Online Media Streaming in Australia Comes of Age

Digital content streaming has hit a new high in Australia with the launch of Netflix in March. It's not every day that a large video streaming website launches in the land Down Under, and it's definitely shaking things up for current market players such as Stan, Presto and Quickflix.

Quickflix founder and CEO Stephen Langsford is quite receptive of the new addition though. "We always knew we’d be joined by competitors," said Langsford in a report by The New Daily. "The prize is more people learning about an alternative to traditional broadcast TV. We’ve now got more shoulders to the wheel to increase awareness."

The arrival of Netflix in the country has already caused quite a ripple. Optus and iiNet subscribers were initially given unlimited access to Netflix content without continuing their monthly data cap. Its deal with the two Australian ISPs was highly criticised for favouring select ISP subscribers over the others, and therefore violating the company’s own stance on net neutrality. Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings regretted the move in his message for the company's shareholders.

"In Australia, we recently sought to protect our new members from data caps by participating in ISP programs that, while common in Australia, effectively condone discrimination among video services - some capped, some not," Mr Hastings said in the company’s earnings statement. "We should have avoided that and will avoid it going forward."

The other party was quick with a response, however. "While Optus thinks unlimited data is the best option for anyone who wants to stream lots of entertainment content, we chose to un-meter Netflix content so that no matter how much data is included in their plan, all our broadband customers can watch as much Netflix as they want," an Optus spokesperson told Fairfax Media.

Yet despite all these, all eyes are on Australia now. There's money to be made in its market, and broadcasters and digital media and technology companies know it. Netflix's entry in the market is telling of things to come and the market's potential.

One indication of the market's growth is the emergence of audio streaming services in the country such as Audioboom (LSE:BOOM), which has given a number of sports clubs in Australia a new way to reach their die-hard fanatics. Brisbane Strikers FC (Australia), Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand are some of the leagues that have signed on for a content deal with Audioboom, a December release from the company said.

In the music segment, online music streaming service Pandora said it has over 2 million registered users in Australia and "is adding between 20,000 and 30,000 a week," according to a separate report by the Herald in February. The same report revealed that Pandora could go online on "60 percent of new cars" by the middle of the year.

Then there's Pause, a festival inspired by Texas's South by South West. Last December, festival found George Hedon noted that festivals like Pause were established to provide an avenue for podcasters to unite and promote the podcasting medium to a wider audience. This is all the more important in Australia, he said, which is definitely a niche market at this point.

"Australia is a small country and a small market," he said to The Guardian. "We can only get ahead by sticking together. That’s why Pause brings together these different worlds that are normally niche."

Contact the writer: a.lu@ibtimes.com.au