Netflix is the most popular service, but in the fragmented market, local challengers also perform strongly.
According to a survey by the Australian Communications and Media Agency (ACMA), Australians love to be entertained by 42% of households subscribing to five or more online video services in the first half of 2024.
To do this, Australia spent $3.5 billion on subscriptions in fiscal year 2023/24.
To celebrate the launch of Netflix 10 years ago, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) published a study called “Australia’s 10 Years of Netflix: Streaming Players and Local Content.”
Netflix wasn’t the first, and wasn’t the first paid service. The TV network, led by public broadcaster ABC’s IVIEW, has been streaming since 2008.
Some people were already using virtual private networks (VPNs) to make them appear to be in other countries to access Netflix before it officially launched locally.
But most of the time, before 2015, Australians wanted more than their TV channels offered. As soon as legal access was provided, the intake became rapid. Within three months of its release, 1 million people had access to Netflix.
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Netflix has always held its top spot, but Australians have also embraced other platforms, including local products.
Video Streaming Platform Illustrations, Paris, April 18, 2024. Prime Video, Now, Netflix, Disney, TV+, Britbox, Shudder, BBC. Videos, movies, movies. Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas/AFP Getty Images
Also, Stan, launched in 2015, was Stan, and its subscription rate was quite low, but it has steadily increased year by year, promoting what the report calls “a unique identity as a National Streamer.”
Currently, 25% of Australian households are subscribed.
On-demand streaming continues to rise
According to Roy Morgan Research, streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) numbers have surpassed Foxtel, Australia’s only cable and satellite PAY-TV provider, within just 18 months (though its streaming service, Foxtel, entered the market in 2013).
In 2020, an analytics company’s ampere analysis identified Australia as the world’s most highly pervasive Netflix market, and since then reached 63% of homes, compared to 50% in the US.
A Foxtel TV cameraman sits behind the camera before the A-League match between the Sydney Wanderers West and Wellington Phoenix, which will be held at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney, Australia, begins on May 26, 2021. AAP Image/David Grey
Two more people (AMC+ and MAX) are coming soon, facing the total output of SVOD providers, including Apple TV, Disney+ and YouTube Premium, among a total of 15 people.
According to an ACMA study, the number of Australian adults watching terrestrial broadcasts fell to less than half (46%) for the first time in 2024, but it is building a strong audience for free broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) platforms such as 9Now, 10play and 7plus.
Public service television is also still on the market, with SBS On Demand and ABC IView (2.3 million weekly viewers).
A recent RMIT survey found that around three-quarters of Australian smart TV users (71%) combine streaming apps on the broadcast channel with free viewing, while only 8% abandoned their fully aired television.
However, the same has not occurred in Australian content makers as well. In January 2023, the government introduced a five-year plan to revive the arts in Australia, including the requirements for Australia’s screen content streaming platform by July 2024.
However, by November last year, Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke confirmed that it had been shelved indefinitely amid concerns that such rules might be considered a violation of the 2004 free trade agreement with the United States.
Netflix says it’s spending $1 billion on local content
Nevertheless, Netflix, which has an office in Sydney and executives responsible for content in Australia and New Zealand, is investing in local production sectors with titles such as Tidelands (first regional committee), Nanette, Heartbreak High and Apple Cider Vinegar.
It also donated $1 million to workers who screened workers who rose up during the pandemic.
Netflix reported that it invested more than $1 billion in Australian and Australia-related productions from 2019 to 2023. This includes over $500 million in programming for new children and young adults and over $450 million in new adult dramas.
The company said it contributed to more than 80 new films and television shows filmed across Australia.
Meanwhile, Stan launched a local production in 2016 in the highly successful Wolf Creek, and later produced titles such as the True History of the Kelly Gang, Tourists, and Drag Race Downlander.
Screen Australia’s report on 2023/24 will not reveal local production budgets, but confirmed Stan as the biggest commissioner of Australian drama titles.
However, not all streaming services are in bloom.
Falling down the roads of the past decade include Australia’s Quickflix, which began streaming from DVD rental services in 2014 and defeated Netflix. However, there was a shortage of capital to continue development and was eventually brought up in 2021.
Also, footnotes in streaming history are Foxtel’s short-lived Presto, Foxtel’s short-lived Presto, and Oz Flix’s female filmmaker-centered Femflix, and Oz Flix, launched with ambitions to deliver “all Australian films.”
