Has the John Stephens case actually uncovered TV industry collaboration?
While Australia’s TV networks publicly profess to hate each other there are signs of some behind the scenes co-operation, asks Alex Hayes.
The last two days have seen some courtroom drama any of the free-to-air TV networks would have been proud of, with Seven and Ten going head-to-head in a battle over 67-year-old programmer John Stephens.
But underneath the rivalry, accusations of skullduggery and double-crossing have we seen a signal that the Australian TV market is actually closer to consensus than they’d have us believe?
Chan
Why not allow Nine, Seven and Ten to sub hire Netflix and that way we all get a benefit….
As the content producer segment continues to consolidate, what happens when the producers, who are the IP owners of most of the content, decide they can do this better than the broadcasters and launch their own services? If the mooted Core / Endemol / Shine Group super indie, together with Fremantle, Zodiak, All3 Media etc got together to launch a multi-market SVOD service the networks’ stream co type services could be still born?
Dre, that would be like Arnotts opening supermarkets with other fmcg companies to distribute without involving coles and woolies. Never going to happen, for a billion reasons.