Local advertising is more important to people in regional areas of Australia than local news content, according to the former head of news and regulatory affairs at Prime Network.

Alan Butorac was today speaking as part of a panel discussing ACMA’s investigation into the operation and effectiveness of the current regional local content requirements, including whether they should be extended to other regional areas.

He was joined by panellists including representatives from the ABC, commercial television and media buyers.

Butorac said that it’s “an apple pie kind of a statement” to say that people are interested in their local community and have a strong local indentity, and are keen to see info about community.