ABC News (Australian TV channel)

"ABC News (TV channel)" and "ABC 24" redirect here. For the Australian news department which provides contents to this channel, see ABC News (Australia). For the American news organization, see ABC News (United States). For American Broadcasting Company television affiliates, see ABC 24 (disambiguation).

ABC News
TypeNews and current affairs
CountryAustralia
Broadcast areaNationally and Worldwide
NetworkABC Television
HeadquartersUltimo, New South Wales
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format576i SDTV
Ownership
OwnerAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
Sister channelsABC TV
ABC TV HD
ABC Kids
ABC Family
ABC Entertains
History
Launched22 July 2010; 14 years ago (22 July 2010)
ReplacedABC HD (HD channel space; 2008–10, relaunched on 6 Dec 2016)
Former namesABC News 24 (2010–2017)
Links
Websiteabc.net.au
Availability
Terrestrial
ABN Sydney (DVB-T)544 @ 12 (226.5 MHz)[1]
ABV Melbourne (DVB-T)560 @ 12 (226.5 MHz)
ABQ Brisbane (DVB-T)576 @ 12 (226.5 MHz)
ABS Adelaide (DVB-T)592 @ 12 (226.5 MHz)
ABW Perth/Mandurah (DVB-T)736 @ 12 (226.5 MHz)
ABT Hobart (DVB-T)624 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
ABD Darwin (DVB-T)640 @ 30 (543.5 MHz)
FreeviewChannel 24
Streaming media
ABC iviewABC iview Live Stream
abc.net.auABC News Live Stream (Australia only)
YouTubeLive Stream

The ABC News channel is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[2][3][4] The channel replaced and used the then-former ABC HD channel space (which simulcast ABC TV in high definition) and commenced broadcasting as ABC News 24 at 7:30pm (AEST) on Thursday, 22 July 2010.[5][6]

The network is a division of the ABC's News and Current Affairs department. The majority of the channel's content is produced from the studios of the ABC's Sydney station, ABN, in Ultimo, Sydney which the public can view being presented from an atrium looking into the news presentation studio. The ABC's breakfast television programme, News Breakfast, Afternoon Briefing and the evening programme The World is produced at ABV Southbank, Melbourne (weekdays).

Due to the relaunch of ABC HD on 6 December 2016, the picture format of the ABC News channel was reduced to standard definition.[7]

History

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The ABC announced in January 2010 that it planned to launch a 24-hour news channel.[2] The logo of ABC News 24 was revealed by Freeview in their new promotion on Tuesday 22 June.[8] The official promotional reel for the channel was launched on digital channel 24 between 6 and 8 July.[9]

Speculation about a launch date for the channel took place in the weeks prior to the official announcement. The Daily Telegraph claimed in early July that the channel would be delayed due to technical issues at the ABC's new playout facility, MediaHub, in south west Sydney while other outlets reported that the channel was on track to begin in mid-July.[10]

The ABC announced on 13 July 2010 that the channel would have its first live broadcast on 22 July.[5][6]

In November 2016, the ABC announced that ABC News 24 and ABC NewsRadio would be rebranded under a unified ABC News brand.[11] The relaunch occurred on 10 April 2017.[12][13]

In July 2024, the ABC announced that the entire ABC News division would receive a new look, including for the channel.[14] The relaunch has already occurred on 19 August 2024.[15]

Reception

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Since the commencement of regular broadcasting, the reaction to the new news channel has been mixed. A particular concern has been the pressure placed upon the budget and operations of both the news division of the ABC, as well as the broadcaster as a whole, particularly the shifting of funds from other departments like drama, Indigenous, documentary and children's [16] owing to the decision to launch the channel without additional Government funding, as was the case with the recent launch of the children's channel ABC3 (now named ABC Entertains).

In Senate Estimates hearings in February 2012, the broadcaster confirmed a $2.5 million shortfall in the budget for its news and current affairs division and imposed a 1.5% cut in newsroom budgets, though denies the link to the channel, instead pointing to recent major news events in the past year such as the Christchurch earthquakes and flooding in Queensland and Victoria.[17] However, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has blamed the reported $20 million annual cost of the network for cutbacks in ABC TV sports coverage of the SANFL.[18]

However, the network has seen success with high viewership compared to competitor Sky News Australia, with reach exceeding 2 million viewers weekly, tripling that of Sky News.[19]

The channel's highest primetime viewership share was 9.5% during the 2016 Federal election coverage on 2 July 2016.[20]

Programming

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ABC News presented by Juanita Phillips

ABC News programming consists of a mix of live news bulletins, time-shifted repeats of existing ABC News and Current Affairs output, live broadcasts from events (such as Parliament Question Time and selected press conferences), documentaries and factual and arts programming.[21] These draw upon the ABC's own resources and those of its partner broadcasters, the BBC, SABC, TVNZ, PBS, NHK, and Al Jazeera English.

On weekdays, throughout most of the day, straight news programming is presented from one of the studios in Ultimo. General rolling news continues from 8pm AEST/AEDT (only interrupted from 9:45pm to 11pm by a specialist Asian-focused business bulletin and The World) before ABC News switches to the overnight format at 12:30am AEST/AEDT which features a mix of repeats of the day's programs and (usually live) news content from the partner broadcasters. Live ABC-produced news bulletins air once per hour until 4am AEST/AEDT.

On weekends, except the Weekend Breakfast news block, the channel airs a live news bulletin at the top of almost all hours, which lasts 15 or 30 minutes. Occasionally it is a one-minute headline recap. A live news hour is featured on Sundays at 7pm. ABC News switches to the overnight format at 12:15am AEST/AEDT, without any live newscast until the next morning.

Live newscasters are Gemma Veness and Dan Bourchier (ABC News Mornings), Ros Childs (ABC News at Noon and ABC News Day), Kirsten Aiken and Greg Jennett (Afternoon Briefing), Joe O'Brien (ABC News Tonight), Michael Tetlow (weekday editions of ABC Late News/News Overnight), Dan Bourchier (weekends), Mariam Saab (ABC News Weekend and weekend editions of ABC Late News/News Overnight). Specialist and feature programming includes a daily business programme covering the Asia-Pacific region and an international bulletin with Girish Sawlani entitled The World presented from ABC Melbourne Studio.[21][22]

News Breakfast and ABC News at Noon

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Existing shows News Breakfast and ABC News at Noon are broadcast live on the ABC News channel at the same time as on ABC TV in AEST/AEDT time zones; viewers in the AWST and ACST time zones can choose to watch these programs either live (on the ABC News channel) or on delay in their local time (on ABC TV). In addition, The Business is shown in an earlier timeslot than currently scheduled on ABC TV.

Capital Hill

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On 30 September 2010, the ABC announced the first new programme to be shown on the channel titled Capital Hill. The political programme, originally hosted by Chris Uhlmann airs Fridays at 5:30pm AEST/AEDT and takes a look at the week's political events and news, as well as feature interviews with the key players of politics. It is now broadcast every weekday at 1:00pm AEST/AEDT and is hosted by Greg Jennett (Monday – Thursday) and Matthew Doran (Friday).

World news

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The World presented by Scott Bevan

Overnight, the ABC News channel uses "satellite" programming, mainly from BBC World News which mostly uses the main BBC News bulletins, as well as Deutsche Welle news and current affairs bulletins and sometimes using shows such as Impact with Yalda Hakim, Outside Source with Ros Atkins and Global with Matthew Amroliwala. The BBC World News broadcasts come live into the ABC News channel before being broadcast around Australia. About two Al Jazeera English Newshours are also broadcast. However, since 2018, the overnight programming has slowly refocused on rebroadcasts of the channel's daytime live shows like The Drum and The World (on weekdays), and ABC's own live news updates have increasingly carried.[citation needed]

Repeated from ABC TV

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Criticism

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Along with other rolling news channels, the ABC News channel has been criticised for launching into rolling news coverage for "breaking news" where little new information supports such coverage, and just repeating limited information and footage about an event.[23] Conversely, the ABC News channel has also been criticised for not turning to rolling coverage.[24][25]

ABC News online

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The ABC News channel can be streamed online at the ABC's website and on YouTube.[26] However, the YouTube stream is made available internationally except for the stream in iView where it is only available in Australia only,[27] and unlike other programming on iView, it is not currently offered as unmetered content by any internet service providers. The ABC News channel stream is available in medium and high bandwidth varieties on the iView site.

News presenters

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News

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  • News Breakfast with James Glenday and Bridget Brennan
  • ABC News Mornings with Gemma Veness (Monday – Wednesday) and Dan Bourchier (Thursday – Friday)
  • ABC News at Noon with Ros Childs (Monday – Thursday) and Kathryn Robinson (Friday)
  • ABC News Day with Ros Childs
  • Afternoon Briefing with Greg Jennett (Monday – Thursday) and Matthew Doran (Friday)
  • The Business with Kirsten Aiken (Monday – Wednesday) and Alicia Barry (Thursday)
  • ABC News with Joe O'Brien
  • 7.30 with Sarah Ferguson
  • The World with Girish Sawlani
  • ABC Late News with Jade Barker
  • Weekend Breakfast with Johanna Nicholson and Fauziah Ibrahim
  • Insiders with David Speers

Other

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Former presenters

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International bureaus

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Current

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As of October 2020 there were bureaus in the following cities:[28]

Former

[edit]

Overseas correspondents

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  • Barbara Miller – Washington DC (North America correspondent)
  • Nick Dole – London (Europe correspondent)
  • Isabella Higgins – (Europe correspondent)
  • Steve Cannane – (Europe correspondent)
  • Jade MacMillian – (United States correspondent)
  • Bill Birtles – Beijing (China correspondent)
  • Tom Joyner – Jerusalem (Middle East correspondent)
  • Anne Barker – Jakarta (Indonesia correspondent)
  • Mazoe Ford – Bangkok (South East Asia correspondent)
  • Jake Sturmer – Tokyo (North Asia correspondent)
  • Carrington Clarke – Seoul (East Asia correspondent)
  • Natalie Whiting – Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea correspondent)

Logo history

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[edit]
  • 22 July 2010 – 9 April 2017
    22 July 2010 – 9 April 2017
  • 9 April 2017 – 19 August 2024
    9 April 2017 – 19 August 2024
  • 19 August 2024 – present (colour version)
    19 August 2024 – present (colour version)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ a b "ABC to launch 24-hour news channel". ABC News Online. 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  3. ^ Draper, Dan (5 April 2010). "New ABC news channel to be called 'ABC News 24'". The Tube. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  4. ^ Knox, David (21 January 2010). "ABC announces 24/7 News channel". TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b "ABC to launch 24hr news channel next week". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 13 July 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  6. ^ a b "ABC News 24 will launch on Thursday 22 July". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 13 July 2010. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  7. ^ "ABC is changing to HD". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  8. ^ "ABC News 24 logo revealed". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 29 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  9. ^ "ABC News 24 hype reel unveiled". mUmbrella. 8 July 2010. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  10. ^ "Exclusive: ABC News 24 will launch this month". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 4 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  11. ^ Lallo, Michael (2 November 2016). "ABC in 2017: Diversity a focus, but which popular shows aren't returning?". Brisbane Times. Brisbane. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  12. ^ "New Look - ABC News". ABC News. 31 March 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  13. ^ "New-look ABC News ditches News 24". TV Tonight. 8 April 2017.
  14. ^ "ABC NEWS is Australia's No 1 digital news brand; announces new look, features and functionality" (Press release). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 July 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  15. ^ Knox, David (15 August 2024). "ABC News refreshes graphics, website, returns iconic TV news theme". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Kim Dalton accuses ABC TV of shifting funds from Australian content". TheGuardian.com. 30 April 2017.
  17. ^ Meade, Amanda (13 February 2012). "Aunty admits its news unit is $2.5m in the red". The Australian. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  18. ^ Homfray, Reece; Kemp, Miles (23 February 2012). "ABC-24 costly for the SANFL". The Advertiser. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  19. ^ "News 24 not hurting main bulletin: ABC". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  20. ^ Knox, David (4 July 2016). "ABC, TEN lift in buoyant ratings week". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  21. ^ a b Blundell, Graeme (3 July 2010). "24-hour party people". The Australian. News Limited. p. 27. Archived from the original on 12 August 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  22. ^ "The Drum launches in prime-time; new roles for Patricia Karvelas and Josh Szeps; ABC NEWS channel unveils 2019 line-up". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  23. ^ SIMONS, MARGARET SIMONS (14 March 2011). "How ABC News 24 lost pace with news from Japan". crikey.com.au. Retrieved 18 January 2015. All news channels, including the ABC, played the same pictures, and the same interviews, over and over again.
  24. ^ Canning, Simon (16 December 2010). "ABC news missed the boat via reruns". The Australian. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2015. THE ABC's news channel, ABC24, has been slammed by critics for failing to recognise the scale of the Christmas Island asylum-seeker tragedy.
  25. ^ SIMONS, MARGARET (15 August 2011). "ABC News 24 runs on the smell of an oily rag". crikey.com.au. Crikey. Retrieved 18 January 2015. And other critics (including me) have complained that the channel is too slow to switch to breaking news.
  26. ^ "abc news 24". ABC NEWS. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  27. ^ "abc news 24 FAQ". Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  28. ^ "Sarah Ferguson takes up special reporting role in Washington DC; ABC opens Seoul post to expand North Asia coverage". About the ABC. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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