Global Australian Television

"Australia? Until I watched Neighbours I didn't even know there was an Australia" - so said "noted cultural commentator" Jerry Hall on The Clive James Show on UK television in 1989. This revealing anecdote was related by Stuart Cunningham at the launch last week of his and Liz Jacka's book on the growing export of Australian programs into overseas television markets and cultures: Australian Television and Mediascapes.

Mediascapes ties up many of the loose ends in the recent history of our local television industry and examines its international cultural impact. This impact may sometimes seem small or have hard-to-identify outcomes when viewed through a tightly - focussed economic lens. But the authors - aided by the current popularity of our soaps, documentaries and drama in nearly 100 countries - make a strong case that our televisual industry "exerts a presence on the world's film and television screens that is disproportionate to its population base, geographical position and market size".

You could say our industry's current state parallels that of our own experiences as Australians - of having a better sense of our place in the world - together with a healthy dose of the self confidence to succeed in a contest for the attention of the wider world. Perhaps the reverse also applies in the success of our feature films and programs increasingly striking an international target that appears very small and faraway seen from our shores.

In the past this confidence has caused much grief for our film and television production community, ending or nearly ending many otherwise brilliant careers and projects that came unstuck in a haze of overspending. But it also gives us a vibrant and - in parts - thriving televisual culture with over 100,000 people directly or indirectly involved. And there's we viewers and our international "neighbours" making up a potential audience of millions as proof of its strength.

The book also presents a sobering assessment of the change in attitude as purely economic reasoning - making dollars out of creative expression and the arts - takes hold over old Reithian ideas of "bringing the nation together" through its sharing of commonly available programming through the ABC or through government-supported production. Some contend it's time to remove the training wheels - the regulations and government funding - and let the full force of the international marketplace reign. Others are concerned our cultural confidence and economic strength are still fragile and its tenuous lead could evaporate.

As the book points out, whatever happens, our local cultures are in many ways stronger today and this can only benefit local film and television and its audiences. As the authors remind us: "Culture is much more than media even if media are a part of culture".