Advanced Television

Australian digital film prices ‘among world’s cheapest’

September 16, 2014

By Colin Mann

As Australia’s copyright reform debate continues, players from the ISP, consumer and content side are making their respective case, with the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA) releasing research commissioned from IHS Technology that suggests Australia is the cheapest place in the world to rent high-definition content. It also identifies Australia as second only to the US in cheaply renting standard definition content.

“What this IHS research shows is Australian consumers are getting some of the best prices in the world for the latest new release films in the format they prefer,” said CEO Simon Bush.

“This is in stark contrast to what groups like Choice would have you believe. Cherry picking a few film titles and comparing then against one market does not constitute proper research and misrepresents the facts.” he claimed “It is time the debate matured in Australia and hyperbole and deception exposed for what it is,” he declared.

The research follows a campaign from Choice on the price of online content in Australia which claimed that Australians pay more for content than its overseas counterparts. Choice studied prices for an entire season of a TV show in Australia compared to watching it via the US version of Netflix. The AHEDA considered the price of renting digital content.

Choice wants the government to consider a market-based solution to combat online piracy, suggesting that price discrepancies are inflaming the problem whereas the AHEDA is advocating a legislative response.

“The excuse for doing nothing about piracy – including the poor excuse on price – is no more. We need action and a legislative response to reverse our world first piracy rates to ensure we protect the industries that bring this entertainment to our screens,” concluded Bush.

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Markets, Piracy, Research, Rights