ABC unveils new titles for 2024, multichannel overhaul.

The ABC has announced a swag of new programs to join its 2024 slate, plus new acquisitions and returning shows in production.

They include new shows for Leigh Sales, Tony Armstrong, Matt Okine, Sammy J., Myf Warhurst, Guy Montgomery and a spin-off for Tom Gleeson.

In a programming shift, ABC will also screen new local sitcom Austin in an 8pm Sunday timeslot, paired with the return of Spicks & Specks.

From June there will no longer be two dedicated children’s TV channels.

ABC TV Plus channel rebrands as ABC Family, with ABC Kids in the daytime then from 7:30pm family titles aimed at older teens and co-viewing titles.

ABC ME will end in June to be replaced by ABC Entertains with comedy and entertainment. Although there are children’s titles in the morning, there are more adult offerings across the day.

Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor said “The ABC is the most important creative institution in Australia and we are continuing to ensure our content is available where our audiences want to engage. 2024 has marked a major change in the way that the ABC is thinking about its content and it is all about on demand.

“ABC iview is our on-demand destination for everything that Australian audiences love. More people are coming to ABC iview for our content when they want to watch on demand and in 2024 they are staying with us for longer.”

NEW

The Assembly
Leigh Sales is at the helm of a groundbreaking new factual series, The Assembly (6 x 1hr), focusing on a group of autistic student journalists as they prepare for and eventually interview Australia’s best-known personalities, including the Prime Minister.

Headliners
Elly-May Barnes leads an ambitious quest to create two bands made up entirely of musicians living with disability. With support and inspiration from Australian music royalty including her rock legend Dad, Jimmy Barnes, they’ll transform a group of strangers to must see acts on the main stage at a sellout iconic live music event in just 7 weeks.

Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now
Presented by Lisa Millar, Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now? will revisit the human and canine stars of series 1 & series 2 to check in on the dogs’ progress since the final milestone challenge. Along the way discover what our ten graziers and their dogs are up to, what is happening in their communities, and how Muster Dogs has changed their lives.

Secret Science, premieres Tuesday 21 May at 9pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
A new smart and entertaining series exploring a range of topics. Learn how men can improve their sperm count, how we can all improve our capacity to learn – as well as ways we can exploit our emotions. Hosts for the series include Myf Warhust, Matt Okine and Sammy J.

Megafauna: What Killed Australia’s Giants?
Australia was once home to a group of extraordinary animals known as Megafauna. These giants lived here for millions of years, but in a blink of time, they disappeared. What became of them has been debated for over a century, but now a team of experts are re-opening this paleolithic cold case. This two part series is narrated by Hugh Jackman.

Monday’s Experts
Hosted by Tony Armstrong with Catherine Murphy, Monday’s Experts is a new sports entertainment show covering all that happens both on and off the field each week. With a panel of sports journalists and comedians, they will cover the biggest stories and the funniest and most awe-inspiring moments of the week.

Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee
During this fast-paced, entertaining and hilarious new comedy panel show, host Guy Montgomery and his loyal assistant Aaron Chen challenge four comedians, comprising of both established names and up-and-coming comics, as they attempt to spell a myriad of words as best they can, all to be crowned that week’s best speller.

ABC NYE 2024
ABC is set to kick off the celebrations for triple j’s 50th year by threading popular songs from triple j’s Hottest 100 through the iconic NYE concert celebrating its annual music poll, the Hottest 100. The most watched live concert broadcast in Australia will again include an impressive lineup of hosts, artists and guests to ring in the new year.

Hard Quiz Kids premieres Saturday 8 June at 7.30pm on ABC Family and ABC iview.
Gold-Logie-winning comedian Tom Gleeson is bringing an all-new series of his hit show Hard Quiz to the kids! On Hard Quiz Kids, everything you know and love about Hard Quiz will be let loose on a younger generation. With his trademark grumpiness and wicked humour, Tom will interrogate ordinary, but brainy contestants – the only difference is, they’re all aged between 10 and 13.

Plum
Plum follows Peter ‘The Plum’ Lum (Brendan Cowell), a 49-year-old national football treasure who lives with his son Gavin (Vincent Miller) and girlfriend Charmayne (María Dupláa) in Cronulla. It looks like Plum is living the dream until he discovers he has a brain disorder as result of the hundreds of head knocks and concussions he suffered on the field. The new diagnosis doesn’t receive its intended effect, as Plum would sooner hide, run and head to the pub for drinks with the boys and pretend everything is peaches. But hiding from the truth isn’t easy when your ex-wife (Asher Keddie) cares too much and your son comes to realise the father he worships is falling off his mantle and the game they love might be to blame.

Premiere and in production announcements:

The Art Of, premieres Tuesday 4 June at 9.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
The Art Of is a refreshing new arts and culture show with an epic mission to answer life’s big questions through art. Join the ever-curious Namila Benson as she speaks to artists from across the vast creative landscape here and abroad to find answers.

Spicks and Specks, premieres Sunday 9 June at 7.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Join Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough for a brand new series of your favourite music quiz show, Spicks and Specks. There’ll be brand new segments, the return of the secret song, fantastic live music, as well as all your old favourite games.

Austin, premieres Sunday 9 June at 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
When much-loved children’s author Julian Hartswood (Ben Miller) inadvertently causes a social media storm, his career and that of his illustrator wife Ingrid (Sally Phillips) appears to be over. That is until Austin (Michael Theo), the neurodivergent son that Julian never knew existed, turns up out of the blue. Could embracing this modern nuclear family be Julian’s route back from cancellation?

Bluey Minisodes premieres Sunday 16th June at 8am on ABC Kids and ABC iview
The Bluey Minisodes are a collection of 1 – 3 minute funny and sweet moments featuring Bluey & Bingo. Introducing some new characters alongside fan favourites including Unicorse, Nana ann Bob Heeler, Dad getting a ‘tattoo’ and we go behind the scenes at Bluey and Bingo’s dreamhouse.

Classic 100 in Concert, premieres Saturday June 29th at 7:30pm, on ABCTV, live streamed on ABC iview and simulcast on ABC Classic.
Hosted by ABC’s Megan Burslem and Jeremy Fernandez, the Classic 100 in Concert will give music lovers nationwide the chance to celebrate the ultimate feel-good playlist, performed by some of the country’s best-known classical stars.

Bay Of Fires in production for Season 2
ABC, Archipelago Productions and Fremantle are excited to announce that season two of the hit drama Bay Of Fires has started filming in Tasmania. Reprising their roles are Marta Dusseldorp (Janet King), Toby Leonard Moore (The Unusual Suspects), Pamela Rabe (Wentworth) and more.

Spooky Files in production for Season 2
Cameras are rolling on the second season of popular ABC and BBC kids comedy adventure, Spooky Files. After sending all the Spookies home and closing the portal to a spooky dimension in season one, the Spooky Crew thought their Spooky hunting days were over. But when an old Spooky friend turns up, and then a bunch of other Spookies start appearing, the Crew has their work cut out for them. Not only do they have to defend Sunny Valley from Spooky mayhem – they need to figure out how to keep the Spookies safe, and why they are refusing to go home.

With a slate unrivalled in its scale and diversity, Australian audiences continue to turn to the ABC for high quality and distinctive content that is accessible and valuable for all Australians, across a variety of digital and broadcast platforms. ABC iview has seen continued platform growth sitting as the number two free to air BVOD network to date in Australia. Year-on-year weekly active user growth is up on ABC iview, with 24% year-on-year growth on minutes viewed (*non kids) and 10% year-on-year growth on minutes viewed (*kids).

Tentpole original commissions and acquisitions like NYE, Muster Dogs, Nemesis, Total Control, Darby and Joan, Vera and more have secured over 1 million total average audiences. As the number one free to air network in reach and delivering the biggest show on Australian television to date for 2024 in Bluey, the ABC continues to make an impact on audiences with content that is always on, always entertaining and always ad free.

ABC Family, ABC Entertains channels.

ABC multichannels replaced with ABC Family, ABC Entertains.