ABC and SBS

Overview

This page looks at Australian public sector broadcasters - the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).

It covers -

• introduction
• the bodies
• Radio Australia
• studies
• other national networks

Introduction

As discussed elsewhere on this site, Australia has a mixed broadcasting sector that embraces -

• commercial broadcasters (with most stations owned by a handful of operators), often with an Australia-wide presence
• two public sector broadcasters (ie owned and substantially funded by the national government), operating across Australia
• a handful of community broadcasters (aimed at audiences ostensibly not addressed by the networks), restricted to particular locales and with what the networks would consider derisory market shares.

Public sector broadcasting in Australia was initially based on the UK model articulated by Lord Reith but came to reflect Australia's different circumstances, with for example an emphasis on delivery of popular and elite content to remote/regional Australia and a shift to funding through general revenue (drawn from income tax) rather than a user licence fee.

The expectation was that the public sector would provide quality programming on a national basis (in contrast to commercial competitors which initially addressed parochial markets) and, although state-funded, would be independent of the government of the day.

It embodied what has been characterised as the 'Australian Settlement' (a consensus regarding the role of the state in market intervention, infrastructure development and service development), eroded by deregulation, generational change and globalisation during the 1990s. During the past decade the ABC and its offshoot the SBS, like overseas counterparts, have been under pressure to square the circle by -

• achieving significantly greater ratings (eg higher than the usual 1% to 6% market share) without sacrificing quality
• offering innovative or challenging programming that because of its non-commercial nature is unlikely to be featured on the commercial networks
• presenting a face to Australia's neighbours that is independent of the government of the day, provides high quality and fearless reportage of overseas developments/cultures but respects the sensitivities of foreign politicians and other individuals or organisations
• continuing to deliver full levels of programming to all Australians, in particular those in regional/remote localities where commercial networks have reduced local content
• undertaking new initiatives such as major online activity
• reducing demands on general revenue through recourse to merchandising (eg ABC Shops) and advertising, albeit not in a way that provides substantial competition for other content producers and retailers
• embodying a responsiveness to community demands and expectations that is not expected of commercial broadcasters.

The bodies

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) are independent Commonwealth statutory authorities established under the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 and the Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991. The SBS it not related to Scandinavian broadcaster SBS, profiled elsewhere on this site.

Both provide a national radio and television network in competition with commercial broadcasters such as Packer's Nine Network and the DMG and APN radio networks.

The ABC operates one free-to-air television channel in each state capital city and regional reception area, with a network of about 600 transmitters. It has four national radio networks with around 650 transmitters and 39 regional radio stations.

It also operates a chain of retailing outlets (24 discrete ABC shops and 119 'ABC centres' within independent retailers) known as ABC Enterprises. Operations include the production of books, classical and contemporary music recordings, videos, multimedia, music and magazine publishing.

It was formerly responsible for several symphony orchestras.

The organisation dates from the 1920s, when successive Royal Commissions rejected suggestions for creation of a federal government broadcasting monopoly but supported the notion of a BBC-style noncommercial national broadcaster.

It was formally established in 1932 by the Australian Broadcasting Commission Act, which provided for a national broadcaster (the ABC, with 12 stations) and commercial broadcasters (with 43 stations, some of which were owned by or affiliated with print media groups such as Fairfax).

The Commission was closely modelled on the British Broadcasting Commission, including the requirement that early radio announcers wear dinner jackets when reading the news. Like the BBC it is struggling with divergent demands for services and reduced funding, although most works on its history suggest that it's been 'in crisis' for several decades.

The SBS was initially established in the mid-1970s as a multicultural radio broadcaster (formally established in 1978 after escaping from the ABC) but has increasingly escaped from that straitjacket. SBS television began broadcasting in 1980.

SBS currently broadcasts in 68 languages and has proved to be more entrepreneurial than the ABC, with for example overseas partnerships and subtitling services. SBS Independent (SBSI), created in 1994, has been at the forefront of local film/television productions by independent Australian film-makers.

The federal Government determines the level of Budget funding for both organisations but has no formal editorial or programming responsibility. Funding is provided on a triennial basis.

In 1998-99 the ABC received around $507 million in Commonwealth funding. The SBS received around $87 million from the Commonwealth, with a further $12 million from advertising. The legislation prohibits the ABC from accepting advertising on its domestic broadcasting services.

The role and function of the two organisations are identified in their respective Charters, which form part of the legislation. Both are accountable to the Parliament through Annual Reports, Corporate Plans and appearances before Parliamentary Committees.

David Marr quipped of Shier that

He couldn't hold his temper; he couldn't keep executives; he couldn't explain his plans; his restructure was unworkable; he ran up huge bills for redundancies; and audiences drifted away. Yet Shier hung onto his job for 18 months because he offered Canberra - and sections of the board - the El Dorado of change.

Radio Australia

Australia's first overseas broadcasting service began in 1939 as support for the BBC's External Service in counteracting enemy propaganda. It was initially managed by the Department of Information, by the ABC from 1942 to 1944, and then by the Department of Information.

In 1950 responsibility returned to the ABC. The Menzies Government adopted the UK model of a broadcaster independent of direct government control, in contrast to the US 'Voice of America', and Radio Australia (RA) was thus established as an administrative unit of the ABC rather than as a discrete body.

That arm's length relationship frequently satisfied neither the ABC (concerned about ungenerous funding and responsibility) nor what became the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (with expectations that ABC managers and journalists would be more sensitive to its needs). RA programming was based on domestic broadcasts, with special content for South-east Asia and the Western Pacific. As with the BBC Foreign Srvice, a 'liaison officer' from the Department of External Affairs worked with ABC editorial staff on early RA programs.

In 1975 the Whitlam Government established an independent inquiry into Radio Australia, the 'Waller Inquiry', which recommended that the ABC retain responsibility for RA on a statutory basis and that funding be increased for enhancement of RA facilities. The report was not greeted with enthusiasm, unsurprising given the often fraught relations between the ABC and the Fraser government, and inaction resulted in similar recommendations in the 1981 report by the Committee of Review of the ABC (Dix Report).

Studies

The ABC site offers access to its annual reports, strategic plans, inquiry submissions and other documents. Ken Inglis' This is the ABC (Melbourne: Melbourne Uni Press 1984) is invaluable but reflects its origins as an official history of the national broadcaster. It has been supplemented by his unofficial Whose ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation 1983-2006 (Melbourne: Black Inc 2006). This is the ABC was reissued as This is the ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Commission 1932-1983 (Melbourne: Black Inc 2006). Alan Thomas' Broadcast & Be Damned: The ABC's First Two Decades (Melbourne: Oxford Uni Press 1980) is a quasi-official history.

For ABC radio three studies are valuable: The Unseen Voice: A Cultural Study of Early Australian Radio (London: Routledge 1988) by Lesley Johnson, Radio in Australia (Kensington: UNSW Press 1989) by John Potts and the more popular Out of the Bakelite Box: The Heyday of Australian Radio (Sydney: Angus & Robertson 1990).

Quentin Dempster's Death Struggle: How Political Malice & Boardroom Powerplays Are Killing The ABC (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin 2000) is a journalist's account from inside the bunker. Strong on personalties, weak on historical perspective - all national broadcasters are subject to malice and frisky boards - and the changing shape of broadcasting (public or otherwise) in Australia and overseas.

Glyn Davis' Breaking Up the ABC (Sydney: Allen & Unwin 1988) and Save Our ABC (South Melbourne, Hyland House 1996) edited by Morag Fraser are more convincing than Clement Semmler's grumpy The ABC - Aunt Sally & Sacred Cow (Carlton: Melbourne Uni Press 1981). Frank Dixon's Inside the ABC: A Piece of Australian History (Melbourne: Hawthorn Press 1975), Richard Harding's Outside Interference: The Politics of Australian Broadcasting (Melbourne: Sun Books 1979) and Julie Lewis's On Air: The Story of Catherine King and the ABC Women's Session (Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press 1979) demonstrate that criticism of 'declining standards' and politicisation has been a feature of the ABC's history since its establishment.

For that wider perspective - ultimately more useful in understanding the organisation's operation and future - we recommend Jock Given's thoughtful The Death of Broadcasting (Sydney: Uni of NSW Press 1999), Trevor Barr's Newmedia.com.au: The Changing Face of Australia's Media & Communications (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin 2000) and Public Voices, Private Interests: Australia's Media Policy (Sydney: Allen & Unwin 1995) edited by Jennifer Craik & Albert Moran.

AFR journalist Mark Westfield's blow by blow account in The Gatekeepers: The Global Media Battle to control Australia's Pay TV (Annandale: Pluto Press 2000) is of value in understanding the interaction between politicians, bureaucrats, business, consumers and technology.

Among accounts by ABC staff Tom Molomby's Is There A Moderate On The Roof? (Melbourne: Heineman 1991), Inside the ABC (Ringwood: Penguin 1988) by former CEO Geoffrey Whitehead and The Things You Learn Along The Way (Melbourne: David Lovell 1999) by John Menadue. Bloodbath: A memoir of Australian television (Carlton: Melbourne Uni Publishing 2006) by Patricia Edgar is of value.

Errol Hodge's Radio Wars: Truth, Propaganda & the Struggle for Radio Australia (Melbourne: Cambridge Uni Press 1995) deals with the 'overseas service'. Studies of the BBC's overseas activity, noted below, are a useful point of reference. Australian Television & International Mediascapes (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni Press 1996) by Stuart Cunningham & Elizabeth Jacka asks is there an Australian 'style' and can we export it?

There is a global perspective in Michael Tracey's Decline and Fall of Public Service Broadcasting (New York: Oxford Uni Press 1998) and Eva Etzioni-Halevy's National Broadcasting Under Siege: A Comparative Study of Australia, Britain, Israel & West Germany (Basingstoke: Macmillan 1987).

Other state networks

This site features separate profiles on -

• BBC - United Kingdom
• TVNZ & RNZ - New Zealand
• CBC - Canada
• MCS - Singapore
• NHK - Japan
• PBS - USA