Fast facts: Free-to-air TV

History and structure | Audience | Financial performance | Programming | Ratings

For further information and source notes, select the links below.

History and structure
Year TV broadcasting began in Australia		1956
Year digital broadcasting began in Australia		2001
Number of commercial free-to-air broadcasting services in Australia		55
Number of commercial free-to-air networks		3
Number of government-funded national free-to-air networks		2
Number of people employed by commercial free-to-air broadcasters in 2006/07		6,980
Audience
TV set ownership in Australian households		>99%
Two or more sets		68%
Three or more sets		31%
Proportion of Australian households with free-to-air digital TV in 2008		54%
Size of average daily TV audience in Australia in 2007		13.4m
Average adult weekly viewing in 2007		21h:46min
Financial performance
Broadcaster revenue in 2005/06		$4,767m
Broadcaster costs in 2005/06		$4,138m
Commercial broadcaster profit margin before tax in 2005/06		9.2%
Commercial broadcaster advertising revenue in 2005/06		$3,553m
In metropolitan markets		77%
In regional markets		23%
Programming
Program expenditure by commercial broadcasters in 2006/07		$1,201.1m
Australian programs		66%
Imported programs		34%
Number of hours programmed on ABC1 and ABC2 in 2008/09		14,965
Australian programs		52.4%
Imported programs		47.6%
Number of hours programmed on SBS ONE and SBS TWO in 2008/09		7,530
Australian programs		30.5%
Imported programs		69.5%
Commercials
Number of new advertisements in 2008		38,336
Australian advertisements		96.8%
Imported advertisements		3.2%
Ratings
Proportion of TV ratings for commercial broadcasters in 2009		77.1%
Proportion of TV ratings for public broadcasters in 2009		22.9%
Highest-rating in 2008
Program	Seven’s Beijing Olympics – Opening Ceremony
Documentary	Find My Family
Movie	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Telemovie	Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple – Nemesis
Drama series	Packed to the Rafters
Comedy series	Two and a Half Men
Mini-series	Underbelly
Animation	Shrek the Halls

Fast facts provides a summary of key statistics from each section of Get the Picture along with selected related data from other sections.

For a complete set of free-to-air TV links:: Free-to-air TV

For more free-to-air TV-related fast facts:: Fast facts: Audiences; Fast facts: Subscription TV

For other fast facts:: Fast facts: Government funding; Fast facts: Employment; Fast facts: Production industry; Fast facts: Release of Australian productions; Fast facts: Cinema; Fast facts: Video; Fast facts: Interactive media; Fast facts: Audiovisual trade; Fast facts: International comparisons