As Freeview approaches its second anniversary, we sit down with Freeview CEO Robin Parkes to discuss the major achievements and forthcoming challenges facing the digital free-to-air TV platform.

Reflecting on the achievements of Freeview’s first two years in market, Parkes says the platform has delivered beyond expectations.

“The targets we’ve achieved in our first two years were probably really our five-year plan. We’ve achieved greater penetration than we’d anticipated; and while we always thought the multi-channels would be great, they’ve been even better than we hoped,” says Parkes.

The free-to-air digital multi-channels, including ONE, GO!, 7TWO, GEM and 7Mate, are starting to carve out a significant share of viewing and now account for between 10-15 per cent of all daily television viewing.

Parkes says the success of the multi-channels proves that Freeview has succeeded in overcoming initial consumer cynicism about its ability deliver so many extra channels; and about its capacity to fill them with quality content.

Parkes cites the level of brand recognition that the Freeview brand has attained after such a short time in market as a key achievement. “We went from no brand in November 2008, to 93 per cent awareness now – and we’ve probably had that level, in all honesty, for the last 12 months.”

At the time of Freeview’s launch, less than 50 per cent of Australian households had converted to digital television. Two years down the track, more than 75 per cent have made the transition and the number of free-to-air television channels has tripled.

Comparing the Australian Freeview experience with other markets, Parkes says that pay TV’s low penetration level here has proven an advantage in launching the free-to-air digital platform: “They didn’t have that advantage in the UK.”

Another key reason for Freeview’s early success has been the fact that all Australian free-to-air broadcasters have joined together for the common cause. “This means that everything is being driven forward in the right way – you haven’t got one person who’s out of the loop and holding the industry back for their own agenda.

“We’ve got the commercial networks in there with the ABC and SBS. They may have conflicting commercial arrangements outside of the room – but in the room, as Freeview, they all work fantastically together to drive the industry forward. So that’s something we’ve achieved where other markets haven’t had that advantage.”

While reaching 75 per cent household penetration has been a key milestone, Parkes says, “The next part will be the hard slog.” She explains that many of the remaining 25 per cent of households are likely to either be holding off transitioning for economic or reception issues, which will fall largely under the Government’s remit. Freeview has worked closely with Government to deliver complementary messaging around the switchover, with Freeview focusing on motivating people to switch and the Government’s Digital Taskforce educating them on when and how to do so.

From this point therefore, much of Freeview’s focus will shift to motivating people to convert the second and third television sets in their homes to digital, as well as encouraging out-of-home television conversion – for example, televisions in hotels, offices, doctor’s surgery waiting rooms, caravan parks, and retail environments.

From a marketing perspective, Freeview’s core messaging will remain the same. “Our focus still needs to be on the depth of content that’s offered by free-to-air, the number of channels and amount of unique programming that’s offered. Our core message is that it’s free, it’s quality and there’s something for everybody,” says Parkes.

Another key focus for the immediate future is the launch of a consumer advertising campaign promoting Freeview’s electronic program guide (EPG). “It’s been a great initiative because the 70 per cent of Australians who don’t have pay TV have never had access to an EPG of this standard. So a lot of people have gone from the TV Week or the pullout from the newspaper, to the electronic guide and experiencing that for the first time.”

This significant milestone was not without its challenges, thanks to the unique nature of the Australian television market. “Because we are a country that has different time zones and different regions, with metro versus regional, it was not an easy technology to develop,” says Parkes. “It wasn’t something we could buy from another country because no-one had the level of complexity that our market does.”

The EPG launch will be supported by a major consumer advertising campaign on television, launching in the first week of December and running over the Christmas period. “Getting the EPG right and having it branded ‘Freeview’ means our brand owns that home screen and helps the viewers find everything that’s on offer - it makes the viewing experience better,” says Parkes.

In other future plans, a Freeview online catch-up TV viewing service is on the cards, but still in its early stages. Parkes says Freeview will be in a position to announce in the next 12 months what it will be doing in that space, and adds that complexities around broadband speeds and access to uncapped meterage will influence Freeview’s plans.

“Freeview’s always been about mass viewing – we aren’t doing niche things for 50,000 people, we’re doing it for the 14 million-plus people that watch free-to-air TV every night. So we’ll only make improvements to the platform that are driven by viewers, rather than letting technology and the manufacturers drive it the other way.”

Parkes says the next 12 months will primarily be about consolidating the Freeview messaging and continuing to reinforce the value of the Freeview platform. She hopes to see the new digital multi-channels continue to drive increases in the amount of time Australians spend watching television. Parkes also says younger people are coming back to free-to-air TV - thanks, in part, to ‘event television’ which attracts huge live audiences and continues to create the “’watercooler effect’, both online and ‘offline’.

As for what Parkes hopes to be celebrating in another two years time, she says she’d like to see viewing hours continue to rise on free-to-air TV and for Freeview to have become even more ingrained as part of television vernacular. She’d also like to see pay TV penetration continue to stall around the 30 per cent mark.

While there is much yet to be done, one thing is clear – the Australian viewing public will continue to be the clear beneficiaries of all the hard work being carried out by Freeview to lead Australia into the new era of digital television.

Published November 2010