ABC News channel: reactions
Sky News was on the defensive yesterday after the ABC announced plans for a 24/7 free to air News channel.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
Yesterday’s major announcement by the ABC for its 24 hour News Channel has drawn a number of reactions.
Sky News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos was on the defense, questioning where the resources would be redirected from to fund the new channel.
“Clearly, the money has to come from somewhere and that means further cuts for the ABC’s core services, including possibly its existing news and current affairs programs,” he said.
He also challenged ABC’s claim it would give Australians access to the country’s most comprehensive news coverage.
“The fact is that Sky News already broadcasts nationally not just one but 14, 24 hour news and information channels, including Sky News, Sky News Business Channel, Sky News Multiview, and Sky News Local channels.”
He even went as far as to suggest Mark Scott’s statement that no other media organisation was better equipped to deliver a 24 hour news service was “disingenuous, misleading and simply incorrect.”
“With all due respect to the excellent news and current affairs provided by the ABC, the fact is that the Sky News Network of channels draws from not only its own resources but also Australia’s most successful television news operations Seven and Nine, plus BSkyB, ABC America, CBS, Fox Business Network, Reuters, APTN as well as its close relationship with News Limited newspapers across the nation.”
Seriously…
Building a brand on the pooling of other organisational feeds doesn’t substitute for having bureaus around the country and overseas. This was a crucial message in Scott’s statement: that the ABC has newsrooms in every state and territory, 12 international bureaus and 60 regional newsrooms.
When Sky News defiantly launched its local news channels late last year, there wasn’t much detail on staffing, because they were single-journo operations.
Scott hit back saying that a ”significant portion” of the 24-hour channel’s content would be made by ABC staff, in contrast with Sky which he said ”aggregated all its content from elsewhere”.
Meanwhile advocacy group Friends of ABC have called on the government to fund the new channel.
“It makes good sense for the ABC to establish a 24/7 TV news channel,” said spokesperson David Risstrom. “The community has come to expect and rely on timely news. Importantly, the ABC can be depended on to provide independent news and analysis.
“But investigating, reporting and analysing news costs money. And while the Rudd Government has delivered extra funds for new ABC services like a children’s TV channel, the broadcaster’s existing news services continue to suffer from inadequate resources.”
Crikey even asked, “should the ABC aim to break news, both national and local. Should it set agendas by revealing new facts? Should it be brave and controversial? Should it be at the cutting edge of investigative journalism? It is this area where the ABC is vulnerable to criticism. When did Auntie last consistently break major news stories?”
TV Tonight would also like to know what the ABC’s policy on the future of HD programming is, and whether the channel will be live around the country, ignoring timezones?
Insiders are tipping the new channel to be called ABC4 and will feature a 9pm centrepiece bulletin every night.
Source: smh.com.au, Knowfirst, Crikey
31 Responses
A 24 hour ABC news channel can work (whereas Ten’s One HD is a bit of a joke,
compared to Foxtel’s sport channels), but fanatical ABC purists who live in a fantasy world, would have to accept that such a channel would have to get permission to screen commercials and accept corporate sponsorship, in order to cover their costs, not just on this proposed channel, but also on the ABC1, 2 and 3 channels, which may tick off 7,9 and 10. The federal government isn’t going to give ABC a 50 – 100 million dollar donation, just to help set this new news channel up. SBS make about 45 mill a year from screening TV ads, yet still complain they haven’t got enough.
No, No, No to commercials on any ABC service as that will take away one of the advantages that the ABC has, that of independence from commerical concerns.
Lets hope the ABC news channel is a great success! Frangopoulos loves being regional and local and insists on keeping Sky News UK it’s second class status. I’ll be watching this new channel instead of Sky News Australia.
I am really excited about this new channel. I can see myself skimming through or watching it during the day/late night.
What I would like to see during the day (say 12 till 6) is a sort-of panel show. I would like during this time to have live streams from press conferences, announcements, etc. and then interviews of significant people within that field. Have, say, 3-4 main ‘anchors’ who have a good general knowledge about current affairs and have them explaining the details, and doing interviews, after the announcements.
For example, the government holds a press conference to announce a new education policy. This press conference is live. When it finishes the anchors would then outline the aspects (facts) of that announcement, and then allow the education and shadow education minister to be interviewed to put forward their full opinions on the policy.
Ellis (4:43pm),
There’s absolutely no logical reason why ABC4 should be delayed into any state. The reason why other channels delay their news for some states stems from classification rules that apply to other programming that surrounds some news broadcasts, & ratings.
Also, I think part of the blame for WA getting three-hour-old news over the summer periods can be placed with the good people of WA themselves! If the majority of the populace even cared they’re still part of Australia, they would’ve voted for Daylight Savings last year & not relented to stupid fear campaigns.
I like the idea of a 24/7 news channel, live across the nation. I don’t see the point of a news channel thats not live in certain places.
Hopefully its not like Sky… Sky News Channel is rubbish.
There is about 10 minutes of actual news repeated ad nauseum, 15 minutes of ads (mostly ego trips about sky news) and 5 minutes of Year In Review also repeated ad nauseum. The anchors look bored repeating the same thing over and over again.
I really hope they do more then just rolling news(ie. the same 30mins of news repeated every 30mins or on the hour like sky news does), well atleast in primtime, Im fine with time simulcasting 7:30 report for example, and i like the idea of a 9pm centrepiece bulletin every night, i would think 8:30, or 9:30pm would of worked a bit better seeing how tv works in this country but anyway i hope it does well, Do we know if the centrepiece bulletin will be 30mins or 1hr?, i hope they only have sort breaks and not many per hour(maybe 2mins max each and a max of 8mins per hour), plus like Ryano i wouldn’t mind commercial advertising on this new channel to help fund the channel, i also wouldn’t mind a 24hr music channel from the ABC with commercial advertising, we should of had this channel in 2001 when digital first started and i can tell you now that more people would have has digital now if it was available from 2001
Will it be live across Australia? Or will Perth get delayed news as usual?!
Angelos Frangopoulos is even less talented than I thought if he is proud of the show he puts on at Sky News. Everything about his network is an embarrassment. It’s almost like he’s never switched on and seen how 24 hours news channels should be done, with the likes of CNN, MSNBC, Sky News UK, BBC, CBC News Network Canada etc.
Sky News has been on the air 15 years now and is the most widely distributed cable network of the 100 or so cable networks in Australia. They have had 15 years and some huge financial backing to build a world class news network. But instead, Sky limps along like some shoddy regional news channel looping the same content, format, structure and even script every 10 minutes or so. It literally is boring as bats**t. How anyone can watch Sky News and not be bored to death within 5 minutes is beyond me. Other news nets around the world have mastered the art of feeling live, immediate, breaking – and constantly using new ideas and state of the art technology to deliver news in a new exciting way, that the 24/7 format requires. 15 years after they launched and Sky still sticks to the 6pm format looped 24 hours a day. And they do it, not with even their own content. Bt with others.
This attack on the new ABC News Channel is hilarious. Sky barely has TV cameras to go and film news. Yet Angelos discredits ABC’s ability to provide a 24 news network? Let’s get the facts right Angelos. Sky News broadcasts 2 channels. Sky News and the equally ameteur Sky Business News. The rest of your 12 “channels” are screens with text and looping video in tiny boxes playing out of an automated computer. Again with other network’s content.
I hope ABC News Channel kills Sky News in the ratings.
ABC will struggle with News??? name one other news organiusation that actually broadcasts News. (I will grant you SBS has a good news service)
Commercial TV is SAP Nine and Seven news most of the time is tabloid crap.
This is the best news to come out in digital tv since 2001!
Jase
Sky’s boss actually forgets that sky news is run on smoke and mirrors. Decent in Canberra but only as good as what 7 and 9 can do in the rest of the country and then only 25% of Australia chooses to view subscription TV. Sky gets about 1% of that. Good luck to the ABC, but the test will be to see they know what they are doing… history suggests they will struggle. You only have to watch ABC 2 breakfast to know that
What I would like is for it to be called ABC4, in SD but replacing the HD channel, which will enable all digital viewers to receive it and also freeing up some bandwidth, with ABC HD to be restored after the digital switchover or when ABC is granted more bandwidth.
@Paull “I do agree that sky has a better news service”. Better than what?
Finally a non-kids channel on ABC! Not that I’m against kids programming- abc was where I got all my kids programming back when I was young.
I do agree that sky has a better news service,eta hope they somehow manage to get
on FTA digital.
My predictions:
– Live around the country
– HD until analogue switch off when it will move to SD
I would be very surprized if the new channel was on delay in non-AEDT states. It simply doesn’t make sense to do that with a 24 hour news channel. It frustrates me that even now (in Brisbane) all breakfast and lunch time news is on delay. It must be even worse in WA.
Angelos Frangopoulos seems to be forgeting that the majority of Australians can’t see Sky News. Therefore a 24/7 FTA channel is great news. Is there not currently some battle between Sky and the ABC for the contract to run Australia Network?
Wow, i’d have more respect for Angelos Frangopoulos if he’s comments weren’t so hillariously self-serving. Sky have been a great service for australia, but, im sorry, u can’t compete with Actual reporters of your own around the country/world.
This is going to be a complicated shift for the culture of journalists at the ABC, but i suspect the organisation will be a lot better off in the long run.
Sky News Local is a joke. I am stuck watching in quality worse than youtube, and in a tiny box. Last time I checked it out, the segment repeated every 5 mins.
As I said earlier I think it’s great the ABC will bring a better news service than Sky News or the dreaded Fox News.
The comment that Sky would ‘use the resources of the News Ltd network’ says it all, as the phrase ‘fair and balanced reporting’ will go out the window if Rupert has his way.
Rupert was all for competition when he first started out and so should accept the situation today……
I think it’s going to work well !
Sky News is a great service, But this new 24 hour ABC news service will be much better because the journos are a lot better and what is wrong with a little competition?
How would Angelo know where the moeny comes from? and why is it his business? and i had to laugh that they have 14 news feeds when lets be honest, only 2 of them are live, the rest are looped.
well 3 if you count Sky News UK, but that is so small tou can hardly watch it.
Jase
I like the idea of a 24/7 FTA News Channel. Im dumbfounded that no other FTA channel considered this before. This will be great competition for not only Sky News, but this adds a new dimension to the FTA Ratings War.
This would be one of Smartest Things that ABC has done..
I think it’s a good thing, there are still questions as what happens over night and the HD issue but as for the time zones IMO it should be like SkyNews and ignore them, run a ticker at the bottom with the different times and other news/weather.
Angelos Frangopoulos is one jealous man…
Many questions still in the air about this channel. Its pretty exciting.
This would be controversial, but I think a good way to make this channel work well is for the government to allow ABC4 to run commercial advertising.
This would help fund the news network’s operations and allow for more quality news gathering. Allowing SBS style advertising on ABC4 would see the network operate in a way the likes of major news nets like CNN/BBC World do. It would also mean resources would not be drawn away from other ABC media if the government of the day decided to cut funding.