ABC boss predicts dim future for news

Outgoing ABC boss Mark Scott has painted a pessimistic picture for the future of Australia's news media, predicting some of the nation's most important newspapers might stop printing weekday editions within three years.

There could be fewer regional newspapers as well as the continued loss of radio and television news services in the bush, as advertising revenue is siphoned from traditional media to new giants such Google, Facebook and Apple.

Commercial TV networks would be under pressure to reduce Australian content, Mr Scott told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

The percentage of local content on Australian screens would continue to erode as massive global libraries were unlocked through YouTube, Netflix and other providers.

"All these scenarios are possible. Many are likely. Some are simply inevitable," Mr Scott said, adding it wasn't idle speculation.

"It is simply a continuation of well-established trends that are being accelerated by other factors, such as the growth of fast broadband and the ubiquity of mobile devices."

The old link between locally created content and local advertising markets had been broken.

The push to get audiences to pay for content was constrained by the countless choices they have and by the quality of cheap or free global offering.

"It's hard to see a traditional news or broadcast media company, anywhere in the world, that is thriving through their traditional business model," Mr Scott said.

Deep-pocketed global giants and nimble upstarts were ambitious and on the move.

Mr Scott, a former Fairfax Media executive, said it would be sad if newspapers such as The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald ceased print editions.

"But that was the reality we've got to deal with," he said, noting after 15 years no one had come with a sustainable business model for the digital age.