Documentary PRODUCTION
Budget ranges
Cost per Hour

Australian documentaries (not including broadcaster-produced titles) (current* and 2020 dollars), 1997/98–2020/21

The cost per hour for documentary titles - single and series combined - has remained relatively stable over the last five years, increasing by 6 per cent since 2016/17. 

For series, the cost per commercial broadcast hour (in 2021 dollars) averaged $370,026 in the five years to 2020/21.

For single titles, the cost per commercial broadcast hour (in 2021 dollars) averaged $608,956 in the five years to 2020/21.

For single titles, the cost per commercial broadcast hour (in 2020 dollars) has been rising: averaging $541,143 in the five years to 2019/20 compared to $399,008 over the 22-year period. In 2011/12, the average cost per hour for a single documentary title hit a record high of $742,042 (in 2020 dollars), up 44 per cent on 2010/11, boosted by a small number of titles with very high budgets.

In 2020/21, the cost per hour for single titles increased on the previous year while the cost per hour for series titles was down on 2019/20 due to the increased proportion of series made for over 500k per hour.