Australian content and pay TV

The new eligible drama expenditure scheme – 2010-11

The new eligible drama expenditure (NEDE) scheme requires subscription television drama channel providers and licensees to spend at least 10 per cent of their total programming expenditure on new Australian or New Zealand drama productions or co-productions.

The scheme was introduced in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) as a voluntary drama expenditure scheme and was amended in 1999 to become a compulsory scheme.

The scheme operates under an accrual system where obligations that arise in one reporting period which are not acquitted, must be fully acquitted in the following period. Each year licensees and channel providers report their drama expenditure to the ACMA, their expenditure must be at least sufficient to acquit any obligation left over from the previous year.

In the 2010-11 reporting period the subscription television industry spent $33.5 million on Australian and New Zealand drama programs in meeting its obligations under the NEDE scheme. The ACMA assessed all licensees and found all were compliant for the 2009-10 compliance period by fully acquitting the shortfalls obligations in 2010-11 of $12.2 million.

As detailed in the table below, $22.84 million was nominated by licensees and channel providers to partially acquit the 2010-11 expenditure obligations. Licensees and channel providers will be required to spend $6.7 million in 2011-12 in order to fully acquit the 2010-11 obligations.

This investment assisted Australians to participate in the production of a wide variety of drama programs, with titles including Small Time Gangster, Conspiracy 365, Dripping in Chocolate, The Kangaroo Gang, Cloudstreet, Dog Star, H2O Just Add Water, As The Bell Rings, Tangle, Slide and Spirited (season 2).

In addition, five projects were reportedly receiving script development investment.

Details of the eligible expenditure and the expenditure nominations are set out in the table below.

^* One licensee entered voluntary administration in January 2011 reducing the shortfall requirement by $32,852
^# A licensee failed to acquit $40,000 of the 2007-08 obligation, the licensee remedied this in 2009-10.
^{^} A late amendment reduced this figure from $11.30 million reported previously.

Drama channels

The 28 drama channels reported on are: Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, Universal Channel, 13th Street, Kids Co, Disney Channel, Disney Junior (Playhouse), Fox 8, Fox Classics, Triple 1 Hits, W, Movie Extra, Movie Greats, Movie One, Starpics, Family Movie Channel, Nickelodeon, Showcase, Showtime, Showtime Greats, Showtime Action, Showtime Comedy, Showtime Drama, TV1, SCI FI, UKTV, CBeebies.

The licensees broadcasting relevant drama channels in 2010-11 are: Austar, FOXTEL Cable Television, Optus Vision Media, Telstra, Cable Licence Holdings and TransACT.

The channel providers participating in the scheme are: Walt Disney Company Australia (Disney and Disney Junior); FOXTEL Management (Fox 8, Fox Classics, Triple 1 Hits and W); the Movie Network Channels; Nickelodeon Australia; The Premium Movie Partnership (the Showtime channels); TV1 General Entertainment Partnership (TV1 and SCI FI channels); BBC Worldwide Channels Australiasia (UKTV and CBeebies channels); Sparrowhawk International Channels Limited (Universal channel); and NBC Global Networks Asia PTE Limited (13th Street).

For the expenditure to qualify under the scheme, the investment must be for a production that meets the definition of 'eligible drama program'. The scheme establishes a requirement to spend on Australian drama programs, however there is no requirement that the drama program be broadcast on a subscription television service.

The BSA defines a subscription television drama service as a service devoted predominantly to drama programs.

Any questions regarding this information or the new eligible drama expenditure scheme may be directed to the Content Monitoring and Review section in the ACMA Sydney Office.

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