TELEVISION SERVICES
PURPOSE
To collect economic data about businesses mainly engaged in providing television services. As well as being of interest to users of cultural data (because this is a cultural industry) this survey may be of interest to users of sport data as it provides information on the production costs and number of commercial broadcast hours of sport programs produced in-house, compared with other sorts of programs produced in-house.
DESCRIPTION
The Television Services collection was conducted as part of Service Industries Surveys in respect of the financial year 2002-03. The collection was a census of all employing businesses listed on the ABS business register with ANZSIC Class 9122 Television services, with the exception of community television broadcasters. Class 9122 consists of all businesses mainly engaged in television broadcasting, in the production of television programs for their own use (either live or recorded for later broadcast) or in the collection of news for television broadcasting. A mail-out questionnaire was used to collect the data.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Irregular
DATA ITEMS
Number of businesses
The number of businesses mainly engaged in providing television services as at the end of the reference period.
Number of stations
The number of television stations broadcasting as at the end of the reference period.
Type of broadcaster
Records the type of television broadcasting operation being undertaken. The types are:
Commercial free-to-air
Pay television
Public
Employment
The collection classifies the employment of television broadcasting businesses into a number of categories. These are each in turn classified by sex. The categories are:
Permanent full-time employees
Permanent part-time employees
Casual employees
Income of commercial free-to-air broadcasters
The items which make up the income of businesses mainly involved in broadcasting commercial free-to-air television are:
Gross income from the sale of airtime
Income from affiliation fees
Program sales
Other income
Income of pay television broadcasters
The items which make up the income of businesses mainly involved in broadcasting pay television are:
Subscription and membership fees
Other income
Expenses of commercial free-to-air broadcasters
The items which make up the expenses of businesses mainly involved in broadcasting commercial free-to-air television include:
Wages and salaries
Other labour costs
Affiliation fees paid
Television licence fees
Program rights used
Commissions to advertising agencies and brokers
Other expense items
Expenses of pay television broadcasters
The items which make up the expenses of businesses mainly involved in broadcasting pay television are:
Wages and salaries
Program rights used and payments to channel providers
Depreciation and amortisation
Other expenses
Operating profit (loss) before tax
The value of the profit or loss made by the business before tax and extraordinary items.
Assets
The assets of businesses mainly providing television services can be broken down into:
Current assets
Intangible non-current assets and investments
Other non-current assets
Liabilities
The liabilities of businesses mainly providing television services can be broken down into:
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Production costs
Costs incurred in in-house production of material for television broadcast.
Types of production
The types of in-house production made by the business. The types are:
Television programs
Commercials
Number of commercial broadcast hours
The number of hours of television programs produced in-house during the reference period. The number of hours includes any time taken for advertisements.
Types of television program
The types of television program produced in-house by the business. The types are:
Drama
Situation and sketch comedy
Documentaries
Quiz, panel and game shows
News and current affairs
Sport
Light entertainment and infotainment
Other television programs
Classification of television program
Indicates the audience segments for which television programs are especially made. The classifications are:
Children (C)
Preschool (P)
All other classifications
Program costs for commercial free-to-air broadcasters
The items which make up the program costs of commercial free-to-air broadcasters are:
In-house sole production costs
Program rights and amortisation of program rights
Geographic area
Data are available for Australia, while some data are also available for States and Territories.
HISTORICAL DATA
The collection was previously conducted in respect of 1993-94, 1996-97 and 1999-2000. The methodology adopted for the 1999-2000 collection was different from that used for the earlier collections. Hence, care should be taken in comparing data across these periods. The 1999-2000 publication includes a table containing 1996-97 statistics which have been revised using the same methodology as for 1999-2000. For 2002-03, there was a further change in methodology such that the data for commercial free-to-air broadcasting businesses is not comparable with the corresponding data for 1999-2000. See paragraphs 21-23 of the Explanatory Notes and the Technical Note in the 2002-03 publication for further information.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, Television, Film and Video Production, Australia, 2002-03, Cat. no. 8679.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $23.00.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001, Television Services, Australia, 1999-2000, Cat. no. 8559.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $17.50.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998, Radio and Television Services, Australia, 1996-97, Cat. no. 8680.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $18.50. Also available for 1993-94.
CONTACT
In the first instance, refer to To obtain data or further information in the Introduction to this directory.
Manager
Service Industries Surveys
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
Telephone: Canberra 02 6252 5633
Facsimile: Canberra 02 6252 7004
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
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