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TV commercial production: Budget ranges

Number and proportion of television commercials produced in various budget ranges, 1999/00, 2003/04

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The 2004 AFC survey indicated a major shift to low-budget commercials: 77 per cent of commercials produced in 2003/04 were worth $50,000 or less compared with 35 per cent in 1999/00.
Mid-budget range commercials between $51,000 and $150,000 have shown the largest decline, now comprising only 12 per cent of commercial production compared with 43 per cent in 1999/00.
Production at the high-budget end (more than $500,000) is relatively static, comprising 4 per cent of commercials produced in 1999/00 and 3 per cent in 2003/04.
Only 20 per cent of companies have produced a commercial in the $500,000–$1 million range and even fewer companies worked in the $1 million plus range. Companies working in these ranges generally only made between one and five higher-budget commercials in a year.

Graph: No. and proportion of TV commercials produced in Australia by budget range. Table following provides the data.

	No. ads produced		Proportion of all ads		Proportion excluding large producers¹
	1999/00	2003/04	1999/00	2003/04	1999/00	2003/04
Under $25,000	1,531²	2,986	35%²	68%	46%²	56%
$25,000–$50,000	1,531²	389	35%²	9%	46%²	12%
$51,000–$150,000	1,870	530	43%	12%	26%	17%
$151,000–$500,000	774	391	18%	9%	23%	12%
$501,000–$1million	148	67	3%	2%	4%	2%
$1million plus	41	26	1%	1%	1%	1%
Total	4,364	4,389	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source: Australian Film Commission (AFC), Production of TV Commercials in Australia: Key Survey Findings.

Notes:
1. One company produced 1,200 commercials in the under $25,000 budget range in 2003/04 and one company was involved in post-production on 1000 commercials in 1999–2000 survey. These two columns have excluded the data from these two atypical companies.
2. The bottom budget range in the 2000 survey was $50,000 or less.