G’day,
It’s really struck me recently that television really has reached a massive turning point. (I know - I’m a bit slow). Whilst we’ve had a few streaming services in Australia now for a few years, I only ever really initially saw them as competition for Foxtel - existing PayTV viewing. But after we became a Netflix house around 6 months ago, combined with Plex for the existing terrabytes of footage, it is now an incredibly rare event for the television to find its way back to “Freeview”.
Netflix, if I recall, suggests a minimum internet service of 5mbps. The NBN claims it will provide the majority of Australians with at least 25mbps (not the 100mpbs proclaimed by Turnbull, but that’s another thread). That’s plenty for streaming tv…
Eventually, presumably, there will reach a point when the free tv networks simply can’t continue in their current format, as their main audience will be people who cannot afford the internet, do not have the required speeds, or people like my parents who are too set in their ways to consider this new alternative.
I was trying to imagine what this may ultimately then mean for free to air networks. I could picture them becoming over-run with infomercials as a way to gain revenue. Becoming incredibly tailored to specific markets, perhaps even more accurately, to specific fetishes / ideologies…
One aspect I have not yet investigated, is firstly whether we even still have required Australian content laws / children’s tv laws (post Free Trade Agreement) - but if so - do they apply to services like Netflix/etc. I thought it a little odd for instance that “Round the Twist”, and Aussie kids show from the 90’s, was on Netflix - unless it was some attempt to appease legislation?
Certainly, once the older generation/s have moved on, I don’t see free tv existing the way we’ve known it for the past 60+ years. We’ve reached, if not passed, the peak.
Cheers
cosmic