Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Category:Australian television networks Category:Australian radio networks\nThe
ABC or
Australian Broadcasting Corporation is the national,
public broadcaster in
Australia. It is government-funded and provides radio, television and online services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia and overseas via Radio Australia.\nThere is also a chain of ABC Shops selling books, audio and video recordings related to ABC programming.
Governance and history
\nThe ABC commenced operation in 1932 as a collection of 12 radio stations operating as the Australian Broadcasting Commission but changed its name to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1983 with the passage of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 (ABC Act).
The ABC is run by a government-appointed board, but programming and editorial decisions are made at arm's length from the government of the day. The political bias of the ABC's news and current affairs coverage is endlessly debated. Conservatives claim that the ABC tends towards the political left wing; those towards the left of the political spectrum contend that the opposite is true.
Unlike the BBC in Britain, the ABC has been funded through a government grant-in-aid, since licence feess were abolished in 1974. In recent years there has been turmoil on the administrative front, with successive Boards of Directors under pressure from the conservative Howard Government. Despite government funding, the ABC is largely independent.
Programming
The ABC 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 dubbedbed into their own language.\nIt produces specialist programs for rural viewers (such as 'Landline'), a large range of high quality current affairs programmes (notably 'The 7:30 Report' and Four Corners), whose number of foreign reporters is unmatched by other Australian networks.\nIt also produces Australian drama and comedy. Recent notables have included the ratings hit Kath and Kim and Grassroots, joining the crypt of Australian TV treasures: Frontline, The Games and Mother and Son.
It has influenced many aspects of the national culture: \n*The ABC is a legendary radio presenter of sport at all levels. Television was introduced to Australia in 1956, in time to cover the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. The ABC had exclusive Australian television and radio broadcasting rights to the Games. (A commercial TV station, GTV-9 Melbourne, hosted the first Australian TV broadcast, on xxx September 1956, introduced by Bruce Gyngell.)\n*The ABC has been a leader in presenting music in all its forms, studio-recorded and live: including classical, popular, jazz, world music, electronic, minimalist and folk through state symphony orchestras, live concerts, FM radio (ABC Classic FM, Triple-J), AM (Radio National), in programs such as Countdown, Rage, JazzTrack, Lonely Planet, Singers of Renown; TV-FM simulcasts, and generally involvement and sponsorship of live instrumental and vocal music-making
Radio
The ABC's radio networks include:
ABC Local Radio, a succession of stations broadcasting light entertainment, talkback, and some current affairs and most popular with older audiences;\nTriple J, a national youth radio network;\nRadio National, a nationwide network devoted to intellectual discussion of politics, science, philosophy, the arts, literature, and the like.\nABC Classic FM, another nationwide classical-music station;\nand ABC NewsRadio, a 24-hour news station that also broadcasts the proceedings of federal Parliament when in session.\nThe ABC's latest radio station, is internet and digital television only. Called DiG, the station has no announcers and is all music.\n \nClassic FM
\nThe ABC, through ABC Classic FM, a nationwide classical-music station, has helped sponsor and support state symphony orchestras, chamber music, instrumental recitals, opera, choral and solo singers.
Radio Australia
\nThe ABC also operates Radio Australia, the international shortwave service with transmissions aimed at East Asia and the Pacific Islands featuring programmes in various languages in these regions, including Mandarin, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Khmer language, 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. \nRadio Australia bulletins are also carried on the World Radio Network, which is available on satellite in Europe and North America.
Television
\nThe ABC operates a single nationwide TV channel, sometimes known as Channel 2, on account of the frequency on which it operates in the state capitals.
Digital television
The ABC briefly operated digital television channels aimed at a younger audience, called ABC Kids and Fly TV, but these closed in 2003. It currently broadcasts DiG radio over its digital service.
ABC Asia Pacific
A new satellite television service for East Asia and the Pacific Islands, ABC Asia Pacific, was launched by the ABC in 2002. Commercially funded and carrying advertising, ABC Asia Pacific broadcasts a mixture of news, current affairs, entetainment, lifestyle and sport. This includes tailor-made news bulletins for the region, general entertainment, including the soap opera Home and Away, and also Australian Rules and Rugby League matches. The channel is received either directly via satellite, or on local cable networks.
Earlier in 1993, the ABC had launched a service for the region called Australia Television International (known as AusTV or ATVI). This was sold to the Seven Network in 1997, and later folded.
Postal Address
\nThe ABC's postal address is "[PO] Box 9994 in your Capital city" followed by the postcode.
It is a persistent urban myth that '9994' is in memory of the life-time test average cricket score (99.94, being 6996 in 80 innings) of Sir Donald Bradman, the great Australian cricketer. Supposedly, a one-time Chairman of the ABC, Sir Charles Moses arranged for this number to be used, however this has been denied by the ABC.
References
\n*The Alan McGillivray Solution
External links
\n* Australian Broadcasting Corporation's official website\n* Radio Australia\n* ABC Asia Pacific
