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Media Reforms Act 2017

On 16th October 2017, the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Act 2017 came into effect, impacting the Australian Media and Communications industry.

The push for a media reform was due to the fact that the previous laws were made prior to the widespread availability of the internet. The restrictions on the radio, television and newspaper companies meant that the offline publishers would be competing with online services which offer the same content to consumers for free.

Supporters of the media reform believe that by removing certain clauses such as the 75% rule and the 2 out of 3 rule, traditional media would be able to better compete with online platforms. However, opponents of the amendments believe that the reforms will reduce the competition among traditional media outlets by increasing the level of concentration of media ownership.

Legislation changes
Changes to the media ownership rules of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 as laid out by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, include the repeal of:


 * 2 out of 3 rule which prevented a person being in a position to control more than two of commercial radio, commercial television or newspaper in the same licence area


 * 75% audience reach rule which prevented a person being in a position to control commercial television licences whose combined licence area population exceeded 75 per cent of the population of Australia.

The following rules still apply:


 * 2 to market radio rule prevents control of more than two commercial radio licences in the same licence area.


 * 1 to a market TV rule prevents control of more than one commercial television licence in the same licence area.


 * Number of voices rule prevents media acquisitions (commercial television, commercial radio and associated newspapers) that would result in fewer than five independent media operators in a metropolitan licence area or four in a regional area.

There have also been some changes with regards to broadcasting content such as:


 * Restrictions on gambling advertising to protect children from overexposure during sports programs


 * Reviewing Australian and children content for support across the multi-platforms
 * The anti siphoning scheme was altered to encourage more competition in both subscription broadcasters and free to air television for sports program rights.


 * More funding for female sports entertainment

Mergers due to the legislation changes
At the time of writing, Nine and Fairfax merged to operate under the Nine brand. This merger was only possible due to the changes made to the media ownership rules, specifically the 75% audience reach rule.