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overview
landmarks
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overview
This page looks at Australian public sector broadcasters
- the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Special
Broadcasting Service (SBS).
It covers -
introduction
As discussed elsewhere on this site, Australia
has a mixed broadcasting sector that embraces -
- commercial
broadcasters (with most stations owned by a handful
of operators), often with an Australia-wide presence
- two
public sector broadcasters (ie owned and substantially
funded by the national government), operating across
Australia
- a
handful of community broadcasters (aimed at audiences
ostensibly not addressed by the networks), restricted
to particular locales and with what the networks would
consider derisory market shares.
Public
sector broadcasting in Australia was initially based on
the UK model articulated by Lord Reith but came to reflect
Australia's different circumstances, with for example
an emphasis on delivery of popular and elite content to
remote/regional Australia and a shift to funding through
general revenue (drawn from income tax) rather than a
user licence fee.
The expectation was that the public sector would provide
quality programming on a national basis (in contrast to
commercial competitors which initially addressed parochial
markets) and, although state-funded, would be independent
of the government of the day.
It embodied what has been characterised as the 'Australian
Settlement' (a consensus regarding the role of the state
in market intervention, infrastructure development and
service development), eroded by deregulation, generational
change and globalisation during the 1990s. During the
past decade the ABC and its offshoot the SBS, like overseas
counterparts, have been under pressure to square the circle
by -
- achieving
significantly greater ratings (eg higher than the usual
1% to 6% market share) without sacrificing quality
- offering
innovative or challenging programming that because of
its non-commercial nature is unlikely to be featured
on the commercial networks
- presenting
a face to Australia's neighbours that is independent
of the government of the day, provides high quality
and fearless reportage of overseas developments/cultures
but respects the sensitivities of foreign politicians
and other individuals or organisations
- continuing
to deliver full levels of programming to all Australians,
in particular those in regional/remote localities where
commercial networks have reduced local content
- undertaking
new initiatives such as major online activity
-
reducing demands on general revenue through recourse
to merchandising (eg ABC Shops) and advertising, albeit
not in a way that provides substantial competition for
other content producers and retailers
- embodying
a responsiveness to community demands and expectations
that is not expected of commercial broadcasters.
the bodies
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC),
formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and the
Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)
are independent Commonwealth statutory authorities established
under the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983
and the Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991.
The SBS it not related to Scandinavian broadcaster SBS,
profiled elsewhere on this site.
Both provide a national radio and television network in
competition with commercial broadcasters such as Packer's
Nine Network and the DMG and APN
radio networks.
The ABC operates one free-to-air television channel in
each state capital city and regional reception area, with
a network of about 600 transmitters. It has four national
radio networks with around 650 transmitters and 39 regional
radio stations.
It also operates a chain of retailing outlets (24 discrete
ABC shops and 119 'ABC centres' within independent retailers)
known as ABC Enterprises. Operations include the production
of books, classical and contemporary music recordings,
videos, multimedia, music and magazine publishing.
It was formerly responsible for several symphony orchestras.
The organisation dates from the 1920s, when successive
Royal Commissions rejected suggestions for creation of
a federal government broadcasting monopoly but supported
the notion of a BBC-style noncommercial
national broadcaster.
It was formally established in 1932 by the Australian
Broadcasting Commission Act, which provided for a
national broadcaster (the ABC, with 12 stations) and commercial
broadcasters (with 43 stations, some of which were owned
by or affiliated with print media groups such as Fairfax).
The Commission was closely modelled on the British Broadcasting
Commission, including the requirement that early radio
announcers wear dinner jackets when reading the news.
Like the BBC it is struggling with divergent demands for
services and reduced funding, although most works on its
history suggest that it's been 'in crisis' for several
decades.
The SBS was initially established in the mid-1970s as
a multicultural radio broadcaster (formally established
in 1978 after escaping from the ABC) but has increasingly
escaped from that straitjacket. SBS television began broadcasting
in 1980.
SBS currently broadcasts in 68 languages and has proved
to be more entrepreneurial than the ABC, with for example
overseas partnerships and subtitling services. SBS Independent
(SBSI), created in 1994, has been at the forefront of
local film/television productions by independent Australian
film-makers.
The federal Government determines the level of Budget
funding for both organisations but has no formal editorial
or programming responsibility. Funding is provided on
a triennial basis.
In 1998-99 the ABC received around $507 million in Commonwealth
funding. The SBS received around $87 million from the
Commonwealth, with a further $12 million from advertising.
The legislation prohibits the ABC from accepting advertising
on its domestic broadcasting services.
The role and function of the two organisations are identified
in their respective Charters, which form part of the legislation.
Both are accountable to the Parliament through Annual
Reports, Corporate Plans and appearances before Parliamentary
Committees.
David Marr quipped of Shier that
He
couldn't hold his temper; he couldn't keep executives;
he couldn't explain his plans; his restructure was unworkable;
he ran up huge bills for redundancies; and audiences
drifted away. Yet Shier hung onto his job for 18 months
because he offered Canberra - and sections of the board
- the El Dorado of change.
Radio Australia
Australia's first overseas broadcasting service began
in 1939 as support for the BBC's External Service in counteracting
enemy propaganda. It was initially managed by the Department
of Information, by the ABC from 1942 to 1944, and then
by the Department of Information.
In 1950 responsibility returned to the ABC. The Menzies
Government adopted the UK model of a broadcaster independent
of direct government control, in contrast to the US 'Voice
of America', and Radio Australia (RA) was thus established
as an administrative unit of the ABC rather than as a
discrete body.
That arm's length relationship frequently satisfied neither
the ABC (concerned about ungenerous funding and responsibility)
nor what became the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
(with expectations that ABC managers and journalists would
be more sensitive to its needs). RA programming was based
on domestic broadcasts, with special content for South-east
Asia and the Western Pacific. As with the BBC Foreign
Srvice, a 'liaison officer' from the Department of External
Affairs worked with ABC editorial staff on early RA programs.
In 1975 the Whitlam Government established an independent
inquiry into Radio Australia, the 'Waller Inquiry', which
recommended that the ABC retain responsibility for RA
on a statutory basis and that funding be increased for
enhancement of RA facilities. The report was not greeted
with enthusiasm, unsurprising given the often fraught
relations between the ABC and the Fraser government, and
inaction resulted in similar recommendations in the 1981
report by the Committee of Review of the ABC (Dix Report).
studies
The ABC site offers access to its annual reports,
strategic plans, inquiry submissions and other documents.
Ken Inglis' This is the ABC (Melbourne: Melbourne
Uni Press 1984) is invaluable but reflects its origins
as an official history of the national broadcaster. It
has been supplemented by his unofficial Whose ABC:
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation 1983-2006
(Melbourne: Black Inc 2006). This is the ABC was
reissued as This is the ABC: The Australian Broadcasting
Commission 1932-1983 (Melbourne: Black Inc 2006). Alan
Thomas' Broadcast & Be Damned: The ABC's First
Two Decades (Melbourne: Oxford Uni Press 1980) is
a quasi-official history.
For ABC radio three studies are valuable: The Unseen
Voice: A Cultural Study of Early Australian Radio
(London: Routledge 1988) by Lesley Johnson, Radio in
Australia (Kensington: UNSW Press 1989) by John Potts
and the more popular Out of the Bakelite Box: The Heyday
of Australian Radio (Sydney: Angus & Robertson
1990).
Quentin Dempster's Death Struggle: How Political Malice
& Boardroom Powerplays Are Killing The ABC (St
Leonards: Allen & Unwin 2000) is a journalist's account
from inside the bunker. Strong on personalties, weak on
historical perspective - all national broadcasters are
subject to malice and frisky boards - and the changing
shape of broadcasting (public or otherwise) in Australia
and overseas.
Glyn Davis' Breaking Up the ABC (Sydney: Allen
& Unwin 1988) and Save Our ABC (South Melbourne,
Hyland House 1996) edited by Morag Fraser are more convincing
than Clement Semmler's grumpy The ABC - Aunt Sally
& Sacred Cow (Carlton: Melbourne Uni Press 1981).
Frank Dixon's Inside the ABC: A Piece of Australian
History (Melbourne: Hawthorn Press 1975), Richard
Harding's Outside Interference: The Politics of Australian
Broadcasting (Melbourne: Sun Books 1979) and Julie
Lewis's On Air: The Story of Catherine King and the
ABC Women's Session (Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre
Press 1979) demonstrate that criticism of 'declining standards'
and politicisation has been a feature of the ABC's history
since its establishment.
For that wider perspective - ultimately more useful in
understanding the organisation's operation and future
- we recommend Jock Given's thoughtful The Death of
Broadcasting (Sydney: Uni of NSW Press 1999), Trevor
Barr's Newmedia.com.au: The Changing Face of Australia's
Media & Communications (St Leonards: Allen &
Unwin 2000) and Public Voices, Private Interests: Australia's
Media Policy (Sydney: Allen & Unwin 1995) edited by
Jennifer Craik & Albert Moran.
AFR journalist Mark Westfield's blow by blow account
in The Gatekeepers: The Global Media Battle to control
Australia's Pay TV (Annandale: Pluto Press 2000) is
of value in understanding the interaction between politicians,
bureaucrats, business, consumers and technology.
Among accounts by ABC staff Tom Molomby's Is There
A Moderate On The Roof? (Melbourne: Heineman 1991),
Inside the ABC (Ringwood: Penguin 1988) by former
CEO Geoffrey Whitehead and The Things You Learn Along
The Way (Melbourne: David Lovell 1999) by John Menadue.
Bloodbath: A memoir of Australian television
(Carlton: Melbourne Uni Publishing 2006) by Patricia Edgar
is of value.
Errol Hodge's Radio Wars: Truth, Propaganda & the
Struggle for Radio Australia (Melbourne: Cambridge
Uni Press 1995) deals with the 'overseas service'. Studies
of the BBC's overseas activity, noted below, are a useful
point of reference. Australian Television & International
Mediascapes (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni Press 1996)
by Stuart Cunningham & Elizabeth Jacka asks is there
an Australian 'style' and can we export it?
There is a global perspective in Michael Tracey's Decline
and Fall of Public Service Broadcasting (New York:
Oxford Uni Press 1998) and Eva Etzioni-Halevy's National
Broadcasting Under Siege: A Comparative Study of Australia,
Britain, Israel & West Germany (Basingstoke: Macmillan
1987).
other state networks
This site features separate profiles on -
BBC - United Kingdom
TVNZ & RNZ - New Zealand
CBC - Canada
MCS - Singapore
NHK - Japan
PBS - USA
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