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ABC promises new Melbourne TV studio

The ABC has committed to a new studio at its redeveloped Melbourne home, rejecting fears that the new premises would be without a working studio.

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The ABC has committed to a television production studio at its redeveloped Southbank home in Melbourne, rejecting fears that the new premises would be without a working studio.

Yesterday Managing Director Mark Scott advised staff the ABC Board had approved funding for the extentions to its existing Southbank home. The redevlopment will be built at the rear of the current building on property the ABC currently uses for car parking. It will bring together staff and productions from its historic TV home at Elsternwick.

“The new facility in Melbourne will include a large television production studio. As is the case now with our existing Melbourne operation in Gordon Street, the new studio will be utilised for both internal productions and co-productions as well as external hire. The precise size and required studio fit out will be considered as part of the planning process,” Scott advised staff via email.

Fundamental to the development is ABC’s commitment to a mixed television production model, “where we make programs, produce them in partnership with the independent sector and acquire other programs to meet our Charter obligations and fully engage our audiences,” he wrote.

“There is no doubt that the structure of the television industry is changing. Multi-channelling and online content are creating more options for audiences and the cost of meeting the increasing demand with finite budgets is causing pressure everywhere. Key funding support from agencies like Screen Australia and State bodies as well as access to other production incentives like the producer offset in expensive genres like drama and documentary is only available when we work in partnership with independent producers.

“Every year the Television division has to make programming decisions based on scheduling requirements, the audience response to current offerings, competition for acquisitions and access to creative talent, production partners and finance. These decisions will continue to be made, but I am mindful of the importance of communicating with staff in the Television and Resources divisions about our planning for the mix of internal and external production. ”

Recently unions have raised concerns about the ongoing production output by the public broadcaster. But while Scott says Melbourne will remain a major hub for ABC television it isn’t clear what, if any, role will be played by the Elsternwick studios.

“The Gordon Street facilities date back to the origins of television in Australia and have been home to many of the ABC’s most memorable productions, from Countdown and Seachange, to Spicks and Specks and Adam Hills in Gordon Street, whose live show has made the location famous.”

ABC Staff in Brisbane will also be located together when a new building is completed at the end of the year, following issues with a rise in cancer amongst staff from other locations.

8 Responses

  1. @budda sounds like he’s had a sip of the Ultimo “Kool Aid”.

    It’s not the buildings that define the ABC it’s the people that work in it.

    To pay for the extra studio at Southbank technical positions in states outside Sydney are going to be cut back and career advancement opportunities for the remaining restricted.

    News24 budget blowouts have also contributed to this as well.

  3. Of course Melbourne ABC needs a central, state of the art studio – to be used by independent producers for entertainment and drama and whatever else. It’s been a long tome coming. Any detractors need to get over themselves. The Perth studio is dark because it’s too far away to do any larger scale productions – whoever thought otherwise was deluded.

  4. Maybe the cleaners can have their cupboards back once this gets built. At worst it could be used for curent Southbank productions. Maybe Hendo could swing a cat as he throws to Paul Higgins for the weather.

  5. When I think about what they actually use the larger size studios for at Ultimo and currently in Elsternwick to produce as the ABC, I can’t see why they’d need to have a large studio in Melbourne at all – let alone all the full time staff to man it.
    Even allowing for external hire I’d be surprised if there was much going on in their NSW or VIC studios currently.
    Then you have to look at what is available for hire in each city at the moment. In Sydney the 2 new studios that Global recently built alongside Seven’s 2 drama studios are reputed to be dark most of the time. Fox can cater for “scale” shows such as X Factor and other shows inc Master Chef are shot in warehouses or theatres. In Melbourne the production community is served by Global as well as Docklands (when “scale” is required).
    So what will ABC build? 700-800 Sq Mtr studios are large studios – but not large enough for “scale” productions.
    As a taxpayer, I’m concerned that the ABC may be building a studio which might be dark a lot of the time, like the Perth one. Again, as a taxpayer, I’m also concerned at the numbers of full time production and technical staff employed to service them.
    The ABC is renowned in the wider industry for over-staffing productions over long periods of time. Global (and the production companies now servicing the commercial networks’ needs) manage to create classy, technically superb shows up to event status regularly without the need to have a large full time back of house staff. Much as we may not like it and miss the fun of TV in the good old days, crewing by “run of show” is the industry norm now and into the future, as it has been overseas for many years past. Most networks here and overseas are or have already moved to the “publisher/broadcaster” model.
    The ABC can’t fight the trend simply to appease internal unions, time servers and “Friends of the ABC” elitists. I’d rather see the money saved spent on a new on-going drama series or something on-going in light entertainment (in addition to – not just a replacement for Spicks).
    On the big picture of this one, I reckon time will prove that Kim Dalton’s desired out-sourcing model is correct and Mark Scott has mis-calculated. Sadly, it may be an expensive lesson.

  6. They say they will build it, they did in Perth, and it has no equipment and now has very little use. It would have to be built with high definition equipment to be considered future proofed, and does the ABC have the money for that ?

  8. Seems like a sensible plan. Hope the TV extensions at Southbank will eventually mean a new set to replace the dreary, boring and old-fashiioned setting for Insiders including the dreadful collection of St Vinnies-style bric-a-brac that litters the set at the moment. Would be great to have a set that has a real-time skyline background, not the outdated blown up photographs now in use.

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