Urgent need for licence fee cuts: Tim Worner

Seven chief Tim Worner has said the broadcaster has put some local productions on hold.

Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner has said the broadcaster has put some local productions on hold until funds are found as he makes the case for licence fee cuts.

Addressing a Senate Environment and Communications Committee hearing into the media reform bill, Mr Worner warned that the “situation with licence fees is now urgent for our businesses”, and vowed to plough any relief into local content.

“We’re paying licence fees that are far in excess of any other jurisdiction in the world. Governments in other jurisdictions have moved some years ago to address this,” Mr Worner said.

Mr Worner said the last round of cuts to licence fees, when the Gillard slashed fees by 50 per cent from 9 per cent of gross revenue to 4.5 per cent, stimulated the television and production industries.

“We’ve shown already with the last lot of licence fee reductions that more than 100 per cent of it will go back into the production of local content ... we will see hundreds if not thousands of new jobs created because of the amount of local production that we can undertake,” Mr Worner said.

“We simply cannot now ... we have things that are parked waiting at an amber light. We just do not have the money to fund them.”

Head of corporate and regulatory affairs Bridget Fair issued a stark warning to the federal government that to proceed with a “piecemeal approach” to media law reform will threaten diversity and lead to less local content amid industry consolidation. “We are looking for comprehensive reform,” she said.

Mr Worner said the proposed bill risks rewarding vested interests pushing for changes as “quid pro quos” in exchange for merger and acquisition deals at the expense of consumer choice.

“We would like to see a more considered debate of a broader package of reforms, and right on the top of that package needs to be the abolition or reduction of licence fees,” he said.

Seven criticised the approach as “unduly narrow”, and questioned why the government had overlooked the minimum voices test or the limits on ownership of television and radio licences in each market.

The government is seeking to axe the 75 per cent population reach rule, and the “two out of three” cross-media cap, while leaving other laws untouched.

Seven’s position is broadly similar to the argument put forward by News Corp Australia (publisher of The Australian), which has called for “holistic” changes.