Pay TV is the number one network in Australia. Across the first half of 2008, Pay TV delivered a 22.2% network share as compared to Channel 7 at 21.6% and Channel 9 at 20.3%.

Over 32% of Australians now spend 60% of their viewing time with Pay TV. Penetration is strongest in Sydney reaching 37% of all people with a 26% share of viewing. Australia now has a national subscriber base of 6.4 million individuals experiencing solid and continual growth.

Viewers to Pay TV are big spenders and high income earners. They are 73% more likely to earn Aus $140K+ and 35% of STV subscribers own their own home.

Brand savvy: 37% more likely to pay more for brands and 24% more likely to try new technology. Also passionate about home entertainment: 37% own a plasma or LCD TV vs. 24% for non-subscribers.

Pay TV airtime is sold by MCN, the Multichannel Network or by the individual channels’ dedicated sales team. There are no minutage restrictions on commercials although there are limited restrictions on content, such as alcohol and tobacco with further rules relating to children, political and pharmaceutical advertising.

The three major Pay TV players are Foxtel, Optus and Austar accounting for the majority of Pay-TV homes. ASTRA is the industry organization representing over 100 channels on these platforms.

Advertising revenues are estimated to be around 185 million US$ in 2008 and growth projections are strong for the market which has been boosted by digitization and the potential for IPTV.

In 2007 Pay TV advertising grew to around 7% of total TV advertising which indicates that there is still plenty of room for growth given the current 27% share of viewing.

Audience measurement is owned by OzTam conducted by AGB NMR. The OZTAM national subscription panel measures viewing in Pay TV homes (including viewing to free to air) whilst the metropolitan panel reports ratings for all TV homes in the 5 metros with around 28% penetration of Pay TV. Finally, the Regional TAM TV service reports ratings for the five aggregate markets with around 25% of homes represented having Pay TV.

Results from the combined panels show that in an average week, around 50 programmes on Pay TV deliver over 100,000 viewers.