Market definition
Advertising revenue generated by free-to-air network television. It includes advertising on advertising video-on-demand (‘catch up’) services which also sits in Internet advertising under ‘Video’.
Australia's leading industry forecasting report into consumer and advertising spend across 12 segments
Welcome to the 20th edition of PwC’s annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook.
Our 19th edition, published in November 2020, was a special report that looked at the immediate impact of the most concentrated and rapid period of change within the entertainment and media industry in recent memory. Given uncertainty as a result of COVID-19, we introduced a range of forecasts - based on a positive, gradual and negative recovery - rather than a single forecast. This approach provided our audience with a range of potential outcomes, based on Australia’s progress against factors largely outside the control of the industry, including the timing of the vaccine roll out, ongoing use of lockdowns to manage contagion, the impact of the end to JobKeeper, and the return of business and consumer confidence.
At the time, we envisaged that this year’s edition would be a return to normal reporting. However, with the vaccine rollout taking longer than originally anticipated, international borders unlikely to re-open until 2022, and sporadic lockdowns a part of the “new normal”, approaching forecasting with a “ranged” approach remains appropriate for the market for the time being - although in most cases, the gap between the three potential forecasts has narrowed. Crucially, when providing the quantified forward view of the market via a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), we have taken into account the six years of 2019-2025, rather than the usual five year range of 2020-2025. This extended CAGR allows for us to provide a more realistic projection for each of the 12 sectors we analyse and ensures that the base from which we are reporting is not distorted.
Finally, in this year’s report, our special feature includes findings from a research study that we conducted to better understand the key factors that influence what people listen to, watch, read or play. Specifically, we look at consumers’ content appetites, which we define as their capacity and desire to consume specific content. While a distinctly personal experience, we found that there are four key factors that shape people’s content appetite and determine how willing they are to stretch it to try new things. This special report also looks into the types of consumption - routine, spontaneous and planned - and what all of this means for content creators and advertisers.
In 2020, the pandemic triggered the sharpest contraction in Australian entertainment and media revenues in the history of this report. While the contraction impacted the whole market, it was clear that some sectors were hit harder than others.
Overall, total Australian advertising spend contracted by -8.0 percent to A$15.4 billion, and consumer spend dropped by -1.9 percent to A$42.5 billion.
The hardest hit sectors were Filmed Entertainment with a -41.0 percent fall from A$2.2 billion to A$1.3 billion, and Out-of-Home (OOH) falling -39.0 percent from A$1.3 billion to A$772 million. The economic disruption was such that even as some sectors saw an increase in readers (digital news) or audience (Free-to-air TV), the revenue was hard to come by for much of the calendar year, until a late surge in November and December as the country emerged out of lockdown. Momentum was strong going into the first quarter of the 2021 calendar year, although the shadow of COVID-19 had by no means been lifted from the entertainment and media sector.
One of the few winners off the back of the pandemic was Internet Advertising, which saw an increase of 3.3 percent from A$9.0 billion to A$9.3 billion in 2020, as advertisers looked for ways to stay top of mind with consumers as people retreated to their screens and devices while spending more time at home. In the consumer category, streaming services did well throughout the calendar year, with Streaming Video on Demand (SVOD) services increasing both subscribers and users and Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD) growing audience and advertising revenue.
The future of the entertainment and media sector is being largely determined by the COVID-19 induced acceleration to changes in consumer behaviour that have pulled forward digital disruption, and thus industry tipping points, by several years. In 2021, these tipping points have coalesced into power shifts that are rapidly reshaping the segments, and the industry as a whole.
Across the entertainment and media landscape, we see five major shifts that are impacting the sector, albeit to varying degrees depending on the shape of the consumer interaction and revenue model. While these shifts are having a profound impact, they should not be interpreted as factors undermining the stability or resilience of the market overall. The contraction of 2020 is giving way to a solid rebound this year, and a return to 2019 revenue levels within the next three years for most parts of the industry.
The first and most powerful shift is the macro shift in consumption, powered by sustained digital disruption. This shift is, in turn, driving:
MACRO SHIFTS: POWERED BY SUSTAINED DIGITAL DISRUPTION
The overarching power shift driving change across all segments and giving rise to transformation is consumers’ ongoing migration to digital consumption. As consumers stayed home and in-person venues closed, use of digital services soared. While cinema box office revenues fell -67.4 percent in 2020, this was contrasted by increased availability, sector breadth and catalogue depth of the SVOD players, increased BVOD usage, and the sustained growth of the gaming and esports sector. While revenue growth was hard to come by for many entertainment and media sectors, including some whose audiences increased as a result of more time spent in the home, internet advertising increased overall.
One of the most profound impacts of the digital disruption was the increased use and prevalence of non-advertising supported platforms, forcing a number of key players to rethink their business model, in a world where the expectation is that consumers can access an ad-free or personalised service, provided they can pay for it.
Disruption was not limited to the entertainment and media sector, with corresponding growth in online shopping as bricks and mortar stores shut storefronts for much of the year. In addition, the now omnipresent use of video meeting services replaced most business-related air travel, and the rapid transition to online learning for many students reshaped education. Barely a sector escaped the digital disruption of the global pandemic.
Despite all of these changes in how we live, work and play, a significant proportion of the habits accrued over those restricted periods will endure. Many of the shifts that were already in play - the move towards digital products and online sales, the relentless rise of streaming, and the growing influence of gaming and user-generated content - gained momentum and are poised to continue their growth trajectories. The resulting power shifts driven by digital disruption will transform the industry in the years to come.
CONTROL SHIFTS: POWER MOVES TO THE CONSUMER
Spoilt for choice in what they watch, read, listen to and play, the consumer is firmly in control of how they spend their two largely finite resources - their time and money - and never has this been more apparent or true than during the pandemic. The traditional platforms that advertisers buy to reach audiences at scale, including television, newspapers and out of home, all had significant competition for their share of consumers’ attention, and the range of competing media platforms and channels added to the complexity of delivering a consistent message over time. In turn, this presented a challenge for advertisers and brands seeking to get in front of their consumers, as they had to rebalance their media and creative strategies in order to achieve their required reach.
While targeting through digital and programmatic channels certainly plays a role, the ability for a consumer to scroll past, skip or opt-out of an advertising message, coupled with the fact that large segments of the population are spending less time on advertising supported services means that creativity in execution and sound channel planning has never been more critical for brands seeking to attract and retain new customers.
Further adding to the power shift to consumers, in 2021, Apple launched its new operating system for its devices that had increased privacy settings that allowed users to decide which apps could track their behaviour and use the data for their own purposes or to sell to other organisations.1 Early signs are that many consumers are choosing to opt out of apps monitoring and commercialising their data, creating a challenge for some platforms, and reinforcing the fact that consumers are increasingly the ones who will decide what information is shared and with whom.
CREATIVE SHIFTS: PUTTING CONTENT CREATORS AND ORIGINATORS IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
The democratisation of content through platforms such as TikTok, Twitch and YouTube continued to close the gap between content creators and their audiences. Amassing large numbers of followers or subscribers creates unique and direct relationships between creators and the fans that follow them. While the content is varied, the critical fact is that time spent on these platforms is time not spent on others.
Spanning content genres including activist journalism, comedy, performance art and how-to content, content creators are speaking to generations of consumers and viewers who choose to spend their time watching content across multiple online video platforms rather than solely traditional media channels. While professionally generated content (PGC) has higher production values and very often needs to conform with specific standards and regulations, the user generated content (UGC) on these platforms does not and therefore is able to use short form, low budget video that still reaches a large audience base. Unfiltered, and to a large degree unregulated, the growth in UGC as a part of their regular content repertoire for some audiences demonstrates the power of a one to one connection and the impact it can have on the rest of the media landscape.
While this is not a new phenomenon, time spent on these platforms is increasing for the core demographics. The reality is that many younger consumers simply have little awareness of – or interest in – traditional media. On the flipside, the platforms pitched toward young people, or that distribute lightly-produced authentic content, boomed. This dichotomy is fueled by twin forces: the shift from older to younger consumers, the latter of whom are increasingly setting the trends and dominating the conversation, and the shift from producers to creators, the latter of whom are increasingly benefitting from reward mechanisms for attracting and retaining audiences.
Across the board, creators are clawing back control, agency, and, increasingly, revenues from employers, publishers and distributors. Whether it is Substack, which helps independent writers establish a subscription newsletter service; TikTok, which makes creators out of anyone prepared to share their video; or the highly curated YouTube channels of key influencers, the ability for content creators to monetise their work without a third party (beyond the platform) puts pressure on some of the traditional players, and the business models that sustain them.
Non-fungible tokens
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent a notable innovation in the ability of creators to go directly to customers. NFTs are indivisible, irreplicable blockchain-based tokens that effectively assign ownership, in some form, for a specific digital item. A robust market for NFTs has now sprung up among collectors and speculators. Key milestones in the market’s development included the sale of a digital collage artwork by the artist Beeple for US$69 million, and the sale of the first ever tweet (by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey) for US$3 million. The NBA’s Top Shot Licensed Digital Collectibles NFTs launched in June 2020 and had traded over US$550 million for video Moments by May 2021. And while musicians may have missed out on live performances and the merchandise sales that go with them, the musician Grimes sold thousands of NFTs at US$7,500 each for two short videos—the digital equivalent of signed, limited-edition prints.
LOCATION SHIFTS: ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
While mobility of content has been a feature of the entertainment and media landscape for some time, the increasing sophistication of technology - specifically 5G - means that the technology-enabled quality of the viewing, listening, reading or gaming experience is able to meet the higher expectations and demands of contemporary consumers. The delivery of high definition content, whether it is on a phone, or a HD 8K LED television, is expected to be delivered with zero lag and glitch-free - whether people are on the bus or in their lounge room.
This technology expectation is also met with an experiential one. Not only do consumers expect the technology to work wherever they are, but they also want the experience to meet with their specific requirements and personalised preferences based on their prior interactions. People do not want to be tied to a traditional method of distribution, but rather want to be able to access what they want, from wherever they are, on any device they choose.
The key media consumption locations - the lounge room, the bedroom and in transit - are changing dramatically, as the era of specific devices having control over a specific location are over. The lounge room - once the domain of linear television and appointment viewing - now offers consumers the additional options of SVOD, BVOD, Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) and gaming (to name a few), largely thanks to the growth in connected televisions and a much simpler user interface.
The challenge for the advertiser is to meet the consumers where they are. If, for example, companies want to meet younger consumers where they are already spending their time, that may mean including a gaming strategy in their approach.
Gaming was one of the bright spots for the entertainment and media sector during the pandemic. Total game revenues, which rose by 7.2 percent in 2020, are expected to grow at a 7.5 percent CAGR based on the midpoint forecast scenario through 2025. Traditional gaming was boosted by the launch of next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony in late 2020, notwithstanding supply issues of the consoles themselves. More broadly, most of the growth going forward will be in digital. Facebook Gaming and Amazon’s Twitch have all recently been active in acquiring premium games-related video content, including media rights to esports competitions and exclusivity deals with prominent games streamers. Google plans to integrate its cloud-gaming unit Stadia with YouTube, which will make games seamlessly playable by viewers of game-related content and live streams.
REGULATORY SHIFTS: THE FOCUS ON MARKET POWER AND PRIVACY INTENSIFIES
In the last two and a half years, Australia has been the testing ground for a number of regulatory engagements that have directly impacted the media sector, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) conducting a number of inquiries, some of which are ongoing, including but not limited to:
Digital platforms inquiry2
News media bargaining code3
Customer loyalty schemes review4
Digital advertising services inquiry5
Digital platform services inquiry6
In addition to these programs from the regulator, the Federal Parliament, through the Senate, held a number of hearings directly related to the entertainment and media sector:
Media diversity7
Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No.1) Bill 20218
Inquiry into press freedom9
While a number of these inquiries and hearings are yet to report their findings, there is no doubt that the scrutiny of the media sector, specifically with relation to the digital media ecosystem, will continue for the foreseeable future.
The news media bargaining code was by far the most documented - and felt by - Australian consumers. On 20 April 2020, the Australian Government asked the ACCC to develop a mandatory code of conduct to “address bargaining power imbalances between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms, specifically Google and Facebook”.10 Following a period of consultation, the ACCC made recommendations to the Government based on the views put forward by stakeholders. The Federal Government considered these recommendations and developed its final legislation which was passed by both houses of Parliament on 25 February 2021.
The code and its implications were watched closely by many other countries as they sought to understand the proposed approach and how it would work for all players. While independent agreements were eventually reached between the major news organisations and the digital platforms, this came only after a very public challenge, with Google stating that the code “would break the way Google Search works”,11 and Facebook taking the step of temporarily removing users’ access to news content on Thursday 18 February 2021.
Given the nature of these inquiries and the ongoing focus of the regulator on privacy, fairness, market influence and related areas, their increased engagement with the media and entertainment industry in the past 12-18 months is something that is unlikely to abate any time soon.
Almost every part of the entertainment and media sector has had to refine and adapt their offering and the business model that underpins it as a result of the new dynamics of consumer control, digitisation and the finite nature of consumers’ attention, budget and time. COVID-19 brought forward a lot of those adaptations and have created new revenue streams for those prepared to experiment, and replaced old ones where the model lacked relevance to the contemporary consumer.
A primary example of this rapid reconfiguration is the streaming boom of 2020, which has elevated the industry to a new growth trajectory. Streaming Video on Demand (SVOD) revenues will grow at a 20.4 percent CAGR based on the midpoint forecast scenario through 2025, by which point SVOD will be a US$81.3 billion industry globally,12 and an estimated A$3.3 billion in this market. But there is likely a limit to the number of streaming subscriptions a household is willing to subscribe to – and people can cancel their OTT services with relative ease. The expanding array of global and local streaming services now available in Australia – including the more recent entrants such as Disney+, Binge and Britbox – is supplemented by a slew of local BVOD providers. The stacking of multiple OTT services has triggered much debate in the industry over the maximum number of subscriptions that a consumer may be willing to take. It’s an issue that brings important implications for strategy. Experimentation in areas such as simultaneous release of blockbusters on platforms and in cinema, premium pay per view content, AVOD, and live sport continue to show that the streaming platforms are not to be underestimated in their pursuit of subscribers and revenue.
Business model evolution also occurred outside the streaming providers with news media continuing on its digitalisation strategy. Ongoing development of "news as experience" across multiple platforms continues with the launch of services such as News Corp’s “News Premium” digital service on news.com.au that promises subscribers fewer ads, member-only content and an enhanced reader experience.
Amid all of this, the volatility masks a certain stability. The powerful shift to digital consumption, which is spurring four concurrent and distinct power shifts, will provide a strong boost to global growth in these industries for the next several years. And as companies race to meet consumers where they are with an ever-expanding range of products, services, and experiences, the entertainment and media industries will grow more pervasive, more immersive, and more diverse.
In some instances, there will be a significant asymmetry regarding the prospects for individual entertainment and media sectors. Even in the areas that offer the most compelling topline growth, like video streaming, competition is likely to change dramatically over the coming years. And all the while, the social, political, and regulatory context in which all companies operate continues to evolve.
As we emerge from the pandemic, industry players who take stock of the shifting environment, and evolve their strategies through customer consultation, the application of data and insights and a test and learn approach come out on top.
One thing’s for sure: the central role the everexpanding array of media experiences plays in consumers’ lives is not just set to endure, but deepen over time. How consumers choose to allocate their precious time, money and data across the array of entertainment and media options will ultimately determine who succeeds and grows, and who fails to adapt fast enough to make the most of the opportunities in a market where power is constantly shifting.
Advertising revenue generated by free-to-air network television. It includes advertising on advertising video-on-demand (‘catch up’) services which also sits in Internet advertising under ‘Video’.
The growth of streaming services had a major impact on the whole media landscape in 2020 and into 2021.
Consists of several revenue streams including consumer expenditure on premium subscription television services (eg Foxtel cable/satellite and Fetch), characterised by linear channels and a box which records content. Also consists of consumer subscription fees for subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services such as Stan, Netflix and Amazon Prime delivered through a browser, app or aggregator such as Apple TV, or Telstra TV. Advertising revenues from premium services are also included in this sector.
The behavioural changes brought on by COVID-19 benefited the subscription television market.
Physical and digital newspapers, both advertising revenue and circulation spending. Newspaper inserted magazines (NIMs) are included in print advertising.
News media felt the impact of the market-wide downturn on advertising revenue as users switch to digital.
Advertising expenditure on terrestrial and internet (streamed) radio. For the first time (2017) podcasting revenues are included in the total market.
Traditional radio is now fully complemented by streaming, podcast, and catch-up services.
Consists of consumer expenditure on physical and digital recorded music and live music tickets. Digital music includes downloads and consumer spend on music streaming services.
Live music's recovery is clouded by factors outside the control of artists, promoters and entertainers.
Consumer expenditure paid for accessing the internet, via mobile networks or fixed broadband networks.
Operators are upgrading fixed and mobile networks to support the changes in work patterns.
Advertising expenditure for paid search, display and classifieds, with video advertising broken out as a subset of display. Mobile internet advertising consists of both search and display.
Internet advertising outperformed the total Australian advertising market.
Advertising expenditure on outdoor media, both static and digital. Categories include billboards, street furniture (e.g., bus shelters), transit, retail, place-based media and sports arenas.
The OOH industry is beginning to see green shoots of recovery.
Consumer revenue including PC (physical and digital), console (physical and digital), online (eg massively multiplayer online (MMO/social games)) and mobile (casual games played on a smartphone or tablet including free games with in-app purchasing). Handheld console games expenditure is included in the console category. For the first time (from 2017) e-sports revenue is included in the total market.
Video game advertising revenue is also covered and comprises B2B revenue from brands built into games, eg via product placement. It excludes advertising delivered dynamically via the internet.
COVID-19 created an increase in gaming interest from new audiences.
Consists of several revenue streams including box office (ticket sales), cinema advertising and home entertainment - both physical (sell-through and rented DVDs) and transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) (sell-through and rented, for example via VOD services).
Filmed entertainment is facing a three-pronged challenge due to COVID-19.
Physical and digital magazines for consumers, both advertising and circulation spending.
Diversification continues to be a driver of magazine revenue.
Print/audio books and e-books for the consumer and education markets.
Audiobooks are benefiting from the behavioural shifts brought about through podcast consumption.
Over the past 20 years, we've seen monumental changes in the entertainment and media industry — from technological advances to adoption of new digital channels. Use the timeline tool below to learn more about the history of the Outlook including the highlights, milestones and key insights over the years.
Bauer buys Pacific Magazines, then is sold to Mercury Capital, rebranded Are Media
Binge Launches
AAP announces closure then saved by sale to consortium of philanthropists and investors
COVID-19 brought the future forward as shifts in consumer habits and advertising investment amplify and accelerate existing trends, and forged new opportunities for consumers, media and entertainment companies alike.
"While the industry has grappled with change, its relative resilience and ability to bounceback lies in the fact that demand from the end user - the consumer - has not waned."
Fragmentation - As consumers spread their time across multiple platforms, events and devices, the difficulty of aggregating a mass audience increased.
Consolidation - Media owners’ sprint to meet marketers’ demands for mass-reaching assets saw an M&A boom
Slow economic growth means a real challenge to gain share of wallet from consumers
Disney+ launches
Optus launches first 5G connectivity
For innovation-focused media organisations, the search for growth has in many cases meant a ‘back to basics’ reorientation around fundamental value delivered to consumers, and a willingness to break away from legacy models defined by platform.
Digitisation of channels driving growth for Newspapers, Music, Radio and Free to Air TV
Need for consumer media companies to regain/retain trust of the consumer given explosion in sources of content
Speed of access improving given proliferation of smartphones, but 5G the future driver
Nine Entertainment and Fairfax merge
Kayo Launches
OOH industry consolidates with mergers of APN & JCDecaux and oOh! Media & AdShel
Starting with content and the brand, companies need to focus on the key drivers of trust: advocacy, consistency, transparency and success.
Divergence of “traditional” vs. digital media spend gaining traction
Switch from product/channel to E&M companies becoming “media platforms”
Online video starts to be a major driver
Esports move from the basement to the mainstream
CBS buys Ten Network
Audiobooks.com launch in Australia
ACCC launches Digital Platforms inquiry
7Plus launched
Internet Advertising passes 50% of total ad market
Competition is no longer a zero sum game - the new competitive landscape is underpinned by frenemies. We’re seeing three new circumstances arising as companies seek other revenues using their natural competitive advantage: competitors are potential new clients, or new partners, and key suppliers are now competitors somewhere else in the value chain.
Growth in Australian-produced content
Challenge of diversity in Australia's E&M industry - both in those employed in the sector and the content produced not being indicative of the Australian population
Media companies diversifying their revenue streams to drive growth
Nine Now launches
Amazon Prime Video launches
Tiktok launches
Southern Cross Austereo switches affiliation from Network Ten to the Nine Network while WIN Television switches affiliation from the Nine Network to Network Ten
Play School celebrates 50 years
Seven West Media’s acquisition of The Sunday Times publication and website from News Limited
News Corporation’s acquisition of APN News & Media Limited’s Australian Regional Media division (ARM)
Whether it’s due to shrugging off our colonial chip on the shoulder or improving our story-telling skills, over the last several years Australians’ tastes have shifted markedly towards a preference for Australian content. Evidence for this is found in the dominance of Australian content in our top forty television programs, notably sport, reality programs, news and high profile drama.
Tech start-ups lead innovation in the industry
True "year of the mobile"
Digital disruption for marketers starts to create opportunities
Netflix and Stan launch in Australia
Optus Sport launches in time for the 2016 World Cup
Foxtel and Ten Network’s minority acquisitions of Ten, MCN and Presto
It is finally time to take mobile very seriously - the extent of the shift to mobile is something fundamental. Mobile will continue what the web started and reshape media, marketing and entertainment over the next 10 years. 75% of the adult population is now estimated to be smart-phone equipped.
The marketers' viewpoint: the rise of owned media assets
The growing complexity of marketing in the digital era
The challenge of finding people with the right skills
The partnership between marketing and IT
Facebook buys WhatsApp
Presto launches
"Free-to-play” becomes a dominant gaming business model as titles such as CrossFire, Clash of Clans, World of Tanks, and even Kim Kardashian: Hollywood achieve sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars through microtransaction payments for in-game items and premium content
Macquarie Radio Network and Fairfax Radio Network merge
You have to have that curiosity. Without it, you won’t see the present, let alone the future, because everything is changing so fast.
The migration of technology from desktop to handheld to wearable starts to create a wider variety of data points for E&M businesses
Data privacy - how is the data stored and who has access to it?
Data volume increasing - people are spending more time online, creating more data
Data management - how does an E&M company which increasingly wants to reach its audience in a more relevant manner, manage all this data?
Conversion from analogue to digital television is completed
PS4 & Xbox One, with wholly digital versions launched
To stay relevant, content creators will have to innovate both in their products and the ways they deliver them. Distributors need agility and insight to deliver the right content at the right time, on the right platform, at the right place.
The rising costs of securing and producing Australian content put 'value' in the spotlight, forming part of the numerous regulatory reviews including The Copyright Act Review, The Finkelstein Inquiry, The Anti-Siphoning List Review and the Convergence Review.
Spotify launches in Australia
Facebook buys Instagram
NITV commences free-to-air broadcast via SBS
Foxtel Go launches for "Subscription TV through the internet"
Foxtel acquires Austar
Pandora Music launches in Australia
Global sales of tablets and smart devices reach record levels despite economic uncertainty.
Ad revenue bounce back after 2009
First signs of revenue bifurcation between digital products and printed products
Converging devices and digitisation rewiring how E&M businesses operate through the value chain
Strong Aussie dollar attracts more live music acts
First NBN services live
SnapChat launches
4G mobile internet launches in Australia
SBS On Demand launched
Recovery from 2009 downturn, though Australia remained more stable compared to other countries
Government stimulus leads to consumers buying in-home entertainment and driving the E&M market
Consumer spend (not ad spend) now dominating the E&M market as technology makes purchasing increasingly easy
Broadband roll out to be the real driver of E&M over the coming years
Instagram launches
1st generation iPad launches
End of floppy disc manufacture
ABC News 24 as Australia's first free-to-air English news channel
Mobile the driving force - both data and content-led
Mobile ad revenue slow to pick up
Analogue to Digital TV switch taking time
Microsoft launches Bing search engine
Season 1 of Masterchef airs in Australia, the finale being watched by 6 million, the most watched event since the 2000 Olympics
Digital radio officially launches in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth
Amazon Kindle launched in Australia
The proliferation of non-voice content and services is working with growing mobile phone penetration to increase our reliance on the ‘third screen’. This reliance is said to be so great that it now takes most people less than an hour to realise their mobile phone is missing compared to almost a day to realise their wallet is missing.
Apple App Store is launched
Freeview Australia launched
ABC iView launched - the first BVOD service in Australia
Public release of Android mobile platform
"Platform Surfing" becomes the new “Channel Surfing” creating even more challenge to retain audiences
Expectation of M&A to come, taking advantage of changing consumer habits
Global economic instability leading to lower consumer confidence, though not as deep an impact to the advertising market with OOH, Internet Advertising and Subscription TV fairing “OK”
Sophisticated audience measurement a key driver of media company successes
The migration to digital formats has an adverse impact on competing revenue streams
Consumer-generated media is accelerating content fragmentation
As content becomes increasingly accessible over multiple platforms, consumption continues to grow
Broadband availability - both wired and mobile - drives spending
Sustained economic growth supports entertainment and media spending
First HD broadcast in Australia (Ten Network)
First iPhone launched
Compact Discs turn 25 years old
Ten & SWM launch HD channels
Convergence: music to MP3 players; news and video on mobile phones; online gaming; films downloaded over the internet
Explosion in new media channels: digi video; blogging, podcasts and social networks
Acquisitions and alliances around converging media
Google purchases YouTube
Twitter launches
Nintendo's Wii console is released with motion-sensing controllers plus new PS3 and XBox 360 launched
The launch of Apple's iTunes Music Store and digital download music cards means licensed digital distribution of music will continue to increase.
Favourable economy supports entertainment & media spending
Maturation of “new” media products and services
Offset of declining categories vs. new media first discussed
Apple adds Podcasting to iTunes software signalling first “year of the podcast”
IAB Australia established
YouTube founded, first video uploaded on 23 April
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is formed by the merger of the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) and the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA)
Facebook first available in Australia
Legislation passed to allow for the first DAB+ transmitters giving rise to first digital radio in Australia
Innovations including HD DVD and online film subscriptions will continue bolstering home filmed entertainment.
Return of confidence resulting in strong ad revenue
Reality TV boom creating sponsorship & product placement opportunities
Product and service innovations across sectors
First near-video-on-demand services plus online music and gaming services start to take off as broadband costs decrease
Regulation in Australia still in limbo
More sophisticated audience measurement and accountability
Facebook started in a Harvard dorm room
Google launches GMail
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year was “Blog”
Digitisation heralds a new era in subscription television services, with the promise of video-on-demand and personal video recorders likely to encouragae subscribers over the coming years.
Reset of loss-making subscription TV sector with Foxtel/Optus deal
Impact of new technology - DVDs, Widescreen TVs, broadband, MP3 players
Gaming and Internet Advertising introduced as new Outlook report segments
Proliferation of piracy
ACCC report into the communications sector
MySpace Launches
Apple's iTunes store opens, first to Mac users, adding Windows users later in the year
Skype & LinkedIn both launch
Google launches AdSense allowing small website content creators to monetise their sites with Display ads, paving the way for the explosion in display ad revenue
3G mobile standard launched in Australia paving the way for mobile internet growth
"You only get to do a sequel if your first production opens strongly."
As more Australians sign up for high speed broadband Internet Services, online audio-visual entertainment - not just text-driven news and information - will be in demand. As the quality of entertainment content on the Internet improves, more eyes will be drawn to it, and advertising will follow close behind.
Deregulation in the media sector
Federal Government package of benefits to the film industry
Music industry reeling from piracy
Newspapers attempting to build viable business models around electronic (digital) distribution
Fragmentation of TV audiences
Xbox Live released
2nd Gen iPod launched, including Windows compatibility (start of real growth)
First camera phone launched - Sanyo SCP-5300
Blackberry smart phone released
SBS World News Channel launched
Industry body for video games in Australia the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) formed
"PricewaterhouseCoopers believes that the global entertainment and media sector is heading towards a highly digitised future, in which niche and customised content are the norm."
[The year previous was] a watershed year... tragic events of September 11, the stock market continued to lose its lustre. As they battled to integrate and deliver shareholder value, mega media companies such as AOL Time Warner and Universal Vivendi began to realise that size wasn't everything (See today!). The effects of the dot-com collapse rippled across the industry, while the worst advertising market in memory brought with it a wave of battered earnings.
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