Free-to-air and BVOD drive Australian drama production near to record
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John Moulding
| 03 November 2023
2 Free to air and BVOD drive Australian drama production near to record
Screen Australia’s 33rd annual Drama Report shows the second highest expenditure ever on scripted screen production in Australia. Although the spend was down 4% on last year’s record, the new $2.34 billion figure is significantly above the 5-year average.

The $2.34 billion was spent across a record 213 titles in 2022/23 (last year the spend was on 171 drama productions). Australian titles made up $1.13 billion of total spend. Australian general TV and VOD drama was up 2% to $680 million, with subscription TV and SVOD down 11% but free-to-air and BVOD up 26%.

2022/23 also saw record expenditure in Australia from foreign titles, at $1.22 billion, up from $904 million in 2021/22. This was driven by record expenditure from foreign titles shooting in Australia ($809 million – an increase of 83% from 2021/22) and another year of significant spend from foreign titles conducting Post, Digital and Visual effects work (PDV) in Australia.

The Drama Report uses data from industry to provide an overview production as well as PDV activity. All production expenditure is allocated to the year in which principal photography began.

Major shows that contributed to the figure are ‘Heartbreak High’ series 2, ‘High Country and Prosper’, ‘Total Control’ series 3,’ RFDS’ series 2 and ‘While the Men are Away’. Graeme Mason, CEO at Screen Australia, says: “It has been remarkable witnessing the unprecedented surge in production in Australia in recent years, and the 2022/23 Drama Report highlights another stellar year for drama production in the country.”

Australian theatrical features saw total expenditure of $363 million in 2022/23, a 54% decrease in spending since 2021/22, and 17% below the 5-year average. This drop can be attributed to having fewer big-budget theatrical features, with only one big-budget title in 2022/23.

Australian general TV and VOD drama was up 2% to $680 million. This category is made up of three sub-categories:

1/ Australian general free-to-air TV and BVOD drama encompasses drama content designed for family and adult audiences, initially released on FTA television channels such as ABC, NITV, SBS, Seven, Nine and 10, or their respective online platforms like ABC iview, SBS On Demand, 7plus, 9Now and 10 play. Expenditure increased by 26% in 2022/23. This growth was driven by a significant uptick in the number of titles (up by 21%), hours (up by 16%) and average cost-per-hour (up by 9%). This segment grew for the third consecutive year.

2/ Australian general subscription TV and SVOD encompasses drama content tailored for family and adult audiences, initially released on subscription TV platforms like Foxtel, Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go, and other Foxtel services, or subscription VOD platforms including Amazon Prime, Binge, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+ and Stan. This category experienced an 11% decline from the record high of the previous year but remains the largest category of spend within Australian TV and VOD.

The year saw a higher concentration of big-budget titles than previous years in this subscription TV/SVOD segment, with seven out of 21 SVOD titles having budgets of more than $20 million, in contrast to eight out of 30 titles in 2021/22. Stan held the largest single share of total titles and total hours in this category (38% and 33%, respectively), consistent with last year’s trend.

3/ Australian general advertising-based VOD (AVOD), transactional VOD (TVOD), and other online content. This category includes drama content aimed at family and adult audiences, initially released on an array of free platforms like AVOD services such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, TVOD platforms like iTunes, and various emerging online services. This category experienced significant growth across most key indicators. Spend has increased by 74% since 2021/22 (from $3 million to $5 million), increasing to 61% above the 5-year average. This was driven by a doubling of the number of titles (12 to 24), and an almost tripling of hours produced (11 to 29).