8679.0 - Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services, Australia, 2006-07 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 22/07/2008   
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EXPLANATORY NOTES

Introduction

Scope of Collections

Scope of Estimates

ANZSIC06 and ANZSIC93

Statistical Units Defined on the ABS Register

Coverage

Improvements to Coverage

Comparison with Other ABS Statistics

Historical Comparisons

Reliability of the data

Rounding

Reference Period

Acknowledgement

Availability of additional data


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents results from an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey of businesses mainly engaged in film and video production and post-production services and an ABS census of businesses mainly engaged in providing television broadcasting services. These collections were conducted in respect of the 2006-07 financial year. This is the fifth time the ABS has conducted these collections. Previous statistics were released for the 2002-03, 1999-2000, 1996-97 and 1993-94 financial years.



SCOPE OF COLLECTIONS

Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Survey

2 The scope of the Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Survey included all employing and significant non-employing businesses classified, on the ABS Business Register, to the following classes of the Australian and New Zealand Industrial Classification 2006 edition (ANZSIC06):
  • Class 5511 Motion Picture and Video Production
  • Class 5514 Post-production Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Activities.

3 For Class 5511 Motion Picture and Video Production the scope included Australian businesses mainly engaged in producing films, videos and television programs or commercials. These productions are recorded and stored on a variety of analogue or digital visual media. For ease of reading, these businesses are referred to as 'film and video production' businesses throughout this publication.

4 For Class 5514 Post-production Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Activities the scope included Australian businesses mainly engaged in providing post-production services and other motion picture and video activities, including specialised film or video post-production services such as editing, film/tape transfers, titling, subtitling, credits, closed captioning and computer-produced graphics, animation and special effects, as well as developing and processing motion picture film. For ease of reading, these businesses are referred to as 'post-production' businesses throughout this publication.

5 For the purposes of this survey, significant non-employing businesses were defined as all non-employing businesses with an estimated annual turnover of at least $84,000 for film and video production businesses, and at least $70,000 for post-production businesses. These turnover thresholds were selected so that the contribution of significant non-employing businesses, combined with all employing businesses, made up at least 97.5% of the total estimated annual turnover for all businesses classified to Classes 5511 and 5514 respectively. In the 2002-03 survey, non-employing businesses were excluded from the scope of the survey.


Television Broadcasting Census

6 The scope of the Television Broadcasting Census was a subset of all businesses classified, on the ABS Business Register, to the following classes of the Australian and New Zealand Industrial Classification 2006 edition (ANZSIC06):
  • Class 5621 Free-to-Air Television Broadcasting or
  • Class 5622 Cable and Other Subscription Broadcasting.

7 For Class 5621 Free-to-Air Television Broadcasting the scope included Australian businesses mainly engaged in commercial television broadcasting of visual content, in the form of electronic images together with sound, through broadcasting studios and facilities, either directly or through affiliated television stations, which in turn broadcast the programs on a pre-determined schedule. Transmissions are made available without cost to the viewer. Community broadcasters were excluded from the scope of this census. Businesses classified to this class on the ABS Business Register were matched to external industry lists of television broadcast licence holders to ensure complete coverage of businesses was achieved.

8 For Class 5622 Cable and Other Subscription Broadcasting the scope included Australian businesses mainly engaged in broadcasting television programs on a subscription or fee basis to viewers. The scope also included subscription television channel providers. Community broadcasters were excluded from the scope of this census. Businesses classified to this class on the ABS Business Register were matched to external lists of television broadcast licence holders and subscription television channel content providers to ensure complete coverage of businesses was achieved.

SCOPE OF ESTIMATES

9 Specific types of businesses contribute to different tables in this publication as described below.
  • Chapter 1 Summary of findings. The overview table in this chapter includes all in-scope businesses in ANZSIC classes 5511, 5514, 5621 and 5622 except public television broadcasters and subscription television channel providers.
  • Chapter 2 Television, film and video production. The tables in this chapter include all in-scope businesses in ANZSIC Classes 5511, 5514, 5621 and 5622. Public television broadcasters and subscription television channel providers contribute only to the tables in this chapter.
  • Chapter 3 Film and video production services. The tables in this chapter include all in-scope businesses in ANZSIC classes 5511 and 5514.
  • Chapter 4 Commercial television broadcasting. The tables in this chapter include all in-scope businesses in ANZSIC class 5621 except for public television broadcasters, and all in-scope businesses in ANZSIC class 5622 except for subscription television channel providers.


ANZSIC06 AND ANZSIC93

10 The estimates in this publication are based on ANZSIC06. Data in previous issues were based on the 1993 version of the ANZSIC (ANZSIC93). ANZSIC06 was adopted to provide a more contemporary industrial classification system, taking into account issues such as changes in the structure and composition of the economy, changing user demands and compatibility with international classification changes.


Film and video production and post-production services

11 The majority of businesses formerly classified to ANZSIC93 Class 9111 Film and Video Production are now classified to either ANZSIC06 Class 5511 Motion Picture and Video Production or ANZSIC06 Class 5514 Post-production Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Activities. The exception is businesses which are mainly engaged in processing motion picture film for the motion picture and television broadcasting industries. All of these businesses were out of scope of the 2002-03 survey as they were coded to ANZSIC93 Class 9522 Photographic Film Processing. They are in scope of the 2006-07 survey as they are now classified to ANZSIC06 Class 5514 Post-production Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Activities. The effect of this change on the 2006-07 estimates has been negligible.


Television Broadcasting

12 The majority of businesses formerly classified to ANZSIC93 Class 9122 Television Services are now classified to either ANZSIC Class 5621 Free-to-Air Television Broadcasting or ANZSIC Class 5622 Cable and Other Subscription Broadcasting. The exception is businesses mainly engaged in supplying the news media with information such as news, reports and pictures. These units were out of scope of the 2002-03 and 2006-07 censuses.

STATISTICAL UNITS DEFINED ON THE ABS REGISTER

13 In both the Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Survey and the Television Broadcasting Census, the statistical unit used to represent businesses, and for which statistics are reported, is the Australian Business Number (ABN) unit, in most cases. The ABN unit is the business unit which has registered for an ABN, and thus appears on the Australian Taxation Office administered Australian Business Register. This unit is suitable for ABS statistical needs when the business is simple in structure. For more significant and diverse businesses where the ABN unit is not suitable for ABS statistical needs, the statistical unit used is the Type of Activity Unit (TAU). A TAU is comprised of one or more business entities, sub-entities or branches of a business entity within an Enterprise Group that can report production and employment data for similar economic activities. When a minimum set of data items is available, a TAU is created which covers all the operations within an industry subdivision (and the TAU is classified to the relevant subdivision of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)). Where a business cannot supply adequate data for each industry, a TAU is formed which contains activity in more than one industry subdivision and the TAU is classified to the predominant ANZSIC subdivision.

14 Further details about the ABS economic statistical units used in these collections, and in other ABS economic surveys (both sample surveys and censuses), can be found in Chapter 2 of the Standard Economic Sector Classifications of Australia (SESCA) 2002 (cat. no. 1218.0).

COVERAGE

15 The frame used for the 2006-07 Television Broadcasting Census and the Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Survey, like most ABS economic collections, was taken from the ABS Business Register. The frame is updated monthly to take account of new businesses, businesses which have ceased operations, and those which have ceased employing.

IMPROVEMENTS TO COVERAGE

16 Data in this publication have been adjusted to allow for lags in processing new businesses to the ABS Business Register, and the omission of some businesses from the register. The majority of businesses affected, and to which the adjustments apply, are small in size.

17 Adjustments have been made to include new businesses in the estimates in the periods in which they commenced operations, rather than when they were processed to the ABS Business Register. Adjustments of this type will continue to be applied in future periods.

18 For more information on these adjustments, please refer to the ABS publication Information Paper: Improvements to ABS Economic Statistics, 1997 (cat. no. 1357.0).

COMPARISON WITH OTHER ABS STATISTICS

19 Annual industry data for film and video production and post-production services and for commercial television broadcasters are published in Australian Industry (cat. no. 8155.0). There are important differences between the statistics published in the Australian Industry and Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services publications and users should exercise caution when making comparisons between the two sets of estimates.

20 The 2005-06 issue of Australian Industry presents data for ANZSIC93 Class 9111 Film and Video Production and ANZSIC93 Class 9122 Television Services. Commencing with the 2006-07 issue (to be published in late 2008), Australian Industry will present results on an ANZSIC06 basis.

21 Australian Industry presents annual summary statistics at the ANZSIC division and subdivision level and experimental statistics at the ANZSIC class level. It shows the relative performance of each industry division and subdivision, and allows patterns of change or growth to be analysed across particular segments of the Australian economy.

22 Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services supplements Australian Industry statistics with a detailed examination of the structure, performance and activity of television, film and video production businesses for the reference year of the collections. As such, the collections are not designed to monitor change over time.

23 The main reason the two sets of estimates vary relates to the use of different industry coding practices. For Australian Industry, businesses are coded to ANZSIC industry classes on the basis of the activity reported to the ATO when registering for an ABN, or for more complex businesses, on the basis of information reported directly to the ABS (see paragraphs 13-14 above). For Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services, however, businesses are coded to ANZSIC06 Classes 5511, 5514, 5621 and 5622 on the basis of detailed financial data reported in the collection. Adjustments were made to the data to remove the contribution of businesses that were found to be incorrectly coded to ANZSIC06 Classes 5511, 5514, 5621 and 5622.

24 Other differences in results relate to further scope variations between the two collections. Non-employing units below the thresholds identified above in paragraph 5 are excluded from the scope of Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services but included in the scope of Australian Industry. Public broadcasters and subscription television channel providers are excluded from the financial and employment estimates in Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services but subscription television channel providers are included in Australian Industry estimates.

HISTORICAL COMPARISONS

25 While comparisons are made in this publication between 2006-07 and 2002-03 results of the collections, the reader should bear in mind that the collections were not designed to support accurate estimates of change, and should exercise caution when comparing 2006-07 results to the 2002-03 results for several reasons, as described below in paragraphs 26-39.


Changes in scope

26 For the 2002-03 Film and Video Production Survey, non-employing businesses were excluded from the scope of the survey. For the 2006-07 Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Survey, significant non-employing businesses were included in the scope of the survey. These businesses were defined as having an annual turnover of at least $84,000 for ANZSIC06 Class 5511 and $70,000 for ANZSIC06 Class 5514. For the 2006-07 survey, these significant non-employing businesses contributed 22% to the estimate of the number of businesses, 5.4% to the estimate of total income and 5.1% to the estimate of employment.

27 Limited estimates from the 2002-03 survey have been revised to account for the inclusion of non-employing businesses and have been included in this publication. For these revised 2002-03 estimates, non-employing businesses contributed 19.6% to the estimate of the number of businesses, 3.7% to the estimate of total income and 1.8% to the estimate of employment.


Change in industry classification

28 The estimates in this publication are based on ANZSIC06 whereas estimates in the 2002-03 issue were based on ANZSIC93. The effect on estimates as a result of this change was negligible.

29 For more information in the 2006 industry classification and concordances between ANZSIC06 and ANZSIC93, please refer to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0).


Australian Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards

30 The new Australian Equivalents to International Reporting Standards (AEIFRS) were progressively implemented in Australia from 1 January 2005. As a result, changes in definitions have impacted upon both income statements and balance sheet items.

31 Since the implementation of AEIFRS, analysis of published time series data has indicated structural breaks in series. The magnitude of such breaks, however, cannot be determined without imposing a disproportionate load upon data providers.

RELIABILITY OF THE DATA

32 When interpreting the results of a collection it is important to take into account factors that may affect the reliability of estimates. Such factors can be classified as either sampling or non-sampling error.


Sampling error

33 The estimates are based on information obtained from a randomly selected, stratified sample of film and video production and post-production services businesses and a census of television broadcasters and subscription television channel content providers. Consequently, estimates for film and video production and post-production services are subject to sampling variability, that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been obtained if all units had been included in the survey (that is, if a census was conducted). One measure of the likely difference is given by the standard error (SE), which indicates the extent to which an estimate might have varied by chance because only a sample of units was included.

34 There are about two chances in three that a sample estimate will differ by less than one SE from the figure that would have been obtained if a census was conducted and approximately 19 chances in 20 that the difference will be less than two SEs.

35 Sampling variability can also be measured by the relative standard error (RSE), which is obtained by expressing the SE as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers. The RSE is a useful measure in that it provides an immediate indication of the sampling error in percentage terms, and this avoids the need to refer also to the size of the estimate. The following table contains estimates of RSEs for a selection of the statistics presented in this publication.

RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS, Film and Video Production Services, Post-Production Services and Commercial Television Broadcasting

Film and video production and post-production services
Commercial television broadcasting
Film and video production services
Post-production services
Total
Total
%
%
%
%

Employment at end June
5.9
5.7
4.6
-
Total income
5.7
5.7
4.3
-
Total expenses
5.9
5.1
4.5
-
Operating profit or loss before tax
18.7
20.2
14.4
-
Operating profit margin
18.1
17.0
13.9
-

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)


36 As an example of the above, an estimate of total income for film and video production and post-production services was $2,028.1m and the RSE was estimated to be 4.3%, giving a SE of approximately $87.2m. Therefore, there would be two chances in three that, if all units had been included in the survey, a figure in the range of $1,940.9m to $2,115.3m would have been obtained, and 19 chances in 20 (i.e. a confidence interval of 95%) that the figure would have been in the range of $1,853.7m to $2,202.5m.

37 The sampling variability for estimates at the state/territory level was generally higher than for Australian level aggregates. Survey estimates for states/territories should therefore be viewed with more caution than national estimates. Additionally, within states/territories, the sampling variability and therefore the RSEs for smaller states/territories were higher than for larger states. Survey estimates for the smaller states/territories should therefore be viewed with more caution than those for larger states.

38 Estimates that have an estimated relative standard error between 10% and 25% are annotated with the symbol '^'. These estimates should be used with caution as they are subject to sampling variability too high for some purposes. Estimates with an RSE between 25% and 50% are annotated with the symbol '*', indicating that the estimate should be used with caution as it is subject to sampling variability too high for most practical purposes. Estimates with an RSE greater than 50% are annotated with the symbol '**' indicating that the sampling variability causes the estimates to be considered too unreliable for general use.


Non-sampling error

39 Errors other than those due to sampling may occur in any type of collection and are referred to as non-sampling error. For these collections, non-sampling error may result from such things as deficiencies in the register of businesses from which the sample was drawn, non-response, imperfections in reporting and/or errors made in compiling results. The extent to which non-sampling error affects the results of the collections is not precisely quantifiable. Every effort was made to minimise non-sampling error by careful design and testing of questionnaires, efficient operating procedures and systems and the use of appropriate methodology. Collection estimates subject to a high level of non-sampling error have been suppressed or provided with relevant cautions.

ROUNDING

40 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the components and the total. Similar discrepancies may occur between a proportion or ratio, and the ratio of the separate components.

REFERENCE PERIOD

41 Data contained in the tables in this publication relate to businesses involved in television, film and video production and post-production services in Australia during the year ended June 2007. Financial estimates include the activity of any business that ceased or commenced operations during the year. Counts of businesses include only those that were operating at 30 June 2007. Employment estimates include only those persons working for businesses during the last pay period ending in June 2007, or the last pay period of the month specified.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

42 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated; without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL DATA

43 Inquiries about these statistics and more detailed statistics than those presented in this publication should be made by contacting the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Sophie Vassiliou on (03) 9615 7442.