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Meet the faces of ABC3

The kids of Australia are about to get so much content on ABC3, it's like their very own 'Pay TV' network -without ads or fees.

abc3 aAmberley Lobo, Kayne Tremills, Ben Crawley, Scotty Tweedie, Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen and Hannah Wang are the six lucky presenters who will become the faces of ABC3, the new ad-free children’s network.

The six were introduced to media last night by Kim Dalton, ABC TV’s Director of Television, who unveiled the new digital channel last night at the network’s Ripponlea studio.

Aged 19 – 24, they hail from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide & Perth and will adopt key roles in channel presenting, reporting and hosting after winning the coveted positions from more than 5,000 applications in the ABC’s Me on 3 hunt.

ABC3 will launch at 6pm on Friday December 4th 2009 preceded by a one hour studio-based live entertainment programme on ABC1 at 5pm.

“Then at 6pm Prime Minister Rudd will literally and metaphorically throw the switch and ABC3 will come to life,” declared Dalton.

“An important message to the parents of Australia is if you haven’t got a digital TV, or a digital set top box, you’ve got just under 8 weeks to get one for your kids. Otherwise they’re going to miss out on a bit of history.”

The channel will broadcast daily from 6am – 9pm (off air at other times at this stage), aimed at 6 – 15 year olds. Its core demographic is 8 – 12 year olds.

abc3 st3The new channel will be built around two key hosted blocks. Every morning from 7 -8:30am, Studio 3 will be on the air from Melbourne. Amberley Lobo and Kayne Tremills will host games, competitions, guests and more. Ben Crawley will provide roving reports from Adelaide and beyond.

During the day the channel offers factual, adventure, wildlife, documentary, game shows, news and current affairs, dramas and classic Australian animations.

At 4:30 – 6pm RollerCoaster will be hosted by Elliott Spencer with live action and cartoons.

From 6pm ABC3 has comedy, cartoons, drama and music.

Brisbane’s Scotty Tweedie will present the 26 part series Prank Patrol where kids get to create a prank on a friend. Sydney’s Hanna Wang will co-host the 52 part Rush TV with Chris Boadle with snowboarding, BMX, skating, surfing and motorcross. Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen will join with Good Game‘s Bajo for gaming news, tips and events in the 42 part Good Game SP.

Online ABC3 will offer blogs, games, activities, videos and user-generated content. Many of the programmes will be available in iView.

“First and foremost ABC3 will be a destination. A place and space to go to. To be entertained, to play, to discover, to create, meet friends and be part of the community. It will be the first and only truly multi-platform children’s service existing across television. Online streaming, download and mobile platforms. It will be exciting, innovative and it will be interactive.”

At launch date, more than 40% of the content will be Australian.

“And as we go forwards, we aim to increase that to our 50% target. It’s not enough but it’s a great start,” he said.

“There will be Australian-produced programmes across all genres.”

Much of the ABC3 programming will also screen on ABC1 from 6 – 8am and 4 – 6pm weekdays and 8 – 9am on Sundays.

abc3 bPre-schoolers have not been forgotten either. ABC for Kids will air on ABC2 weekdays from 9am – 6pm and weekends from 6am – 6pm. With titles including Wiggly Waffle, Giggle, Hoot, dirtgirlworld, Play School, Bananas in Pyjamas, Waybuloo, Fun with Claude, Angelina Ballerina, Fifi and the Flowertots, Toby’s Toy Circus, Mouk’s World Tour, The Octanauts, and The Jungle Book.

ABC for Kids will feature host James Rees, also selected from the Me on 3 search. Programming will air on ABC1 weekdays from 8 – 10am and 3 – 4pm and Sundays from 6:30 – 7:30am.

“During the week 32 hours of children’s content each day,” said Dalton. “This puts us up with the BBC as one of the largest and most comprehensive broadcasters of children’s broadcasting in the world. And that’s something we feel incredibly proud of and something we think is incredibly appropriate for the ABC.”

ABC3 Programming:
My Place
World Premiere
13-part half-hour drama series

CJ the DJ
World Premiere
52-part eleven-minute animation series

Dance Academy
World Premiere
26-part half-hour drama series.

Dead Gorgeous
World Premiere
13-part half-hour drama series.

NEWS ON 3
BTN extra

The Animation Projects
World Premiere

Escape from Scorpion Island
World Premiere
26-part half-hour action series

abc3_logoBarney’s Barrier Reef
Australian Premiere
20-part half-hour documentary series

Twisted Whiskers
Australian Premiere
26-part half-hour animation series

Gaywyn
Australian Premiere
52-part, 13-minute animation series

Michaela’s Wildlife Challenge
Australian Premiere
52-part half-hour documentary series

Black Panther
Australian Premiere
Six-part half-hour animation series

Trapped
26-part half-hour drama series

Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab
Australian Premiere
52-part half-hour science series

Be the Creature
Australian Premiere
26-part, 47-minute documentary series

Heartbreak High
130-part half-hour drama series

How to Be Indie
Australian Premiere
26-part half-hour drama series

Spliced
Australian Premiere
26-part half-hour animation series

Jolly Rabbit
Australian Premiere
52-part, eleven-minute animation series

Connor Undercover
Australian Premiere
39-part half-hour drama series

I.N.K. Invisible Network of Kids
Australian Premiere
26-part half-hour animation series

The Jungle Book
Australian Premiere
52-part eleven-minute animation series

AND: Relive some of Australia’s most-loved drama series from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) which continues to deliver world-class content made especially for Australian kids. Round The Twist, Mortified, Genie From Down Under, Spellbinder and Worst Best Friends will screen on ABC3 and a number of them will also screen online at abc.net.au/abc3.

Channel:
Free-to-air digital 23
Foxtel 723
Austar 723
Optus 723

53 Responses

  1. (Soo no ones probably going to see this but what ever) so i came a cross this website wondering “what ever happened to the original ABC 3 or ggsp ” and i taught it would be a great idea to just search it up but then when i clicked on this website i realised how much i’v grown and how much ABC 3 has impacted my life form the first time i came to Australia to the time i became an Australian citizen, man i really miss the old ABC 3. I was only 4 when i moved over here from Philippines one of the best moves my family has ever done.

  2. this was witten in 2009 the reson why in the night garden was not on the list that cbeebies (the australian rights holder of Zingzillas) will go up agaist ABC2 as well as charlie and lola

  3. i luv prank patrol with scotty its the best the international one is soo bad andy does not know how to act and plus scottys pro and hes awesome i met him on australia and i luv abc3 kayne and ambo ur the best and ambo your really pretty and is it true u like scotty tweedie just wondering coz everyone says u do so yeh i want to meet you guys

  4. So what is ABC1 going to have on during the day? Educational programing for kids still?

    Also, the ABC should get permission to turn off ABC HD. Already there is no difference in PQ between it and ABC1, and I say this as someone with a very large TV. Once ABC3 is squeezed into the mux, the blocking will be ridiculous on all ABC TV channels.

    I can’t remember the last time I watched a program on ABC HD with 5.1 sound either.

    The ABC could always just turn it off and see if ACMA notices. Like WIN’s doing with WIN HD. It hasn’t existed since Go launched.

  5. The Sad Part about the loss of Degrassi TNG is that there is nothing like that for the younger generation anymore.Look at Crap like Home and Away It just doesn’t compare In fact the only saving grace for that tripe is that it is not some overdone American Sitcom or another news type bulletin when people are home in the night.

  6. There are a lot of upset and confused fans on the Good Game forums. Apparently Jeremy Ray (Junglist) has been sacked from his presenter role. So that Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen can take his presenter position on Good Game as well as Good Game SP.

    I was completely shocked when I heard about it. It is the type of perplexing decision you expect from a commercial network.

    Jeremy Ray was the founding presenter of the show. He was well liked by the fanbase. He is relaxed on camera, has experience interviewing senior figures in the industry, he is a good reviewer and has commented on gaming issues for ABC radio.

    It is absurd that they decided to replace him with an ABC3 competition winner who does not appear to have any experience in television or games journalism.

  7. Good Game on ABC2 was one of my favourite shows.

    It seems like ABC3 sacked one of the hosts Jeremy Ray and replaced him with a young edgy female with a nose ring.

    He was a great host who had been there from the start.

    It makes me so angry.

  8. It’s quite Unusual that They didn’t used the Metalic Worms Logo for ABC3,I wonder why it is….

    Anyways,It’s still a Great logo,Much Better than ABC 1,2 and Even HD….

  9. @Billy C

    No suprise at all, statistically most of the applicants would have probably been Anglo-Australians. It’s good the kids will now have something to watch and by the looks of it, it could rival or even surpass what the BBC offers to youth.

  10. The thing is that No Body actually shows a Degrassi/Heartbreak High Kind of Show on Television anymore not even Channel 10 and as for that Crap they call Blue Water High on ABC2 How many of us who are about Mischa Bartons Generation will watch such tripe.

  11. How surprising that out of the thousands of people who applied the best ones were almost exclusively white and good looking. What a strange coincidence.

  12. ABC3 seems to be such a better name than ABC1 and ABC2. ABC3 rolls of the tongue better.

    Love how they’re using a slightly different logo from the other channels. And that Studio 3 set is absolutely amazing. So creative and hot. Well done ABC3.

  13. “This puts us up with the BBC as one of the largest and most comprehensive broadcasters of children’s broadcasting in the world.” Yes, but the BBC has more than three channels. Hence, in terms of proportion, it will probably make them the No. 1 largest and most comprehensive children’s broadcaster in the world. Too bad that it will now dominate the network though, hopefully some space will be freed up in the coming years.
    I like how the logo is somewhat different to the ABC 1 and 2 logos, it’s good for the ABC 1 and 2 logos to match because they complement each other, but ABC 3 and 4 should be a little different as they are themed channels. And yes, they’re using the pre-2001 logo, which is strange, but I liked that one better anyway.

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