Allan Brown

Newspaper ownership in Australia

The author explores the structure of the Australian news paper industry and regulations governing ownership. He then examines the 1992 report of the government inquiry into the newspaper industry, which acknowledged that the basic cause of newspaper concentration lies in the economic nature of the industry and agreed that current concentration in the Australian press is excessive. The author argues, however, that recommendations of the government inquiry are unlikely to increase diversity of ownership or prevent future takeovers of the remaining papers not owned by the nations two major publishers.

The restructure of Australian commercial television

The commercial television industry in Australia is undergoing substantial restructure. According to the author, the governments policy of television “equalization,” implemented in the name of deregulation, is, in fact, intervention that is likely to increase regulation of commercial television.

Golden bird or white elephant?: Australia's Aussat satellite system☆

Aussat was established in November 1981 as a public enterprise to build, own and operate the Australian domestic communications satellite system. The first generation of satellites has been a considerable technical success, but Aussat has failed to achieve the financial objectives which it set itself and has accumulated large losses. The second generation of satellites is planned to replace the first generation in the early 1990s. The Australian government had the opportunity with the second generation to scale down its commitment to satellite communications. Instead, it has decided to privatize Aussat on terms and conditions which may well prolong and exacerbate its problems with the satellite system.

Should Telstra Be Privatised

This paper identifies and examines the economic issues relating to the proposal to privatise Telstra Corporation Limited. It finds that privatisation is not a necessary condition for improved productivity efficiency of publicly owned enterprises, and that the privatisation of Telstra is likely to result in a significant loss to the net worth of the public sector. It concludes that the balance of benefits and costs from the proposed privatisation of Telstra depends largely upon the companys potential for further efficiency gains, the achievable net sale proceeds, the resulting level of foreign ownership in the national carrier and the implications of privatisation for regulation of the telecommunications industry.

Economics and Diversity of Broadcasting Programmes

Since the early 1950s a number of economists, working separately, have developed a ‘theory of programme choice’ in the form of a series of ‘programming models’ whereby, under various assumptions regarding audience preferences, programme costs and so on, the behaviour of commercial radio and television stations in hypothetical broadcasting markets is simulated, and patterns of programming are predicted. The theory of programme choice thus attempts to appraise the extent of attainment, by audiences, of their programming preferences under a system of advertiser-supported broadcasting. Other economists have criticised the theory of programme choice, however, and have arrived at policy implications partly consistent but partly in conflict with those of the programming models.