Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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Categories: Australian television networks | Australian radio networks | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Publicly-funded broadcasters

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The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia's national public broadcaster. Originally created in 1932 as a radio network, the Corporation has gradually expanded and diversified into all forms of mainstream media, providing television, radio and online services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, and overseas via its Asia-Pacific Television service and Radio Australia. The Corporation also runs a chain of ABC Shops selling books and audio/video recordings related to its programs, and publishes its own magazines.

The ABC is non-commercial, and is funded almost entirely by direct annual grants from the federal budget. This is in contrast with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBC and public broadcasting in New Zealand, which receive substantial revenue from advertising, and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which receives the bulk of its revenue from licence fees (these were abolished in Australia in 1974).

History

Early period

Following the failure of the previous two-tiered system of "A-class" and "B-class" class radio licences set up in 1924, the 12 radio stations of the original "A-class" category were nationalised and combined, and the new national broadcaster (which was modelled on the BBC) was officially incorporated on 1 July 1932 as the "Australian Broadcasting Commission". The new national broadcaster was initially permitted to carry advertising, but this was dropped from the legislation before it came into force. The ABC was funded in part by direct government grant, but it drew most of its revenue from listener licence fees.

The radio spectrum was now divided between the ABC and the commercial sector, and this new two-tier system became the structural foundation for the industry, and was used as the model for the TV industry in the mid-50s. That arrangement would not change significantly for the next 40 years.

The ABC orignally controlled twelve stations around the country: 2FC and 2BL in Sydney, 3AR and 3LO in Melbourne, 4QG in Brisbane, 5CL in Adelaide, 6WF in Perth, 7ZL in Hobart and the relay stations 2NC in Newcastle, 2CO at Corowa, 4RK in Rockhampton and 5CK at Crystal Brook.

Opening day programs on 1 July 1932 included the first "Children's Session" with 'Bobby Bluegum', the first sports program, "Racing Notes" with W.A. Ferry calling the Randwick races, "British Wireless News" received by cable from London, weather, stock exchange and shipping news, the ABC Women's Association session (topics were 'commonsense housekeeping' and needlecraft), a talk on goldfish and their care, "Morning Devotions" and music.

Over the next four years, these largely isolated stations were gradually brought together into a cohesive broadcasting organisation through regular program relays, and coordinated by a centralised bureacracy. During its first decades, the programming schedules included music, news and current affairs, sport, drama, children's programs, and school broadcasts. Because recording technology was still relatively primitive, all ABC programs are broadcast live until 1935, including music. For this purpose, the ABC established broadcasting orchestras in each state, and in some centres employed choruses and dance bands.

In 1934 famed conductor Sir Bernard Heinze was appointed part-time musical adviser to the ABC and in 1937 the network was further expanded with the purchase of 4BC in Brisbane. In 1939 the ABC began publishing the ABC Weekly.

World War II

During the Second World War, the ABC continued to recruit staff, including a greater proportion of women to replace men who had joined the armed forces. The organisation established reporting and recording facilities in numerous overseas locations, including the Middle East, Greece and the Asia-Pacific region. An early challenge to its independence came in June 1940 when wartime censorship was imposed, and the Department of Information (headed by Sir Keith Murdoch) took control of the ABC’s 7pm nightly national news. However this lasted only until September, when control of the news was returned to the ABC after listeners expressed a preference for independent news presented by the Commission.

During the war, the ABC's news bulletins attained a reputation for authority and independence, and from 1942 onwards, were broadcast three times daily through all national and most commercial transmitters. The ABC's ability to speak to all Australians across a huge, sparsely populated country, was now recognised as an essential part of the nation's infrastructure. During and after the war, the ABC was given statutory powers that reinforced its independence from the government and enhanced its news gathering role. From 1946, the ABC was required to broadcast selected parliamentary sessions live, despite the disruption this caused to regular programming.

On 7 January 1941 the ABC’s revived the Children's Session as a national program, including the "Argonauts Club", which was first broadcast in 1933-34 in Melbourne. The Argonauts Club proved hugely popular with young Australians -- by 1950 there were over 50,000 members, with 10,000 new members joining each year in the 1950s. The Club encouraged children's contributions of writing, music, poetry and art and became one of the ABC's most popular programs, running six days a week for 28 years.

The Argonauts Club was co-hosted for its entire 31-year run by Atholl Fleming, known to generations of Australians by his on-air names "Mac" and "Jason". Many notable Australians worked pseudonymously as presenters on the show, including poet A.D. Hope ("Antony Inkwell"), future ABC General Manager Talbot Duckmanton ("Tal") who hosted a weekly sports segment, actors Leonard Teale ("Chris") and John Ewart ("Jimmy") and future "Mr Sqiggle" host and film producer Patricia Lovell. Painter Jeffrey Smart ("Phidias") commented on art, and popular children's author Ruth Park contributed dramatised stories. Her main character, which began life as a bunyip, eventually evolved into her beloved "Muddle Headed Wombat" character, voiced inimitably by Johnny Ewart. Its popularity on The Argonauts led Park to write her popular series of Muddle-headed Wombat books in the 1960s.

In 1942 The Australian Broadcasting Act was passed, giving the ABC the power to decide when, and in what circumstances, political speeches should be broadcast. Directions from the Minister to broadcast or refrain from broadcasting any matter now had to be made in writing, and any exercise of the power had to be mentioned in the Commission's Annual Report. It was used only once, in 1963.

Also in 1942, "Kindergarten of the Air" began on ABC Radio in Perth; it was later broadcast nationally and became one of the ABC’s most popular programs.

Post-war years

In December 1945, just after the end of the war, the rural affairs program "The Country Hour" premiered. In 1946 legislation was passed requiring the ABC to broadcast Parliament when in session. The Parliamentary broadcasts were put onto the interstate network, and, in subsequent Annual Reports, the Commission commented on the disruption caused to its programming by those broadcasts. Another landmark came on June 1, 1947, when the ABC's independent national news service was inaugurated.

During the 1950s, the variety and quantity of programming increased significantly, including light entertainment, sports coverage, talk programs, and features—early forms of what became know as documentaries. The ABC's coverage of rural affairs was significantly enhanced by the deployment of journalists and broadcasters in major country areas. The increasing availability of landlines and teleprinters allowed the organisation to gather and broadcast news and other program material with much greater efficiency than in the previous two decades. By the 1950s, as many as 13 national news bulletins were broadcast daily. By 1956 the Commission had begun to establish an international presence with offices opening in London, New Yorkand Port Moresby

In 1953, the federal Television Act was passed, providing the initial regulatory framework for both ABC and commercial television networks. In late 1956, the ABC started regular television broadcasts from Sydney and Melbourne, just in time to cover the Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne. On November 5 the ABC made its first TV broadcast from its Sydney studios, imaugurated by Prime Minister Robert Menzies, and on November 19 the first TV broadcast beamed out from the ABC's Melbourne's studios

Within a year, ABC-TV was broadcasting from each of the six state capitals. Over its first decade, the network developed a wide range of programming that included news bulletins, light entertainment, children's and educational programs, and the performing arts.

By the mid-1960s, videotape equipment had been installed in all of the ABC's major centres, and during that decade, direct television relays were laid, first from Melbourne and Sydney, and Canberra and Sydney, then between all major centres except for Perth and Hobart; by 1972, all State capitals were linked, allowing simultaneous viewing and national programming. In 1975, colour television was introduced in Australia.

The 1960s and 70s: growing social and intellectual influence

The authority and influence of the ABC have been most strongly felt in news and current affairs, in which the organisation's innovations have set the standard for Australian broadcasting. In 1961, ABC-TV started a weekly current affairs program Four Corners, which was characterised by a new, vigorous investigative reporting style of political and social issues that were occasionally ahead of public opinion.

The ABC was one of the first TV networks to embrace the rock'n'roll revolution of the late 1950s, most notably with its pioneering show Six O'Clock Rock, hosted by Johnny O'Keefe. During the Sixties and early Seventies the ABC continued to produce important programs on popular music, including the pop show Hitscene, innovative performance specials by groups such as Tully and Max Merritt & The Meteors, and the landmark magazine-style program GTK, which premiered in 1969 and screened for 10 minutes, four nights per week, Monday-Thursday, just before the 7pm news bulletin.

As well as news, special reports, film clips and interview segments, GTK was especially notable -- and of great historical value -- for the inclusion of a nightly segment of specially recorded live-in-the-studio performances by Australian bands. Each week a different band was featured, and they recorded four songs, and in the case of the more popular bands, the producers chose numbers other than their hits to show off different aspects of their music. Although it was long thought that most of this priceless material had been erased -- like the BBC, an ill-advised "economy drive" in the late 1970s led to the wholesale erasure of large amounts of videtaped material, including most of the first two years of Countdown. However, extensive archival research within the ABC following the recent closure of the old Gore Hill studios in Sydney has revealed that, although some early videotape-only content was erased, much of the primary footage had (fortunately) been shot on film and most of this was retained. It is believed that approximately 80% of GTK has survived.

In 1967 the weeknight television current affairs program, This Day Tonight (TDT), and its counterpart on radio, PM, were introduced. Many people regard these programs, and others like them, to be essential parts of Australian public life, in which politicians and other public figures and organisations are subject to rigorous interviewing and reportage that aims to be balanced. The ABC also focused on producing radio and television talk programs that explore a wide range of national and international issues. Prominent among these is The Science Show, which started in 1975 on ABC Radio and has been hosted by Robyn Williams throughout. In 1975, colour television was introduced in Australia, and within a decade, the ABC had moved into satellite broadcasting, greatly enhancing its ability to serve as a national broadcaster.

In 1975, the ABC introduced a 24 hour-a-day AM rock station in Sydney, 2JJ (Double Jay), which was eventually expanded into the national Triple J FM network. A year later, a national classical music network was established on the FM band, broadcasting from Adelaide. Radio Australia continued to thrive as a voice of authority in the Asia-Pacific region. In 1983, the name of the organisation was changed from 'Commission' to 'Corporation' with the passing of a new ABC Act by federal parliament. The ABC underwent significant restructuring during the 1980s,

The ABC also focused on producing radio and television documentaries that explore a wide range of social and political issues. Prominent among these were the weekly radio programs The Science Show and Coming out ready or not (later known simply as The Coming Out Show), dealing with women's issues; both started in 1975.

During the 1980s, program production in indigeous affairs, comedy, social history and current affairs was significantly expanded. During the 1980s, there was considerable pressure on the organisation to increase its production of Australian drama, which trebled from 1986–91 with the assistance of coproduction, cofinancing, and pre-sales arrangements. Since this time, ABC dramas have explored numerous themes related to the unique aspects of the Australian experience; these themes have not been covered by commercial and foreign producers to the same extent, and thus the ABC has played an important role in the evolution of Australia's national identity.

The ABC continued to be active in Australia's music world, chiefly through its six state-based symphony orchestras. The organisation managed an active concert schedule, both orchestral concerts and recitals, in the six state capitals, and coordinated the deployment of the world's prominent soloists in these schedules. However, during the 1980s, there was increasing pressure for the orchestras to be divested; this occurred in ?1990 with the formation of Symphony Australia, an umbrella organisation that coordinates the now independent state-based orchestras.

The late 20th century to the present

During the 1980s, the ABC set in motion plans to consolidate its disorganised arrangement of property and buildings in Sydney and Melbourne into single sites in each city. In Sydney, the radio and orchestral operations moved to a single site in Sydney's inner-city suburb of Ultimo in 1991, joined by ABC-TV operations in ?2002. In Melbourne, the ABC Southbank Centre was finished in 1994, and now houses the radio division in Victoria and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The 1990s saw the expansion of the ABC's network of ABC shops, which sell a wide range of program-related merchandise, including books, CDs and DVDs. During the same decade, ABC online was established as a valuable adjunct to the organisation's broadcasting endeavours. It is now possible for anyone in the world to access a huge amount of information, including transcripts and audio and video streams of many programs, on the net. By the early 1990s, all major ABC broadcasting outlets moved to 24 hour-a-day operation, and regional radio coverage in Australia was extended with 80 new transmitters. Live television broadcasts of selected parliamentary sessions started in ?1995, and ABC NewsRadio, a continuous news network when parliament is not sitting, was launched on October 5, 1996. Australia Television International was established as an authoritative, popular, non-commercial resource in east Asia, and Radio Australia increased its international reach. In 1995, D-Cart digital technology developed by ABC Radio, excited worldwide interest and was sold to European, North American and Asian markets. The ABC used D-Radio, the first fully digital audio system for the first time, broadcasting on Triple J. In the first decade of the new century, the ABC has continued its process of computerising and digitising production, post-production and transmission. In 2005, ABC2, a digital television channel, was launched.

Relations between the ABC and the Australian government

Relations between public broadcasters and the governments that provide all or much of their funding, and establish and maintain their legal status, have typically been through periods of turbulence since the rise of current affairs and documentaries in broadcasting.

The ABC's treatment of current affairs—including This Day Tonight and its successors The 7.30 Report and Lateline on television, and AM on radio, have been criticised by the political right for alleged left-wing bias in its reporting. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the conservative Liberal Party government made several attempts to curtail the ABC's political coverage by threatening to reduce funding to the news and current affairs division. In the late 1980s, the Hawke Labor government proposed commercialising the ABC, a move that was successfully resisted by the organisation itself and a significant groundswell of devotees among the public. The Hawke government also proposed to merge the ABC and its sister organisation, the Special Broadcasting Service; again, this move was unsuccessful, this time because the enabling legislation failed to pass the Senate. The Howard government cut the ABC's operating grants by 10% soon after coming to office in 1996.

Online

ABC New Media publishes thousands of websites. Among the most notable are:

ABC News Online

ABC News Online has the most comprehensive local news coverage of Australia, publishing stories from the ABC's 36 regional bureaux. It also provides extensive national news and international news from an Australian perspective.

ABC Kids

One of the best children's sites on the Internet, you can safely sit your kids down in front of The Playground and keep them entertained for hours.

ABC Science Online

A rambling site, The Lab provides a fantastic gateway into the world of science, including the unique self-service science forum and the best science news from Down Under.

Television

ABC TV

The ABC operates a single nationwide TV channel, ABC TV. Each state and territory has a slightly different version of ABC TV. The differences between these are small, consisting of a nightly news program, a weekly current affairs program, a weekly sports program during winter, state election specials and the very rare other program. These regional versions are listed below with the name of their main transmitter.

ABC ACT - ABC-9 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
ABC Northern - ABD-6 Darwin, Northern Territory
ABC NSW - ABN-2 Sydney, New South Wales
ABC Queensland - ABQ-2 Brisbane, Queensland
ABC Southern - ABS-2 Adelaide, South Australia
ABC Tasmania - ABT-2 Hobart, Tasmania
ABC Victoria - ABV-2 Melbourne, Victoria
ABC Western - ABW-2 Perth, Western Australia

ABC TV broadcasts a wide range of content, to match the broad social makeup of Australia. On ABC Television, this ranges from British comedies such as The League of Gentlemen and Absolutely Fabulous to children's programs such as Sesame Street and its own Play School. Bananas in Pyjamas is an ABC production, now seen and enjoyed by children worldwide dubbed into their own languages. It produces specialist programs for rural viewers (such as Landline), a large range of high quality current affairs programs (notably Lateline, Australian Story, The 7.30 Report and Four Corners), whose number of foreign reporters is unmatched by other Australian networks. It also produces Australian drama and comedy. Recent notables have included the ratings hit Kath & Kim and The Glass House, joining the crypt of Australian TV treasures: Frontline, The Micallef Program, The Games , The Late Show, Mother and Son and Good News Week. Finally, ABC TV is one of the few stations that will air quite controversial shows such as the comedy series CNNNN and the 1992 reality television series Sylvania Waters. The ABC also dedicates a large portion of its timeslot to the music video show Rage.

ABC News & Current Affairs

The ABC produces many news and current affairs programs these include The Midday Report, ABC NEWS 7pm, The 7:30 Report, Four Corners, Australian Story, Foreign Correspondent, Media Watch, Stateline, Lateline, Landline

ABC Sport

The ABC also shows a great range of sports not shown by commercial stations these sports include Netball, Tennis, Lawn Bowls & Basketball. The ABC also has a strong focus on state football codes which include QRL, NSWRU, VFL, SANFL & WAFL.

ABC2

On March 7th, 2005, ABC2 was launched ABC News Article. It is largely a combination of the ABC Kids channel and a CBC Newsworld-like proposal called ABC Daily. It screens prodominantly repeated ABC news and current affairs programs, compilations of ABC news bulletin stories with some additional reporting, children's programming, music documentaries and state football.

Radio

The ABC started as a network of twelve radio stations, and now includes five national networks, over fifty local radio stations, and a foreign language shortwave radio service. The twelve original stations are:

Capital cities:

Relay stations:

Today, some of these are part of ABC Local Radio, a succession of stations broadcasting light entertainment, talkback, and some current affairs and most popular with older audiences. Most others have joined the national network Radio National.

The ABC's radio networks are:

ABC Local Radio, a collection of stations that broadcast local information some of the time, state based information and sport more of the time, and national programming some of the time.
Triple J, a national youth radio network, broadcasting new alternative music (largely from Australia) for those 15-25;
ABC Radio National, a nationwide network devoted to intellectual discussion of politics, science, philosophy, the arts, literature, and the like;
ABC Classic FM, a nationwide classical-music station; and
ABC NewsRadio, previously called the Parliamentary and News Network (PNN), a station chartered to broadcast the proceedings of federal Parliament, and is a 24-hours per day news station when parliament is not in session;
Radio Australia, a news and sport service directed at East Asian and Pacific Island that broadcasts in various languages;
DiG, alternative music for the over 25's;
DiG Jazz, jazz music;
DiG Country, country music;

The first five networks are available in nearly every populated part of the country on AM and FM, as well as via a number of other means. Those areas that don't have them all are scheduled to receive them soon.

Radio Australia is primarily broadcast via short-wave radio and satellite. It is also available via the internet and on the FM band in some East Asian and Pacific Island cities. It is of little interest to domestic Australian audiences as most of its material has already been broadcast or is broadcast simultaneously on the easier to receive domestic ABC networks.

The DiG stations have no announcers and aren't available on AM or FM. They are "cable radio" stations broadcast over the internet, the digital terrestrial TV system, FTA satellite, pay TV networks and DAB in Sydney and Melbourne. Not all DiG stations are available via all these systems.

Classic FM

The ABC, through ABC Classic FM, a nationwide classical music network, has helped support the ABC owned state symphony orchestras, chamber music, instrumental recitals, opera, choral and solo singers.

ABC Classic FM was the ABC's first FM service. It was originally known simply as "ABC FM", then for a short time "ABC Fine Music". Its format borrowed heavily from community stations that eventually founded the Fine Music Network and also from BBC Radio 3.

International services

Radio Australia

The ABC also operates Radio Australia, an international shortwave service with transmissions aimed at East Asia and the Pacific Islands, although its signals are also audible in many other parts of the world. It features programs in various languages spoken in these regions, including Mandarin, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Tok Pisin.

Radio Australia concentrates on news and current affairs, but it also features historical documentaries, information about Australian lifestyle and culture, and light entertainment. Although it does produce some of its own programming, most of the shows transmitted over Radio Australia are relays of programmes produced by the domestic Radio National network.

Radio Australia bulletins are also carried on the World Radio Network, which is available on satellite in Europe and North America.

ABC Asia Pacific

The ABC Asia Pacific TV service was launched in 2002. It is partly funded by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and partly by advertising. The channel is available free-to-air to East Asia and the Pacific Islands via satellite and local cable systems is also now available in South Asia and the Middle East. It is currently available in 8 million homes in more than 35 countries across the region and in more than 190,000 hotel rooms.

ABC Asia Pacific screens a variety of programs, from the ABC itself, including tailor-made news bulletins for the region, from the other Australian terrestrial TV networks, plus Sky News and independents. It also carries the soap opera Home and Away, Australian Rules and Rugby League matches, and British drama series.

One of its foreign affairs programs, Hemispheres, is co-produced with the CBC of Canada, and presented from both Sydney and Vancouver. This is now shown in Australia on ABC2.

State orchestras

In Australia there are currently six State Symphony Orchestras. These Orchestras were originally formed by the ABC as Broadcast Orchestras. They have since evolved into platform orchestras and now play a vital role in the cultural life of the country. The Orchestras were corporatised in the 1990s but continue to be wholly owned by the ABC. The six orchestras are: The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Queensland Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Postal address

The ABC's postal address is "[PO] Box 9994 in your Capital city" followed by the postcode.

It is a persistent urban legend that '9994' is in memory of the life-time test cricket batting average of the Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman (he scored 6996 runs in 70 completed innings, an average of 99.94 runs per innings). Supposedly, one-time Chairman of the ABC, Sir Charles Moses, a personal friend of Bradman's, arranged for this number to be used, however this has been denied by the ABC.

References

The Alan McGillivray Solution

See also

External links

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