When it comes to television viewing, Australian consumers love choice, and they love innovation. And they love choice and innovation even more when they're free.
A sweeping statement? Don't take my word for it - take a look at the latest Digital Tracker Report that was published by the federal government's Digital Switchover Taskforce last week.
Our love of free-to-air television is one of the more powerful messages contained in the latest findings. Over the last nine months since the digital tracker study was launched, we've seen a growth of
15 per cent of households taking up Freeview, which means that more than 5 million households now have access to Freeview digital TV.
By the end of December 61 per cent of Australian households had converted to digital TV. Stop to consider that figure. It was only in late 2008 that the free-to-air TV networks joined forces for the first time to invest in the future of television - digital multi-channelling - and formed Freeview to promote it. The fact that only a little more than a year later almost two-thirds of Australian households had switched to digital is an astonishing achievement by the free-to-air TV sector.
Digital multi-channelling is the greatest shift in the free-television viewing space since colour was introduced in 1975, and it has clearly been embraced by Australian viewers.
Since Freeview was launched, Australians have taken to digital TV - and the explosion in the choice of free TV viewing content - with gusto.
Over the same period the uptake of pay TV subscriptions has remained almost static: figures in the Digital Tracker Report are virtually unchanged from the second and third quarters of last year. Even Foxtel's chief, Kim Williams, conceded last month that Freeview was having an impact on pay TV's growth rate.
Incorporating innovation and choice - for free - is what drives Freeview. In 2008 there were five free-to-view channels. Now there are 16. If that innovation and choice hasn't been rapid enough, the momentum is, if anything, accelerating this year. Sports enthusiasts have had the Winter Olympics in high definition already, and still to come are the World Cup , the Commonwealth Games and rugby World Cup - all for free.
This year we will launch a Freeview electronic program guide, an online TV guide and a catch-up TV facility. Plus, the ABC has announced the launch later this year of its much anticipated 24 hour news channel, and the Seven, Nine and Ten networks are each planning to introduce another digital channel .
For advertisers, Freeview offers tremendous new opportunities. Audiences continue to grow: Freeview digital channels are attracting up to 600,000 viewers in some quarter hours. Only on free TV can advertisers take advantage of split signals for different metro and regional markets, making it possible to target audiences not just by demographic but by geographic area.
Pay TV meanwhile, is flat lining. Its latest claim seems to be the introduction of "ad-free movies". Surely if you're paying to watch a movie, you shouldn't have to watch ads in the first place. I'm convinced the word "free" will resonate more strongly than ever among Australian viewers. Frankly it's the way TV should be.
Australia is one of the only developed countries where you can get so much quality, first-run television for free. Yes, consumers can choose to pay for TV if they really want to, but with the innovation and choice being offered for free by Freeview, nobody actually needs to pay for TV any more - and they certainly don't need to pay to watch ads!
Robin Parkes is chief executive of Freeview.
