ABC Television (Australian TV network)
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ABC Australia | |
Official website | www |
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Language | English |
ABC Television is the general name for the national television services of the
The Australian
in 2000.The ABC as of 2021[update] provides five
ABC Television is one of five main free-to-air networks in Australia.
History
1950s to 2000
The history of the ABC's television operations can be traced back to 1953, when the federal Television Act was passed, providing the initial regulatory framework for both the ABC and commercial television networks.[1] Over the next three years, planning for the introduction of a national television service was put in place, land for studios and transmitters in Sydney and Melbourne was acquired, and overseas tutors were brought to Australia to assist with training.[1] The ABC's 1956 Annual Report stated that it aimed to create a “television service as truly national in character as its resources will permit”.[2]
Commercial station
Outside broadcasting was also initiated on 5 November, from the ABC's first outside broadcast van. The van, now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, was instrumental in the production of thousands of outside broadcasts. It was restored in time to be displayed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and was used to film the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the site of the National Museum in 2000.[4]
ABQ in Brisbane was the third ABC TV station to launch, in November 1959; it was followed in 1960 by counterparts in Perth (ABW), Hobart (ABT), and Adelaide (ABS). ABC (also known as ABC3) opened in Canberra in 1962,[3] with (ABD) in Darwin (13 August 1971) finally completing the ABC's television coverage of every state in 1971.
Although radio programs could be broadcast nationally by landline, television relay facilities were not put in place until the early 1960s. This meant that news bulletins had to be sent to each capital city by teleprinter, to be prepared and presented separately in each city, with filmed materials copied manually and sent to each state.[1] A purpose-built television studio was built in Sydney, and opened on 29 January 1958, replacing temporary sound studios used since the ABC's television services launched in 1956. In the same year, technical equipment was also moved to permanent locations, while main transmitters were introduced to Melbourne and Sydney in 1957 and 1958, respectively.[5]
Direct television relays between Sydney and Melbourne were established in 1961, replacing temporary microwave relays as a means of simultaneously airing programs across multiple stations.[6] In 1963, using microwave transmission as a temporary measure, television programs from Adelaide were viewed simultaneously across the four eastern capitals.[6] Videotape equipment, allowing the sharing of footage with much greater ease and speed, was installed in each state capital by 1962.[1]
The organisational structure and internal processes of the network developed and changed over time, with local coverage incorporated in a network structure, which allowed the ABC to build state-based audiences for coverage of sports and news. Live coverage of sports was still limited to the location of the studio, for example for the West Indies cricket series in 1960/61, live broadcasts were limited to the four cities which hosted the test matches. The separate production and broadcast centres could only reach about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from a broadcast tower. It was only after considerable developments in technology and construction of further infrastructure, that in 1970/71 that test cricket was broadcast live in every state and the ACT.[2]
Teletext services were introduced to
Programming
ABC Television was one of the first
The weekly current affairs program Four Corners was broadcast from Sydney from 1961, and in 1967, the weeknightly television current affairs programme This Day Tonight began.[6]
In 1989, Aboriginal dancers
2000 to present
The ABC's television operations joined its radio and online divisions at the corporation's Ultimo headquarters in 2000.[11]
In 2001 a new logo was launched, featuring a modification to a three-dimensional metallic design, to celebrate the introduction of
In 2002, the ABC launched
Also in 2002, to celebrate 70 years of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC TV's logo reverted to the "over and under" design seen in the previous decades; however it retained the three-dimensional metallic design. The channel's idents featured elements – fire, leaf and ice, and the slogan was updated to Everyone's ABC. The idents also featured the silver ring that morphs into the ABC logo.[13][14] This however did not last, as later in 2003, the channel's idents were modified to feature everyday Australians.
In 2005, the ABC switched from the Supertext logo to their own closed captioning logo. On 19 December that year, the channel's idents were revamped featuring a modified ABC logo transforming to a television.[citation needed]
The ABC Guide was a regular television broadcast shown during the off-air periods for both
In the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, the Australian Government (then Liberal) endorsed a proposal submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority by the ABC to launch a second digital channel targeted at children.[17] The new channel, titled ABC Me, was to aim to provide at least 50% Australian-made content for children under 15. Unlike its predecessor, the ABC Kids channel, ABC Me would run from 6 am to 9 pm each day, and feature drama, comedy, animation and music.[18] On 22 April 2009, the Labor government announced its commitment to the proposal as part of its response to the Australia 2020 Summit conducted in 2008,[19] and ABC Me was launched on 4 December.[20]
At midday on 8 February 2008, the original ABC Television channel was rebranded as
As of 2009, the ABC announced an Australia-wide upgrade to its digital service, and that it would provide a seven-day
June 2010 saw ABC1's
On 20 July 2014, ABC1 changed its name back to just "ABC TV" and at the same time, they introduced new idents featuring the 1975 Lissajous curve logo being drawn by itself of videos of people doing activities (taken from ABC Open's video library). Then, the words "It's (Insert Words Here)'s ABC" (the words change depending on the ident) fade in on the left side of the logo. The words then change to "#OurABC", which is the network's new slogan. In 2018, these idents were updated. The "#OurABC" slogan at the end of each ident was changed to "Yours".[25] The new 2014 idents are all very similar to that of the 1996–1998, 1998–2000, 2003–2005, 2008–2011 and 2011-2014 ABC station idents in the past.[citation needed]
On 6 December 2016, ABC upgraded its HD picture resolution from 720p to 1080i.[26]
Between July 2017 and June 2018, the whole of the ABC underwent an organisational restructure, after which the Radio and Television Divisions were no longer separate entities each under a director, instead being split across several functional divisions,[27] with different teams producing different genres of content for television, radio and digital platforms. The Entertainment & Specialist (E&S) team focussed on comedy, kids' programs, drama, Indigenous-related programs, music, other entertainment and factual content; the new ABC Specialist team created content across the arts, science, religion & ethics, education and society & culture; while the Regional & Local team focussed on regional and local content.[28]
The 1975 ABC logo was reinstated in February 2019.[29] On 3 September 2019, several additional ABC Digital Radio channels were added to complement the ABC Jazz and Double J services being simulcast on digital TV.[30][31]
In May 2023, ABC announced a major restructure starting in July, but would not reveal how many jobs were at risk.[32]
Services
Australia
National
Within Australia, the ABC as of 2021[update] operates five television stations within four channels, all of them non-commercial. These services are available nationally through digital terrestrial television, and all the digital TV services are also available through the VAST free-to-air satellite service.[citation needed]
LCN | Service | Resolution | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
02 and 21 | ABC TV | 720x576i | Main ABC television channel, formerly ABC1 |
20 | ABC TV HD
|
1280x1080i | The ABC's only high-definition channel |
22 | ABC Kids ABC TV Plus |
720x576i | ABC Kids (formerly ABC 4 Kids and ABC For Kids on 2) is a preschool children's channel broadcast between 5 am and 7:30 pm. ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC Comedy and ABC2) is an adult block broadcast between 7:30pm and 3am. |
23 | ABC Me | 720x576i | The ABC's teen focused channel, formerly ABC3 |
24 | ABC News | 720x576i | The ABC's news channel, formerly ABC News 24 |
25 | ABC Local Radio | N/A | State Capital City Radio channel simulcast, e.g. Sydney Radio |
26 | RN | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
27 | ABC Classic | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
28 | Triple J | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
29 | Triple J Unearthed | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
200 | Double J
|
N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
201 | ABC Jazz | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
202 | ABC Kids Listen | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
203 | ABC Country | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
204 | ABC NewsRadio | N/A | Radio channel simulcast |
- news and current affairs. In each state and territory a local news bulletinis shown at 7 pm nightly.
- ABC TV Plus (originally ABC2), launched in 2005, shows comedic content in addition to some repeats from ABC TV. It is not a 24-hour channel, but is broadcast daily from 7.30 pm to late.
- ABC TV Plus shares airspace with the ABC Kids programming block from 5 am to 7.30 pm. (Children's TV was previously catered for on ABC1 and ABC2, as ABC For Kids on 2 and ABC 4 Kids.)
- ABC Me (originally ABC3) became a fully fledged channel on 4 December 2009, but has been part of the electronic guide line-up since 2008, broadcasting an ABC1 simulcast until 4 December 2009, then an ABC Radio simulcast and teaser graphic until its official launch. It is broadcast from 5.30 am to 10 or before 11 pm daily, and consists of a broad range programmes aimed at a young audience aged 6–15, with a core demographic of 8–12.
- BBC World News channel and Deutsche Welle, coverage of the Federal Parliament's Question Time, documentaries and factual, arts programming and state or national election coverage.
State-based programming
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Although the ABC's headquarters in Sydney serve as a base for program distribution nationally, ABC Television network is composed of eight state- and territory-based centres, once separate stations with their own branding. In addition to the nightly 7 pm news, the stations used to broadcast weekly state editions of 7.30 on Friday evenings (until 5 December 2014), state election coverage and in most areas, live sport on Saturday and Sunday evenings.[citation needed]
ABC iview
Overseas
Funding
ABC television services within Australia carry no advertising by external sources; it is banned under the
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "About the ABC – The 50s – The Postwar Years". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
- ^ a b Ward, Michael (2017). ABC Television Sport: Public Broadcasting, Innovation and Nation Building (PDF) (Master of Arts(Research)). Queensland University of Technology.
- ^ a b c "History of Australian Television". OnlyMelbourne. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ Morris Model FE Pye outside broadcast van used by ABC-TV Channel 2 ABN Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, National Museum of Australia
- ^ "Twenty-Sixth Annual report of the Australian Broadcasting Commission". 1958.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ a b c d e "About the ABC – The 60s and 70s". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
- ^ ISBN 1-86395-189-X.
- ^ "About the ABC – The 90s". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
- National Film & Sound Archive. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ "Malcolm Cole". Blak History Month. 24 July 2021.
- ^ "About the ABC – 2000s – A New Century". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
- ^ "Digital TV to commence on 1 January 2001". Australian Broadcasting Authority. Archived from the original on 21 September 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
- ^ "ABC-TV Australia". Finns TV Website. Archived from the original on 12 March 2005.
- ^ "AusTVHistory – ABC Australia". Archived from the original on 21 November 2008.
- ^ "ABC2 launched at Parliament House". ABC New Media & Digital Services. dba.org.au. 11 March 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
- ^ Day, Julia (18 October 2006). "Australia opens up media investment". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
- ^ Koutsoukis, Jason (23 September 2007). "Free kids' TV channel is as easy as ABC3". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
- ^ "Kids to get own channel". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
- ^ "New children's channel for ABC". ABC News (Australia). 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
- ^ "The state of Children's television". Radio National. 6 December 2007. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
- ^ "ABC promises more content choice". The Australian. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
- ^ Welch, Dylan (30 January 2008). "ABC squiggle to stay". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 24 June 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
- ^ "ABC HD is now live". abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ Meade, Amanda (30 June 2010). "ABC's problem-hit tech centre opens to criticism". The Australian. p. 4. Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
- ^ Reilly, Claire (10 July 2014). "New ABC tagline embraces hashtag revolution". CNET. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Bartlett, Thomas (5 December 2016). "ABC TV goes HD … at last!". GadgetGuy. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "Appendices, Appendix 4". Annual Report 2017: Volume II (PDF) (Report). p. 144. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- ^ Annual Report 2018: Volume II (PDF). Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Report). p. 8–14,209. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (16 December 2019). "ABC Promos Go 1970s Retro In Honor of 'Live In Front of a Studio Audience' (WATCH)". Variety. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ "Help receiving ABC radio services on your TV". ABC. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ^ "Which ABC radio stations are available on TV?". ABC Help. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ a b Spigelman, James (8 December 2014). "ABC Services in the Asia-Pacific". About the ABC. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ a b O'Keeffe, Annmaree; Greene, Chris (10 December 2019). "International Public Broadcasting: A Missed Opportunity For Projecting Australia's Soft Power". Lowy Institute. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "Ways to Watch". ABC Australia. 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "About Us". ABC Australia. 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Muller, Denis (13 February 2019). "Australian governments have a long history of trying to manipulate the ABC – and it's unlikely to stop now". The Conversation. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Yussuf, Ahmed (19 November 2014). "Turnbull confirms $254 million cut from ABC funding". ABC News. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Duke, Jennifer (16 August 2020). "Was the ABC's funding cut?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Wake, Alexandra; Ward, Michael (24 June 2020). "Latest $84 million cuts rip the heart out of the ABC, and our democracy". The Conversation. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Knox, David (9 August 2023). "ABC retreats on X (Twitter) accounts". TV Tonight. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
Further reading
- Jolley, Rhonda (11 July 2014). The ABC: an overview (updated) (Report). Research Paper Series, 2014–15. Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Library.
External links