Do you watch free to a TV not anymore no uh yes I do sometimes but mainly not same here sometimes not mainly not no no uh a little bit if fo's on barely I don't really watch it now today's viewing stats suggests that the future of free to a TV as we know it is looking snowy according to new data from ozam which is.
Aie media's official audience measurement Source viewership among kids and teens on commercial free to a broadcasters has been dramatically falling since 2009 kids age 0 to4 have clocked a 75.4% decrease in watch time from 69 minutes to 17 the 5 to 12 range down even more with a.
77.3% drop from 66 minutes to 15 and 13 to 17 year olds coming in nearly 80% down from 64 minutes to 13 despite the dropping young eyeballs on free to Air TV the consumption of content hasn't dropped in fact it's actually growing so where is everyone I watch a bit of YouTube and uh Netflix Netflix Netflix Netflix Netflix.
Netflix or sometimes KO uh Fox um probably KO Instagram sometimes I go on Instagram yeah probably social media or a streaming platform Tik Tok uh usual like social media platforms as well as um ABCI view when we talk about what kids are engaging with free to a television or not we have to keep keep in mind the fact that younger people do.
Like to engage with the social stuff and the social stuff kind of moved on from those pre-to a offerings today our screens are dominated by pay streaming platforms and social media the most popular of which for young people according to the Australian children's television cultures research are Netflix Disney plus and YouTube there's more.
Options obviously on streaming and there's like practically no ads on streaming so it's just easier to watch all together it's a lot easier and a lot easier to access because there's just more variety and yeah it's just easier you can like watch it on your phone and you don't have to watch on the TV some of the content on TV is okay but there.
Are it's not always that there are things that I like watching on TV so it's of of course it's also because of the accessibility and my personal preferences so it's definitely a mix yeah but is this change a problem well maybe see freear television brings a lot of value to society's table by supporting local creativity and.
Production and broadcasting events that impact everyone giving all Aussies an equal opportunity to share in a sense of identity and cultural understanding the co thing really emphasize the role that the media plays in coordinating public responses there's this rugged individualism that's seeped in where people have sort of said oh I.
Can go it alone I worry about the social aspect that we can't be by ourselves in a world we need the information the free to a values are something lots of people want to protect recently there's been a lot of talk about anti- siphoning legislation that's law which protect protect broadcasts of sports and cultural events from being.
Put behind a pay wall before free to Air has a chance to claim them since 1992 the government has enforced these laws but they haven't been updated to include Digital streaming rights it means that Sports and events could have their Digital streaming rights immediately snapped up by payor streaming services and that's a problem because many.
Households now rely on Digital streaming for their viewing in fact Digital streaming makes up 20% of all freeo a viewing and that number is growing then there's local TV production free to Air channels have local content quotas or set amounts of locally made TV they have to broadcast to support Australian creative Industries and protect.
Australian stories that quota is a minimum of 55% locally made content but for streaming services it's currently zero we also come can't forget the importance of local and national news we're losing local capacity we're losing local views and it's profoundly iron that 30 years ago ik could know what was happening across the street and now with.
The internet this massive information machine I no longer get to know what happens across the street because it's all been closed down things are changing though the government has been reviewing and updating anti- siphoning laws to protect more freeto a sports there are new laws.
Forcing Smart TV manufacturers to promote local freeo a channels on their home screens and earlier this year the government promised to introduce a local content quot system for streaming services by the start of July but some people reckon there are other changes that need to be made too maybe like appealing to a wider audience like cuz.
There's really nothing in between like kids shows and then like the news social media I guess is kind of taking I guess yeah I mean I think they' have to join the social media game to become more relevant to the younger Generations now so I think that's the only way to save them right now in this current climate it's a little bit inevitable.
Because that's where attention is I am very worried about the extent to which we have given such an incredible amount of power to some guys in Silicon Valley people need multiple sources to get a variety of perspective but if we want to maintain the benefits of free to Air television we'll need some policy consistency we'll need to make sure that.
Journalists and media providers and entertainers know that they can be here in Australia that they can succeed and that developing their skills and applying their creative Talent is going to be worthwhile in the Australian space
