ACMA report shows 2023 Australian content compliance by commercial TV

All metropolitan and regional commercial television licensees have met Australian content compliance requirements for their primary and non-primary channels in 2023, according to the latest ACMA report.

The report, published today on the ACMA website, included results for 13 metropolitan licensees and 62 regional licensees.

Under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, each year, commercial television licensees must broadcast at least:

  • 55 percent Australian content in their programming between 6am and midnight on their primary channel, and
  • 1,460 hours of Australian content between 6am and midnight on non-primary channels.

The Seven Network reported an average of 76 per cent Australian programs across its primary metropolitan channels, the Nine Network 78 per cent, and Network Ten 70 per cent.

Regional licensees, including those from the WIN Network, SCA TV and Imparja, reported a compliance range of 70 per cent to 79 per cent on their primary channels.

These results represented a slight overall decrease compared to 2022.

Under the Broadcasting Services (Australian Content and Children’s Television) Standards 2020 (ACCTS), commercial television licensees are required to reach 250 points by broadcasting first release Australian content across certain genres each calendar year.

Points are allocated per broadcast hour based on a program’s genre and, for drama programs, the program’s production budget. This means that more points can be claimed per hour for commissioned Australian drama programs with high production budgets.

The results show that all metropolitan licensees met the required points quota, with the Seven Network reporting 382 points of first release Australian content, 281 points for the Nine Network and 435 points for Network Ten. These results include ‘carry over’ points from 2022.

All 62 regional licensees met the required points quota by reporting a range of 260 to 423 quota points.

The full 2023 Commercial Television Compliance with Australian Content Requirements report has been published on the ACMA website.

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