Speaking at La Trobe University last week, ACC Chairman Graeme Samuel shared more of his perceptions of the changing media landscape and the ACCC’s role in regulating it.

He said:

“Australia’s media landscape is experiencing a period of tremendous change.
The process of transformation has largely been driven by great advances in
communications technology that are redefining how we produce and consume
media… When we think of the media, we tend to think of it in very traditional forms –
newspapers that we read in the morning over a cup of coffee, radio broadcasts
that we listen to for talk back and coverage of the footy, and television that we
watch for the evening news and our favourite soapies.

“We have generally
considered these modes of delivery – newspapers, radio and TV – as distinctly
separate and, consequently, defined them as different markets within the
overall media sector.
But those neat categories are starting to come under fire, principally from the
internet but also from pay-TV and, more recently, other wireless media, most
notably mobile phones.

“With the immense resources of the internet at their finger tips, consumers no
longer have to rely on a limited number of information sources provided by the
typical media gatekeepers such as newspapers or free-to-air television
networks.”

Commenting specifically about radio, Graeme Samuel said:

“While new technology may have had a greater effect to date on the delivery of
printed news than on audio or visual information, radio broadcasting is also
changing.

“While radio has traditionally been the only widely available source of mobile
‘real time’ entertainment, news and information, its dominance in audio media is
being eroded by the development of wireless technology which can deliver ‘real
time’ content to devices such as laptops, 3G mobiles and digital radios. For
example, even Melbourne-based subscription-funded community radio station
Triple R streams its content worldwide over the internet.

“The development of portable devices that can store large volumes of audio files
and play them with an impressive sound quality, combined with the ease with
which audio files can be shared between users, has required the music industry
to reconsider the way it promotes and exploits its musical creations.

“These same devices are also fuelling the popularity of podcasting, which is
enabling consumers to ‘time-shift’ their favourite radio programs or enjoy made-for-podcast content that previously would never have got an airing. For
example, The Ricky Gervais Show, developed exclusively for podcasting by the
creator of the hit UK comedy The Office, is the most downloaded podcast to
date. Meanwhile, ABC radio offers regular podcasts from around 110
programs from a range of stations, such as Radio National, Triple J and local
radio.

“In fact, the podcasting phenomenon is so mainstream that the New Oxford
American Dictionary declared the term ‘podcast’ the 2005 Word of the Year.”