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“It’s incredibly important “: stars back ABC in new promo

Some of TV's biggest names lend star power to a new promo backing ABC independence when it is under siege.

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Stars including Claudia Karvan, Rove McManus, Jimmy Barnes, Sam Neill, Justine Clarke and Tim Minchin have lent star power to a new promo for the ABC.

The promo features Guy Pearce, Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross, Warwick Thornton and Elaine Crombie championing ABC’s independence, creativity and cultural significance at a time when the public broadcaster has been under siege.

“There’s a great honesty to the ABC,” says Tim Ross.

“It does it’s job really well,” Sam Neill adds.

“It feels like it’s part of the fabric of my life,” Rove McManus reveals.

Promos have been rolling out on air and online with a hashtag #abcyours. The broadcaster is currently facing funding freezes, and at least two reviews into its efficiency and competitive neutrality.

“It’s incredibly important that we can have one source that we can rely on,” says Sam Neill.

“It’s a recognisable place,” Claudia Karvan adds. “It’s a place that’s been there since my childhood.”

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  2. Looks like we’re going to be bombarded with this 100% fake scare campaign right through to May 2019.

    There is no LNP plan to sell the ABC, or even change its charter. Sure, there was a brain-fart from a few stupid Young Liberals (Abbot/Credlin fanboys, no doubt) a few months ago – but their statement was and remains completely unconnected to LNP policy. Undeterred by facts, the ALP has been gleefully running this lie ever since.

    1. Except the facts are:

      – Nationally the coordinating body of the Liberal Party is the Federal Council, responsible for the Party’s Federal Platform. Its views are not binding on the Parliamentary party, but do carry considerable weight as the stated position of the organisation on policy issues.
      – At the 2018 Federal Council meeting, the Young Libs presented a motion “That federal council calls for the full privatisation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, except for services into regional areas that are not commercially viable”.
      – The motion was voted on & passed by at least a 2/3 majority (including senior current Parliamentary Party members, not just Young Libs/fanboy backbenchers).

      Although the Parliamentary Party claims there are no “current plans” to do so, the fact is that privatising the ABC is official Federal Liberal Party policy…

  3. I saw another version of this last night – which included some great historical ABC footage, including its opening night and a host of classic shows mixed in with grabs from most celebs shown in the video in the above article.

    Best TV promo for years.

    I’ve completed a quick YouTube/Google search but cannot find it.

    1. Yes I saw that last night too. There was an historical shot of a Fernseh B&W camera that I’m sure comes from a TCN9 show-reel as I don’t recall the ABC having any Fernseh cameras in the early days.

      1. You are correct ABC never had any Fernseh cameras. Only TCN9 had the German-made cameras, replaced (later in one studio by Marconi, giving the OB van a 4th camera, the Toyota ENG van one, and one spare.).

  4. It’s a nice promo, but there is nobody surprising in there. All ABC darlings, with the possible exception of Jimmy Barnes. They should be going after more surprising stars to put the word in, eg, more commercial stars who we may not have known are big ABC fans. What about Eddie McGuire who’s about to produce Invictus Games? Start with him!

  5. They are for everyone for but they need to stop getting the same inner-city elites on all their panel shows and start diversifying contributor voices in their panel shows and commentary spots. Q&A sort of gets the balance right but The Drum and others seem too skewed to the left wing view of the world. The entertainment and children’s offerings have always been the best on tv IMO, same with news content like Four Corners, 7.30 and Foreign Correspondent.

    1. > “They are for everyone for but they need to stop getting the same inner-city elites on all their panel shows and start diversifying contributor voices in their panel shows and commentary spots.”

      I understand the sentiment, but … well, why pick on the ABC for that? They already do what you want, to a much greater extent than any other network, and as far as is possible with shrinking funding.

      If you were really serious about that – and not just using it as an excuse to insert a bit of “elitist Lefty ABC” bashing – you’d be demanding that the commercial networks match the ABC’s efforts, and screaming for the government to *increase* the ABC’s budget allocation, not cripple it…

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