Give us more Australian content on streaming giants

There’s a storm brewing in the world of streaming platforms.

On the one hand you have the main TV channels who are compelled to offer 55 percent local content between 6am and midnight.

On the other, you have Netflix and other streaming platforms walking in to the Australian market with no such requirement.

Netflix is planning to spend $7Bn on original content in 2018 with very little of that in Australia. We have Netflix’s first Australian production Tidelands filming in Queensland and a handful of co productions such as Glitch, Beat Bugs, Bottersnikes & Gumbles, Kazoops, Mako Mermaids: An H20 Adventure, White Rabbit Project and the upcoming Legend of Monkey.

There is also the opportunity for locally produced series to be licensed for global distribution through Netflix like Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and The Code which have already secured deals.

While things are improving, it’s nothing like a 55% local content mandate.

Whatever way you look at it, something has got to give. It’s impossible to apply the traditional local content rules to an on demand platform but something needs to be done to level the playing field.