Regional TV networks have savaged the Morrison government's proposed overhaul of the broadcast licensing system, saying the reforms will not ensure the sustainability of the struggling industry.
"The Fletcher plan is simply a grab for spectrum to bolster the federal government's coffers," the companies said in a joint statement on Friday."The notion that regional television broadcasters would surrender vital broadcast spectrum for access to a public interest news-gathering trust, to which financial compensation has not been determined, is ill-considered and ignores the sector's issues.
In a speech in Sydney on Friday, Mr Fletcher said the spectrum auction could generate "significant proceeds" but stressed the reinvestment in the media and production sector could only occur "if, and only if" networks opted for the new licence in sufficient numbers. Two reports commissioned by the government in the last 12 months have focused on whether regional media companies can survive under the current regulatory framework.to conduct 'independent research or assessment' on regional broadcasters, three months after a report was completed by retired PwC partner and media and telecommunications industry leader Megan Brownlow.