Screen Australia boss points to ad-funded streaming models as future for industry
The chief operating officer of Screen Australia has argued the entry of Netflix, Stan and Presto has fundamentally changed the Australian screen industry but has questioned if there is enough room for all three operators.
L:R Russel Howcroft, Fiona Cameron, Sarah Snook, Tom Ballard, Jenni Tosi, Holly Hines, Dana Brunetti
Speaking on a special Q&A panel at the Screen Forever conference in Melbourne Fiona Cameron, chief operating officer of Screen Australia, said: “The question is will SVOD change our world? It already has.
“There are 1.5m subscribers to Netflix in a year. That is extraordinary. It has rocked out world and there is now Netflix, Presto and Stan, would you put your money on all three of them being here in 12 months? No you wouldn’t.”
I would argue there is room for all three operators in Australia, the market is big enough for that and its only approx $10/mth. I think most people will end up having two subscriptions because none have all the content one wants and Australia’s Netflix is very much watered down compared to America.
As for AVOD it won’t be the cash cow they think, already people are complaining about
Plus 7 and the amount of advertising thats shoved in ones face and it’s turning people off. So they shouldn’t bring the broadcast model to the online world it will fail.
Ash vs Evil Dead is their smartest pick up. We’re constantly told aussies don’t love horror – they do, it’s completely marketed wrong here.
Fiona makes some good points. Given that only 30% of households signed up for Foxtel you have to wonder how many SVOD services can survive. I have been arguing for several years now that the networks would eventually look at AVOD. Much will depend on the fight back from the FTA’s and also the NBN rollout.
Foxtel? Why would you bother…
long form ad funded online is dead. The user experience is terrible as well as cluttered. Probably a good idea to look at where the audiences really are.
Where can we watch this panel discussion on-demand? Those in the media would like to see this discussion around the future of media!
The AVOD system works for print media where readers are shown a documentary that coincides with the story they are reading. But the ads are too annoying and once you’ve paid a subscription the feeling is that you are watching for free anyway. But SVOD is being re-engineered at sites like beamafilm, probably the smallest surviving VoD company in ANZ. Institutional subscriptions are paid by Municipal Libraries whose members watch beamafilm for free.
Full Disclosure: I am a half-owner in beamafilm.
please notify me of any follow up
All this was obvious 10 years ago – just shows you how much the local industry have their heads in the sand… or maybe worse places… Russel Howcroft doesn’t seem to have cottoned on to PVR’s yet and were Screen Australia’s surprise at the uptake of Netflix is an indictment of their role as an industry leader and researcher. Seems it’s time for Malcolm Turnbull to sweep the broom of innovation through the lot of them…