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ABC backflips on national Sunday bulletin plan, retains state-based news.

"After listening to audience feedback, it is clear that there are some members of the Australian public who continue to rely on the local Sunday night state bulletin."

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ABC has reversed a decision to dump its Sunday nght state bulletins following audience feedback.

In June ABC announced plans for a single national bulletin on Sundays as part of a Five Year Plan towards a digital future.

In a note to staff managing director David Anderson said, “After listening to audience feedback, it is clear that there are some members of the Australian public who continue to rely on the local Sunday night state bulletin.

“As a result, we will not be proceeding with this current proposal. The ABC intends to proceed with all other proposals and initiatives announced in June.”

In June also announced digital-first Stateline to be broadcast on Friday nights as part of an extended 40 minute bulletin, produced out of state and territory newsrooms and anchored by local 7pm presenters.

He continued, “The ABC’s Five-Year Plan is about preparing for a future where a majority of our audience will access the ABC through its digital services such as ABC iview, ABC News and ABC Listen.

“As audiences of every demographic continue to move to primarily consuming ABC News content via digital platforms, we will continue to adjust our efforts and resources to meet their needs. This will require us to identify more savings for further reinvestment over the course of the Five-Year Plan.

All media organisations, at home and overseas, public and commercial, are adapting to rapid change driven by developments in technology and evolving audience behaviour.

“The ABC is fully committed to maintaining traditional broadcasting services for as long as they are essential to keep all Australians informed and entertained. We are dedicated to local news and passionate about its value to communities across the country – including in many areas where commercial media is in retreat. Our commitment to provide local news services across broadcast and digital platforms is unmatched.”

13 Responses

  1. I watch ABC24 by choice as I would rather have news from across Australia. Unfortunately it is often about Sydney crime or road accidents which have no interest for me in the slightest.
    Vic news is also filled with accidents or crime, generally a lack of substantial news of any sort.
    I can’t understand why weekend ABC news rates so well, as it usually has a ‘special report’ which is obviously packaged during the week, and a scarcity of other interesting news.

  2. There seems to be a whiff of ‘digital means cheap’. Could that be any more wrong-headed? Regardless of which delivery system we use to access ‘our’ ABC, money still has to be spent on putting together a well produced and well-resourced bulletin that is appropriate for each state and territory.

  3. The fact Anderson and Stevens thought the national bulletin was acceptable shows how little they understand the role of the ABC in states that aren’t NSW. ABC News is already too Sydney centric and the generic national story filler that is becoming more and more common in the 7pm is irrelevant and terribly boring. The ABC’s biggest strength is localism yet they seem intent on walking away from serious state coverage for generalist national content and cheap and dull US politics content.

  4. … glad to see that bit of silliness is over (until the next time anyway), but it does starkly expose the thinking coming from the news department Ultimo bunker … I will be watching (popcorn in hand) when they try to start moving people to Parramatta …

  5. If only 10 would do this too. I am sure 10 Brisbane’s ratings would rise if we had a state based bulletin. Sandra doesn’t cut it anymore.

  7. I have no issue at all with state-agnostic bulletins, but not on the main channels around the country. Leave it for Ch. 24. Glad common sense has prevailed.

  9. From this backflip, it appears the ABC didn’t know or hadn’t read its audience in the first place. This fracas could have been avoided if they knew how much the Sunday local 7pm bulletin means to their viewers, or at least did some focus groups/put feelers out, rather than just make the decision. There was a hardline explanation repeated again and again on the justification and that’s final. Glad to see management listened to viewer feedback.

  10. There’s already a ‘national’ News bulletin at 7pm on ABCNews for those who want a more ‘national’ bulletin, as opposed to, say, the NSW bulletin with the daily drive-by shootings in south-west Sydney, drug busts in south-west Sydney, and state politics of little interest to most.

  12. I posted at the time of the original announcement that it struck me as odd that the one night they decided to delete the local news is Sunday which appears to be the highest rating night. ABC skews to the older demographic of course so deleting the Friday or Saturday edition may be more noticeable than for nine or seven news but it still seemed an odd choice to me. Probably Saturday is a better choice.

    1. I believe it’s important to have state and regional bulletins at the least, as there are state and territory based issues. The legislations are also different and there are slight variations. One terminology will be something else in another state or territory.

      Then there is the familiarity of these bulletins from decades ago. We still use some old documents to rely upon educational concepts. Things shouldn’t be decommissioned unless it’s absolutely necessary.

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