Media Mavericks: the history of free-to-air television

© 2015 Dr. Nigel Alexander DickMany academics have written about television and interest in the medium has grown over the years. Media has been my lifetime career: newspapers, women’s magazines and, finally, but since its very beginning, television. My Master’s thesis, completed in 1999, was very much a personal view of the early days. Its central focus was that of a television executive writing about his experiences, rather than a scholar reaching out to university library shelves to seek the opinions of the academy. This thesis argues that governments have issued too many licences for the available revenue in Australia. This has had the effect of lowering the number of quality Australian programs that could otherwise have been produced. The researching and writing of this thesis has, for me, answered a number of questions, although many remain unanswered. A number of facts have emerged that I wished I had recognised more clearly years ago. I wonder whether I would have had the courage to make public a number of matters this thesis argues are fact. The unfortunate truth is that television was perceived to be an exciting new medium with great potential for increasing advertising revenue either overall, or taking it from other media. The newspaper proprietors numbered among those who were concerned it might deprive their newspapers of advertising. Frank Packer’s newspaper interests were smaller than the monolithic Fairfax and Herald and Weekly Times Groups. He saw television as vehicle on which to grow a media empire. It is appropriate that I explain that in this work, on a limited number of occasions, but contrary to general academic convention, I express myself in the first person. A number of my past colleagues have died and are not here to confirm my memory. Balancing this are the many presentations, speeches, submissions and reports that I kept in storage and these have been useful in validating my memory. Most importantly I have digested the opinions and observations of many scholars and taken into account the commentaries in official reports and other documents itemised in the list of references. In any field of commercial endeavour only a certain number of competitors can operate profitably. If there are too many, one or more of the competitors will be forced to cease operations. In a free market the risk lies with the owners. Television is different for it operates under a government licence which provides protection for the owners, the mass public. Licences demand that prescribed standards be observed, in particular those relating to fostering Australian programs and talent. This thesis argues that too many licences have led to additional operating costs but have not attracted additional revenue. The work further asserts that governments have issued an excess of licences which has resulted in the production of a fewer number of quality Australian programs that would otherwise have been affordable. Further the excess in the number of licences has created some difficult financial periods but politically government would find it difficult to cancel licences to reduce costs. Instead they have reduced the fees stations pay for the use of their licences. Government has also refrained from imposing any additional Australian content quota that would have increased operating costs. This thesis will argue that financial problems would not have occurred if a broadcasting policy had been in place. This would have enabled a thorough assessment of potential new licensee’s ability to meet the level of service expected by the viewing public. The 1954 Royal Commission stressed the importance of serving the public interest, and emphasised the importance of fostering Australian talent and programs. While the commissioners did not use the phrase ‘broadcasting policy’, the weight placed on the importance of fostering Australian programs and talent suggests there was an expectation of ongoing dialogue as to how their recommendations would be achieved and maintained. The commissioners were emphatic that both Australian programs and talent be fostered and a cautionary approach in issuing licences was essential. Television was in its early days in the United States and the United Kingdom, but nonetheless there were lessons to be learnt from these countries. In the United States the number of stations in each market was determined by the size of each market. In the United Kingdom, with a population, in the 1960s, five times greater than Australia, only one commercial station operate