The Budget: What’s in it for broadcasters?

Broadcasters will benefit from the Federal Budget, with the government to deliver 5 year funding terms for the ABC and SBS, starting 1 July 2023.

ABC funding will return to being indexed against inflation.

The Albanese government will also fund a feasibility study into the expansion of Double J on radio. fund additional Radio Australia transmitters and more youth engagement via triple j, with money set aside to engage innovative creatives to develop content specifically aimed at audiences on popular third-party platforms.

The ABC gained an increase of $83.7m in operational funding and $32m for international services funding across the next four years.

ABC audiences around the country and across the Indo-Pacific region will directly benefit from the increase in funding, which will include 7 additional transmitters for Radio Australia.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson says “The additional funding will allow the ABC to increase investment in local content and education services and further improve our critical emergency broadcasting services, particularly benefiting regional communities. It will also help grow reach in Pacific communities at an important time in the history of the region.”

“We are always working to identify what we need to provide the Australian public and how we can manage our budget to effectively meet those expectations – especially as audience habits evolve and we transition to digital services, particularly among younger demographics. This budget announcement is an investment in the valuable services the ABC provides and the trust Australians place in us.”

Australia’s community broadcasting sector will receive an additional $4 million per year of ongoing funding for the Community Broadcasting Program from 2023-24.

This takes annual funding for the program to over $20 million per year.

The community broadcasting sector says the Budget has provided much needed funding certainty for community broadcasting with $88 million allocated over the next four years.

 CBAA CEO Jon Bisset says the budget “delivers a pre-election commitment from the Albanese government to provide funding certainty to over 350 community broadcasters providing over 500 broadcast services around the country.”

Jo Curtin, CEO of the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF) says the funding will have “positive impact on sector sustainability and the media landscape.”

$27.7 million additional funding over 5 years for the Australian Communications and Media Authority will support the delivery of projects including a new spectrum management system, to manage more than 160,000 licences held across Australia.