs use a range of discoverability methods, promoting Australian content via Australian content collections, carousels, marketing and recommendations.
