Local channels are required to show 55 percent local content between 6am to midnight on their primary channel.

What's the cheapest content you can make? Reality television. Great bang for buck there. Practically writes itself, and plenty of fools will go on it for free for the slim chance of a prize at the end. Just provide a few locations/sets, some alcohol to get the drama going, and Bob's yer uncle.

Hence we have:

MAFS - seriously, how many times can you repeat an 'experiment' before you deem it a failure? Every season all I see is the miserable failure of alleged 'experts' in matching people.

SURVIVAHHH - JAW DROPPING CHALLENGES AWAIT OUR CONTESTANTS AND OMG BACKSTABBING, EVERY WEEK.

I'M A D-LIST CELEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE - As above. Less backstabbing though, that's nice.

This is closely followed by game shows, so we also have:

DEAL-OR-NO-DEAL

TIPPPPING POIIIINT

THE CHASAAH

Finally, news and "current affairs" can then be used to plug the gap.

So we now we can run:

• 6-9am with a couple of hosts doing some morning television waffling on about nothing in particular.
• have a repeat of last night's "prime time" shows from 10-12.
• squeeze in some overseas content like Days Of Our Lives in the afternoon.
• have a bit of gap-filler at NEWS, FIRST AT 5, WAIT 4.
• and then we can show the "real" news at 6. 30.
• Add in THAH PROJECT, or A CURRENT AFFAIYAAH, where we can talk for eight minutes , cut to two minutes of ads, cut back to the desk for another "coming up next" and then cut back to another two minutes of ads before we have to worry about actual content.
• Finally we can show our prime-time content (MAFS et al), which we've teased all day with ads sprinkled between everything else.
• After that, who cares? We've reached our local quota. Stick a movie or two on until midnight.

I used to think that ABC/SBS were a little dull. But now I'm glad of them.

The bigger question is how free to air still survives.

In older generations, the shitty programming appeals to gullibility and a fucked up sense of voyeurism. My 70+ mother thinks ACA is still the bastion of good current affairs reporting, and that MAFS is great prime time entertainment.

There's only a few things I'll watch on ABC, but the rest is on my Plex server.

I gave up watching Australian FTA in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. Their treatment of the end-user and the abuser abusee relationship there just wasn’t worth it. So many good shows I just stopped watching because I was sick of their crap and streaming / torrents weren’t a thing yet.

And before anyone goes “you’re not the customer you’re the product” yada yada, I very specifically said “end-user” earlier, not customer. I know. You’re not telling me anything I haven’t already acknowledged.

The only thing I’ve watched on FTA since is live sport when there’s no other options, or things via the catch-up apps (mostly ABC & SBS’s).

The very very few things I care to watch any more (and those almost entirely SBS and ABC) I can watch online. The other channels put together would be lucky to show anything I care about a few times a year. If they won't stream it online I just don't bother. If they won't put on any stuff I care to watch, that's their problem. My TV isn't even plugged into an aerial any more, it's only there to maybe use with the old games machines or maybe watch an old DVD

I haven't watched TV in years. I have a tv, but it's only hooked up to the gaming consoles.

The referendum last year? I didn't see any ads, I just read ABC news every few days to see what was up. That $200 million dollar lottery? Never heard anything about it. "Did you hear about the car crash on the...?", nope.

On YouTube I'd rather donate directly to the creators I like, and I feel I'm really apart of that niche community.

I think about the old family radio that everyone sat around, and then the tv that everyone sat around, and now people can kinda sit around watching their own thing, and (hopefully) chat share about their interests.

I don't think free to air will be around in 10 years. It's up to the advertisers.

ABC, SBS and Ten are all struggling financially and have been trying to reinvent themselves to survive (which will inevitably alienate some long-term viewers). Nine has a paid streaming service - Stan - which it would rather you subscribe to. I have no idea about Seven. I have literally never watched that channel in my life outside of sport and have always considered it to be absolutely worthless trash.

There are the rare shows that i enjoy, such as Alone on SBS or The 1% club on 7. And occasionaly a bloody pearler comes along like Rake on ABC.