Media and communications is a dynamic sector that thrives on change, development and competitive pressures. The New Year brings with it opportunities and challenges for the industry, both in terms of developing products and services as well as policy and regulatory outcomes related to issues associated with convergence. In 2012, the subscription TV (STV) industry looks forward to continuing to build on a great product that is shaped by creativity and innovation.
Next month’s 2012 ASTRA Conference, themed Driving Change, brings together an array of international and local production and broadcast industry executives for a day of discussion, learning, debate and interaction. We will hear from our keynote speakers including NBN Co Chief Mike Quigley, FOXTEL CEO Richard Freudenstein, Jeff Shell, President of NBCUniversal International as well as other industry experts about the latest domestic and international media trends and developments. The hugely popular Women in Television Breakfast will feature well known food publishing phenomenon and first time host of her own subscription TV series, Donna Hay. Joining Donna is former track and field athlete, and now highly regarded sports presenter, producer, reporter and TV personality, Tiffany Cherry. The one day conference will conclude with the ASTRA Industry Excellence Awards where we recognise excellence in the promotion and innovation of subscription TV.
Formal awards are one way we recognise the popularity and growth of the industry. In addition we can gauge our success through ratings. A reflection of 2011 ratings reveals that more people are watching TV and audiences increased by 3.9% in 2011 with a 3.3% increase for STV. There was increased viewing in STV homes across multiple genres including Sport, News, Music and Lifestyle, which was driven by coverage of local and international sport, global events, and original, Australian production. Over the 2011 period time-shifted viewing increased by 40% in STV homes, with 15% of content watched from a PVR recording within 7 days of the broadcast. In an increasingly competitive market, these findings reflect that STV continues to meet the needs of viewers.
On the regulatory front, Federal Parliament resumes on the 7th February 2012. This year ASTRA will continue to monitor, represent and inform its members about the policy and regulatory settings that underpin our industry. The Convergence Review Committee released its interim report in December last year with submissions to close on 10 February 2012. A final report to Government will be made during March 2012. There are also a number of reviews and issues where we will continue to be involved. At present, these cover such areas as advertising, classification, captioning, digital switchover, and anti-siphoning. As the parliamentary year progresses we will continue to monitor issues as they arise.
Moving into 2012 we anticipate that there will be new and developing opportunities and competitive pressures brought about by technological and regulatory variables. Next month’s conference theme promotes a well known STV viewpoint; that we continue to meet challenges head on. We create, innovate and ultimately drive change in the Australian marketplace.