Australian 24 hour news channel, the ABC News Channel, has marked a decade on their since its launch as ABC News 24 prior to Australia’s 2010 election.
The channel was fully funded out of efficiencies made within the ABC and received no additional funding, and from the start, the continuous news channel proved it was able to meet a tight deadline.
“When the channel was announced in January 2010 the start date was planned to coincide with the next federal election, then expected in October,” says ABC Director News Gaven Morris.
“But when Kevin Rudd was deposed, and new PM Julia Gillard quickly moved to an early election, we suddenly had a very tight deadline – three months earlier than we’d been planning for.
“Nevertheless, the launch went without a hitch.”
During this year’s Black Summer of bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences people have turned to the News Channel in record numbers, as well as seeking it out on iview, the ABC News site and app or via YouTube or other social platforms.
In 2020 year to date News Channel is reaching more than 4 million Australians every week (metro and regional) with a metro daytime share of 5.4%. (Source: OzTAM (5 City Metro) and RegionalTAM (Combined Agg Markets)
“The great coverage of these major stories is a testament to the News Channel team and also the ABC’s State, regional, national and international news teams,” says Morris.
“On a daily basis, the News Channel is a showcase of our best reporting. It now has a central place in the news experience for so many Australians and is integral to our ability to offer audiences continuous coverage of breaking news and major events – both as a live stream and increasingly for on-demand video.”
News Channel also produces specialist shows including The Drum, which has led the way in bringing audiences a program that looks and sounds like modern Australia, arts program The Mix, US politics wrap Planet America and interview series One Plus One.
Looking to the future, it is now the hub of creating and curating the ABC’s video news, so audiences can access quality up-to-the-minute news services on all the digital and social platforms they use. This includes the video explainers led by journalists such as Casey Briggs and Jeremy Fernandez which go in-depth explaining complex issues and topics.
“I’m very proud of what the News Channel has grown into: A trusted source of breaking news and analysis that focuses on facts and leaves the opinions to others,” says Morris.
“A very big thank you to everybody who has been involved with the channel over the past 10 years and to all our viewers who have made it such a success story and a foundation stone of news and public affairs in Australia.”