The Business of Radio

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CELEBRATING RADIO | WORLD RADIO DAY 2016 | 21
BROADCASTERS | THE BUSINESS OF RADIO
ABC RADIO
KEY CONTACT INFORMATION
MICHAEL MASON
Director, ABC Radio
ABC RADIO
ABC Radio
ABC, 700 Harris St, Ultimo
NSW 2007 Australia
+61 2 8333 1500
SERVICES
• ABC Local Radio – 8 metropolitan stations in: Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart and
Canberra, providing localised news, information,
emergency coverage and entertainment to communities
throughout Australia.
• Three national networks—Radio National (the Ideas
Network), ABC Classic FM (Classical Music) and triple j
(youth audiences) —each providing distinctive specialised
content to audiences
• ABC News Radio - Australia's only national, continuous
radio news network
• DAB+ digital radio services Double J, triple j Unearthed,
ABC Jazz, ABC Country, ABC Grandstand and ABC Extra
(pop up special events service)
• ABC Classic 2 - an online stream of classical music
performed by Australian musicians
• Accompanying websites for each service providing
further opportunity for audiences to interact with the
content, with the ABC and with each other and an
extensive range of podcasts and downloads each week
• Online streaming of 25 services to date
• A total of 19 radio services available on the ABC Radio
Player (ioS and Android), and individual apps for triple j and
triple j Unearthed
The ABC’s network of regional radio stations is managed
by ABC Regional (see separate entry).
PROFILE
ABC Radio is a suite of distinctive
services that provides a balance of
programming of wide appeal and
specialist content consistent with
ABC Charter responsibilities.
Content is broadcast and published
on analogue and digital radio,
online, on mobile, through social
media and on free to air and
subscription digital television.
As a public service broadcaster,
ABC Radio is bound by its
obligations to the ABC Charter. The
Charter has a responsibility to:
•provide content of broad and
specialist appeal
•provide relevant and innovative
content that reflects Australia’s
national identity and cultural
diversity
• engage audiences on multiple
platforms and in multiple formats.
ABC Radio employs 700 staff
located across eight capital cities to
produce 166,000 hours of first run
content per year across 19 analogue,
digital and online platforms available
to 99% of the Australian population.
There is a focus on local and national
content to appeal to and reflect
both metro and national audiences.
ABC Radio is unique in
Australian broadcasting and
delivers the following to Australian
communities:
•Australian content, with
emphasis on Australian music and
emerging Australian artists;
•Genuine local content from our
cities and communities
•Specialist content—e.g. the arts
and music, sport, rural and
regional, Indigenous, science,
religion and history
•Emergency coverage through
ABC Local Radio, associated websites
and the ABC Emergency portal
•Community participation and
support especially through
recovery and restoration phases
following crises
•Multiple platforms on which
users can choose to access the
distinctive range of ABC content;
and
•Opportunities for audience
interaction and collaboration with,
and contribution to, all ABC Radio
services.
Language and target
English for Australia
Audience figures
ABC Radio services are heard
by 4.8 million listeners per
week across the five capital
cities that are included in
ratings provider GfK’s data.
(40% of Australia’s population
live outside of the five capital
cities and are not surveyed).
Other key facts
• Founded in 1932
• Funded by government tax
• 700 staff in ABC Radio in all
major Australian cities