ABSTRACT
In terms of audience share, Australia's three free-to-air commercial television networks tend to exceed the audiences claimed by the two public broadcasters (ABC and SBS) in competing slots. As in the print and press sectors of the Australian political public sphere, broadcast political media content covers a broad spectrum of genres, styles and formats, ranging from traditionally 'serious' journalistic analysis, debate and discussion formats through a range of magazine television formats to more popular infotainment and human interest-type programming. A striking feature of the 1996-2016 periods is the decline of political content in the commercial free-to-air television sector in Australia. Politicians who wish to place a policy announcement or issue on the agenda for that day will often be interviewed live on Breakfast, generating audio and video material which will be used by other media throughout the day, adding to it the views of supporters and opponents as debate on the issue evolves.
