Australia Introduces 'Landmark' Streaming Content Quotas (deadline.com)
- Reference: 0179964200
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/11/04/1737230/australia-introduces-landmark-streaming-content-quotas
- Source link: https://deadline.com/2025/11/australia-streaming-content-quotas-netflix-prime-video-1236606232/
> The rules require Netflix, Prime Video and the other global streamers with more than one million Australian subscribers to spend 10% of their total Australian expenditure -- or 7.5% of their revenues -- on local originals, whether they are dramas, children's shows, docs, or arts and educational programs.
>
> Following the announcement, the legislation will be introduced into the Australian parliament. Australia's Labor government has long planned to being in the quotas as part of its Revive cultural policy, but months and months of delays had left the local industry wondering how committed their political leaders were to the plan. Global streamers have broadly rejected the necessity of quotas, claiming their local investment in content and jobs offsets them.
[1] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/11/04/032244/australians-to-get-at-least-three-hours-a-day-of-free-solar-power---even-if-they-dont-have-solar-panels
[2] https://deadline.com/2025/11/australia-streaming-content-quotas-netflix-prime-video-1236606232/
When your product doesn't sell.... (Score:5, Insightful)
When your product doesn't sell, force businesses to buy it.
I wish I could get in on that kind of racket.
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
It works well in Canada. Without this protection the market would get swamped with foreign garbage.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Instead you get to pay 3X the price for domestic garbage! YAY!
Re: (Score:2)
Versus domestic garbage that apparently nobody wants?
Re: (Score:2)
How do you know nobody wants it? I am far more interested in seeing my own culture reflected to me rather than American culture glorified (and yes, there is a difference). I don't give a damn about what ever scene is happening in LA or NYC
Re: (Score:2)
If people wanted it wouldn’t they be buying it of their own volition? Maybe you're interested is some uniquely Canadian cultural art, but most Canadians don't seem to care, just like most American consumers don't actually care about buying American products because they'll gladly purchase the cheaply made Chinese version instead when given a free choice.
Re: (Score:3)
> If people wanted it wouldn’t they be buying it of their own volition? Maybe you're interested is some uniquely Canadian cultural art, but most Canadians don't seem to care,
I think what you might be overlooking, at least from the point of why they would require it, is that there are just a lot less people in Canada. Their population is around 15% that of the USA. Even if a large portion of their population was interested, it would be harder to drive the numbers needed.
Re: When your product doesn't sell.... (Score:2)
You are also making an assumption that it is easy to find alternative store fronts for this content, especially when people arenâ(TM)t wanting to pay for yet another streaming platform
Re: (Score:2)
You hit the nail with "are it willing to pay".
If they wanted it bad enough, they would be willing to pay.
Canadianstream.com
Australiansteeam.com
Frenchstream.com
(Etc).
Would all be very popular sites.
Instead, what happens? The govts require that content on a service that people WILL pay for.
I don't know how anyone can seriously argue that the govt wouldn't have to require it if sufficient demand for this content existed.
Re: (Score:2)
[1]"Good day, eh? Welcome to the Great White North." [youtube.com]
Take off, hoser.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJycys9MV5E
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
And with it, we get 90 episodes of taxpayer funded gems like [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mosque_on_the_Prairie [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mosque_on_the_Prairie
Re:When your product doesn't sell.... (Score:5, Insightful)
> When your product doesn't sell, force businesses to buy it.
> I wish I could get in on that kind of racket.
Your comment would be profound in an ideal world where monopolies dominated by foreign companies don't exist. In the real world we thank regulations for keeping mega companies with market dominance from forcing *their* will on consumers.
Re: (Score:3)
CanCon laws gave us a lot of extremely popular Canadian music and television. The Tragically Hip, Crash Test Dummies, Bryan Adams, Alanis Morisette, the list is actually quite long. Whether or not you enjoy the bands (or television shows or movies), they ended up being an excellent return on investment. Several artists, like the Hip, are considered quintessentially Canadian.
That's just the sort of thing you have to do when one of your neighbours is a huge cultural influence. We should be doing this, and we
There are 195 countries (Score:2, Troll)
If all countries required a 7.5% spend on local content, Netflix and other streamers would have to spend 1462.5% of their revenue on local content.
Re: (Score:3)
Maybe I'm misreading it, but I read it as 7.5% of local spend, not global spend.
Re: (Score:2)
Revenue, not spend.
Re: (Score:2)
There's similar requirements already on the "TV" side of the business.
Similarly there's taxes on things like DVDs/CDs that go back to local artists (but those systems in some countries like Canada are fundamentally broken.)
Re: (Score:1)
> If all countries required a 7.5% spend on local content, Netflix and other streamers would have to spend 1462.5% of their revenue on local content.
7.5% of the Australian revenue.
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
> If all countries required a 7.5% spend on local content, Netflix and other streamers would have to spend 1462.5% of their revenue on local content.
If you completely misread the statement then yes you would be right.
We went through this with cable TV (Score:3)
Years ago some regulation or other required cable TV companies to show locally produced content. And that's how we ended up with the obscure upper TV channels airing blue haired old ladies baking cookies, video of the recent archery club competition, and - my favorite - the program put on by the local Commodore Amiga club.
Re: (Score:2)
The beauty of this is that they didn't specify much beyond that it had to be local content. There's nothing stopping Netflix from producing a show using local talent about how the local politicians are a bunch of horsefuckers. I'm not even Australian, but I might even be interested in watching an Australian show that shits all over their stupid politicians. Or since I'm an American Incan just wait for the inferior American remake.
I'm more curious to see how other posters react to this and to contrast it
Shouldn't be too hard (Score:2)
Australia has created a number of really good television series. My wife and I are big fans of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, My Life is Murder (in cooperation with New Zealand), and Mystery Road. We enjoyed them enough to have watched some of them several times.
Clearly the writing, production, and acting talent are readily available in Aus, so the streaming services should have no problem getting good bang for their buck. That's even more true given the popularity of some Austr
Maybe (Score:3)
We have had a similar system for local broadcast TV here in New Zealand for decades and it seems to have worked well with the key being to set the required local investment levels at a reasonable value. In this respect the proposed idea for Australia seems ok since it applies to income or expense for their market only.
However the complications come when factoring in, or omitting, content for other markets. I get a feeling a lot will come down to bean counters at the streaming providers vs bean counters in the Australian government and could see this getting messy. While the intent may be good the devil will be in the details.
Why? (Score:3)
When Canada did this, it was because they were worried about their relatively weak culture and national identity being overwhelmed by America's. Australia doesn't have that problem. They're the big guys in the region and seem to have a much stronger sense of what it means to be Australian than Canadians have about what it means to be Canadian. That's not an insult, they have a much bigger neighbor with an almost indistinguishable culture, history and language, and thus have trouble saying who they are past "like America, but not". New Zealand and Tasmania likely have the same problem with Australian culture dominating theirs. I gather Kiwis get pretty sick of being mistaken for Australians.
So, problem in Canada, not a problem in Australia. Why is Australia taking the steps Canada did if they don't share the problem?
I'm not saying this is a bad idea, I'm just wondering why they think they need to do it.
Re: (Score:1)
Tasmania is part of Australia...
It's nothing to do with a "weak culture". America dominates because they have 10x as many people as Australia and probably 20x as much money. (still lots more people and money than Canada too)
Re: (Score:3)
Canadians: like Americans, but more polite and a lot less guns (;
So... (Score:4, Informative)
Crocodile Dundee 1,2,3,4,5....
Nothing 'landmark' about it (Score:2)
There really isn't anything landmark about it as more countries/regions gave such a rule.
as an aussie that saw how our society was changed. (Score:2)
... due to the influence of US media, we need more Aussie content.
And by Aussie content, i mean 100% aussie - not 'let's make Aussie version of US show' that is usually about whatever culture is the latest target of their elites.
Re: (Score:2)
Law & Order is hugely popular around the world.
It would've funny if.... (Score:2)
It would be funny if Netflix (or whomever) just spent all 7.5% on the rights to the Mad Max movies.
Then if Amazon spent their 7.5% all on Bluey.
Etc.
Just spend it all on one show or movie franchise.
Meet the letter of the law (spend requirement) without adding very much content.
Go for Aussie porn with that young-looking 21yo. (Score:4, Funny)
That'll show 'em.