Value of royalty trade in television releases, 1991/92–2008/09

2005/06–2008/09 | 1991/92–2004/05

According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), expenditure on television programs imported from all territories has increased in recent years, with both imports from the US and UK up approximately 150-200% since 2005/06. Exports, on the other hand, have fluctuated.

Only 3 per cent of exports were to the US market while 30 per cent were to the UK. This contrasts starkly with imports, with 50 per cent from the US and 12 per cent from the UK.

Royalty classification is based on the type of market rather than the type of product, so trade in TV programs includes sales of feature films for television screening. It also includes sales of program formats, where foreign territories purchase the rights to produce their own versions of programs.

The ABS also reports figures for unidentified audiovisual imports, a portion of which may be for television releases. In 2008/09, there was $60 million in exports and $50 million in imports in this category.

Download the spreadsheet for country breakdowns of all categories since 2005/06.

Value of royalty trade in television releases, 2005/06–2008/09

2005/06–2008/09

Source: Unpublished data from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Balance of Payments and International Investment Position (cat. no. 5302.0).

Notes:
Methodology differs from 1991/92–2004/05 data.

1991/92–2004/05

Source: Unpublished data from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Balance of Payments and International Investment Position (cat. no. 5302.0).
Includes Australian Film Commission (AFC) estimates. Data revised by the ABS December 2006: 2000/01 export figures as reported by the ABS at June 2006.

Notes:
Before 2005/06, the AFC estimated the total import and export value of television releases by apportioning an amount from the unidentified audiovisual import and export categories reported by the ABS to television release and combining this with the reported television category. Therefore, any comparisons between figures before and after 2005/06 should be made with caution.
1. The figure for export royalties in 2000/01 is particularly high due audiovisual royalties earnt by SOCOG (the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games).