Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts
Answers to Senate Estimates Questions on Notice
Supplementary Budget Estimates Hearings October 2009
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Portfolio
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Question No: 100
Hansard Ref: ECA 43

Senator Ludlam asked:
What are the costs to the ABC of putting that content online; is it a significant additional cost?

Answer:
The budget for iView in the 2009/2010 financial year totals $1.33 million. This includes staffing costs, rights clearance and acquisitions, platform development, video encoding and general operational costs.

Based on iView content as a percentage of the overall ABC online content, the ABC estimates that an additional $1.6 million will be incurred in 2009/10 to deliver the content to audiences.

The cost of delivering iView content, similarly to other ABC content, will increase further as audiences grow.