Content Plan 2020-22 - about.abc.net.au€¦ · hosting conversations that matter, delivering...
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Content Plan 2020-22
Transcript of Content Plan 2020-22 - about.abc.net.au€¦ · hosting conversations that matter, delivering...
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Right: Yumi StynesCover (L-R):
Aaron Pedersen in Mystery Road 2
(Bunya Productions. Photo David Dare Parker.);
Annabel Crabb; Anh Do hosts Anh's Brush With Fame
(A Screentime production. Photo Luke Cameron.);
and Virginia Trioli
ContentsOpening statement 3
Who, why and how 4
The changing landscape 7
Our ongoing purpose 10
Priorities for 2020-22 16
Our content 22
What we value and how we work 70
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Opening statementThe ABC is one of the nation’s most trusted1, important and valued institutions. We are integral to Australians, with our television, radio and digital services a constant companion to many.
The values that have been at the heart of the ABC since 1932 – outstanding journalism, hosting conversations that matter, delivering compelling content that is distinctive, high-quality and Australian – ensures the ABC will remain strong, relevant and essential to future generations.
Although the media landscape has changed significantly since the ABC was founded, our purpose and the community’s need for public broadcasting services continue. We connect Australians wherever they are. We unite them in moments that matter and offer solace and observation in times of sadness. In times of crisis, we provide a lifeline. We proudly celebrate Australian people and moments. Through our international services, we present a uniquely Australian perspective to the world and promote Australian values and culture.
This Content Plan sets out our creative ambitions for the next three years. It articulates how we will deliver services for all Australians and make distinctive content with impact. It shows how we will build and reflect our cultural identity by looking and sounding like contemporary Australia, encouraging creativity and pushing boundaries in the way we tell stories.
1 Source: ABC Corporate Tracking Study, 2017-18; Roy Morgan State of the Nation 31 – Media Report August 2019
As you read the Plan, you’ll see the depth and breadth of our programs and services. Join us as we share what it means to be Australian, from Conversations that profile amazing Australians, to the marine and animal life on and off our shores in Australia's Ocean Highway, from the solemnity of Anzac Day to the celebration of One Night Stand, from Mystery Road to travelling the Back Roads and investigating the issues and covering the stories that matter to you.
The ABC is accessible, bold, creative and we are Yours, Australia
Gaven Morris Director of News
Judith Whelan Director of Regional & Local
Michael Carrington Director of Entertainment & Specialist
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Who we areWe are the independent source of conversations, culture &stories for all Australians.
Left: Shaun Micallef hosts Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell (An ITV Studios Australia and Giant Baby production)
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Why we existSince 1932 we’ve told stories, sparked discussions and delivered experiences guided by the principles enshrined in our Charter.
These are to:
• be independent and innovative• be widely appealing
and specialised• inform, entertain and educate• encourage and promote the
performing arts in Australia • contribute to a sense of
national identity• reflect the cultural diversity
of the Australian community• encourage an international
understanding of Australia.Right: Jemima from Play School
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How we do itWe speak with honesty, without fear or favour. We are bold and courageous, ambitious and accessible. We are Yours, Australia.
Left: Dandrogyny in You Can’t Ask That
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The changing landscapeSince 1932, Australia has changed significantly, and we've evolved with it. From a single radio service, the ABC now operates from 56 Australian and 11 international locations to deliver 11 national radio networks, local radio services across Australia, four national TV channels, international services for radio and TV and a variety of digital services including ABC News, ABC iview, ABC listen and ABC Life. This evolution will continue as we respond to changes in Australia's population, the way people engage with media and the broader media landscape.
Left: Costa Georgiadis
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A growing and diverse populationAustralia’s population2 is:
• growing – It’s already grown by 3.7 million people in the past 10 years to 25 million and is forecast to grow to 29.9 million people by 2030.
• increasingly diverse – 26% of Australians (>6 million people) are born overseas, 2.8% identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and 21% of Australians speak a language other than English at home (with Mandarin the most common).
• spreading into the outer suburbs – By 2056 it’s projected that in our capital cities, the outer suburban population will have more than doubled (with modest growth in other areas).
This means:
• there are more people to reach.
• we have to form new relationships with people who haven’t traditionally grown up with the ABC.
• we’ll need to continually evolve to be relevant and accessible to the changing make-up of Australia.
2 Source: Population Projections Series B ABS Nov 2018; Population ABS Dec 2018, 2008
Left: Dalara Williams in Black Comedy (A Scarlett Pictures production. Photo Kelly Gardner.)
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The explosion of technologyHow Australians source media is becoming increasingly digital and on demand with:
• broadcast usage flat or declining – While still the ABC’s broadest reaching platform, since 2016 ABC TV usage has declined (from reaching 54% of Australians each week to 46%). Since 2017 ABC Radio stations have seen time spent listening decline by 5.6%.3
• digital devices and usage up – In 2019 there are on average 17 digital media devices in each Australian household (up 25% from 2017)4 and 31% (up from 20% in 2016) of Australians access the ABC weekly via our apps and websites.5
• on demand media now mass – 76% of Australians claim to use a video on demand (VOD) service weekly (up from 68% in 2018), Apple News is used by 25% of Australians (~6 million people) each month (with ABC the #1 News provider on it) and 16% of Australian households own a smart speaker (up 191% YOY).6
This means:
• we have to develop, commission, produce and distribute content in ways that work for audiences and how they use an increasing number of broadcast and digital platforms. We need to be where they are as well as building strong distribution channels of our own.
• there are new ways to tell stories and reach Australians based on the technology they use. We need to explore this while balancing opportunity and long term value.
3 Source: OzTam – 5 City Metro Reach (%), 2016; GFK 24HR 5 City Nets + DAB (2017 – 2019) – Total ABC Radio Combined, 20194 Source: Telsyte Australian Digital Consumer Study, 20195 Source: ABC Corporate Tracking Study, August 20196 Source: ABC Video on Demand Study (claimed usage), 2019; Telsyte Digital Consumer Study, 20197 Source: ABC Video on Demand Study; Nielsen Digital Content Ratings, Jan-June 2019;
Nielsen DCR Monthly Total, Ppl 2+, based on Jan-July 2019 month avg, 2019.
Media globalisation and fragmentationHow Australians source content is becoming more fragmented and global with:
• more global media players going directly to Australian audiences every year – This includes Google, Facebook, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Apple and Disney.
• Australians using these global platforms in increasing numbers – In 2019, 43% of Australians claim to use Netflix each week and Australians 18–24 spend on average 48 minutes per day on YouTube. Both Facebook and YouTube reach 71% of the Australian population each month, with Google’s reaching 80%.7
This means:
• we need to be distinctive and compelling to reach and engage with people.
• to allow people to find and engage with our content we’ll need an increased focus on building content relationships and brands.
• our purpose in contributing to ‘a sense of national identity’, being a ‘source of independent Australian stories’ and ‘supporting the Australian media production sector’ is more important than ever.
Below: Sarah Ferguson
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Although the landscape has changed significantly, the ABC’s purpose and the community’s need for public broadcasting services remains essential.
Over the next 3 years, we will continue to: Inform – by helping people stay up-to-date, understand and act on the stories that matter to them.
Entertain – in ways that are distinctive, relatable and uniquely Australian.
Educate, inspire and explain – by exploring the world we live in and our place in it.
Make a difference – by promoting positive change for individuals and society as a whole.
Connect the nation – by celebrating and reflecting on the things that bring us together.
Our ongoing purpose
Left: Antony Green
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InformWe’ll help people stay up-to-date, understand and act on the stories that matter to them by:
• working with people and communities to identify and share the stories, concerns and topics that matter to them
• objectively reporting on issues and events as they happen, focusing on stories that are vital for strong communities and a healthy democratic society
• investigating and surfacing injustice and holding institutions and organisations to account
• helping people understand why stories are important and what they mean
• hosting diverse opinion and healthy debate.
For example:
More outer metropolitan coverageIn 2020 ABC News is sharpening its focus on serving Australians who live in outer metropolitan areas. We have already embedded our teams in areas as diverse as Tarneit and Box Hill (VIC), Sunnybank (QLD) and Mandurah (WA) to raise the issues that matter most to those communities. As part of this we will be expanding our bureau in Parramatta (NSW) to ensure we have the broadest range of issues and perspectives represented in our news.
US ElectionThe 2020 US Election will be keenly watched around the globe. Election coverage is one of the ABC’s key strengths and serves a broad audience across all our touchpoints. We’ll make sense of the result for all Australians through key insights from our Washington Bureau, the ABC’s chief elections analyst Antony Green and the team from Planet America.
Big Weather (and how to survive it)This is an unmissable series hosted by Craig Reucassel. Craig answers the big questions; how have extreme weather events shaped our nation’s story? Why are these events becoming less predictable and more intense? And what can ordinary Australians do to adapt, survive and thrive into the future? The series embeds on the frontlines, showcasing the warmth, humour, resilience and experiences of Australian communities and emergency services personnel who are confronted by bushfires, floods and cyclones.
triple j Hack Hack is the ABC’s news and issues program for young Australians (18–24s), with a daily radio program and digital content made especially for young audiences. Hack is focused on the stories that matter to young people’s lives, so talks about sex, drugs and mental health as often as it discusses politics and economics. The show has a strong social media presence and experiments with new content forms on platforms such as Instagram stories. The program combines with The triple j News bulletin and The Hook Up sex & relationships content to provide comprehensive talk and written content for the millions of young Australians engaging with triple j every week.
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EntertainWe’ll entertain in ways that are distinctive, relatable and uniquely Australian by:
• creating compelling, authentic and relatable drama, comedy and entertainment
• making people feel, laugh and cry
• enriching people’s lives through music and art
• discovering, promoting and celebrating Australian artists, musicians and creators
• exploring new ways to tell and share stories made possible by our audience’s embrace of new technology.
For example:
StatelessA flagship drama that weaves together the stories of an unlikely detainee (Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale), a guard (Jai Courtney, Suicide Squad), a bureaucrat (Asher Keddie, The Cry) and an asylum seeker (Fayssal Bazzi, The Merger) to depict life in a remote detention centre and confront us with tough questions about Australia’s policies towards ‘unlawful non-citizens’. Also starring (and co-produced by) Academy Award®-winning actress Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok, Blue Jasmine), and Dominic West (The Affair, The Wire).
More Australian children’s contentIn 2020 ABC KIDS & ABC ME will feature more Australian titles! Breakout “Australian Made” series Bluey returns to audience acclaim with new episodes of the hilarious and heart-warming life in the Heeler family. Kangaroo Beach will premiere its first season introducing the junior lifesaving crew and Play School and Giggle & Hoot will return as firm favourites. Itch, Mustangs FC Series 3, 100% Wolf and Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors will expand older kids thinking with big global questions alongside the ups and downs of everyday life.
ABC Classic Beethoven 250 In 2020, the world will celebrate 250 years since the birth of the greatest musician in history; Ludwig Van Beethoven. ABC Classic will feature new live recordings from Australia’s best orchestras and ensembles across 2020, special live to air events and a weekly Beethoven program, which aims to play every piece of music that the composer ever wrote. It is a celebration of music, of passion, of creativity and of one person’s giant achievement in humanity.
New Year’s EveEach New Year’s Eve, the ABC brings the party to all Australians with a broadcast spectacular that showcases Australia’s brightest talent and culminates with coverage of one of the most spectacular New Year’s Eve firework displays broadcast to viewers around the world.
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Educate, inspire and explainWe’ll explore and explain the world we live in and our place in it by:
• helping make sense of the political, economic and social forces and trends changing our world
• giving carers and educators content that explains childhood development, stimulates learning experiences and enhances everyday life skills, underpinned by education curriculums and learning frameworks
• helping Australians share and enjoy the art, creativity and heritage that connects us
• covering developments and inspiring curiosity in science, health and technology and explaining how they’re relevant to our daily lives
• examining the ethical questions we face today and the diversity of Australian faiths and beliefs
• celebrating the people and cultures past, present and emerging, that shape us
• showcasing Australia’s unique landscapes, flora and fauna.
For example:
Dark EmuBased on his award-winning book, author Bruce Pascoe leads us on a revelatory and inspiring journey across Australia to present a very different history of our nation and the First Australians. This is a story you have never heard, facts you were never told. The true story of Aboriginal achievement. The First Australians as farmers, bakers, designers, traders and astronomers. This 2 x 1 hour series will redefine Aboriginal history and will present lessons from our past that can shape our future.
How Food WorksA 2 x 1 hour Catalyst special in April 2020. How Food Works is a unique blend of science and culture. In this series chef Paul West, Dr Nobby Leong and Professor Clare Collins uncover the latest research that will help you cook better and eat healthier – and may also save you money.
Reputation RehabReputation Rehab sees co-hosts Kirsten Drysdale and Zoe Norton Lodge find reputations in distress and provide a unique opportunity for transformation and redemption. We are living in an age of outrage culture and everyone is tired of it. Barely a week goes by without someone getting publicly crucified in a torrent of angry tweets, by opinion pieces, radio and TV punditry, for real or imagined mistakes.
This series is a timely response to the culture everyone wants to change. It tackles shame head-on and breaks the outrage cycle by using comedy and empathy. Steeped in the conventions of reality TV, Reputation Rehab draws inspiration from scandals, personal failure and public humiliation.
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Make a differenceWe’ll promote positive change for individuals and society as a whole by:
• sparking national conversations on important issues and events that matter to audiences and communities
• helping people understand and respond to choices and challenges in their lives and their communities
• championing the diversity of Australian voices and opinion
• giving back to our communities.
For example:
The Australian DreamThe Australian Dream shares the inspirational story of AFL player Adam Goodes, while exploring broader themes of race, identity and belonging. In this screen documentary written by Stan Grant, Adam Goodes and those around him reflect on his personal journey, while asking deeper questions about racism in society and how we can reconcile our history to move forward together.
Shaun Micallef’s On the Sauce Shaun Micallef doesn’t get alcohol. Why would you drink something that robs you of your reason? He’s tried it, he doesn’t like it and now he is on a mission to understand Australia’s love affair with the sauce. This series is a dramatic snapshot of Australia’s cultural relationship with alcohol today. As he experiences the highs and lows of alcohol consumption, Shaun has his own revelations about our national pastime and how it’s changing rapidly, right under our noses. Shocking, surprising, and of course very funny – this is Shaun Micallef’s On the Sauce.
ABC HeywireFor 22 years, ABC Heywire has created a powerful launchpad for young regional Australians to be heard, to share their stories and initiate projects that strengthen their communities. This year ABC Heywire and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal will add a new grants round to the program to support Trailblazers, young people already making a difference in regional Australia.
Life’s approach to food ABC Life helps Australians navigate the challenges and choices in their lives—food and cooking can fall into either category, depending on your life stage or simply the kind of day you’re having. Our recipes meet audiences where they are, whether they’re trying to assemble a meal their kids will actually eat, experimenting with vegetarian dinners in an effort to cut back on meat, or making time to bake as a way to unwind.
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Connect the NationWe’ll celebrate and reflect on the things that bring us together by:
• hosting and covering Australia’s unique and diverse events, places, communities and people
• observing events of national importance
• bridging the vastness of the Australian continent, its cultures and communities by presenting on the ground from 56 local bureaux across Australia.
For example:
triple j’s One Night StandIt takes a community to build a One Night Stand. This is triple j’s annual regional concert event, where some of Australian music’s biggest names put on a show for locals and tens of thousands of travellers. The triple j team collaborates with ABC Regional & Local and works closely with the local Council to turn a footy oval into a concert arena for one night only. In 2019, triple j took over Lucindale in South Australia (population c. 500) where the Hilltop Hoods, Ocean Alley, Meg Mac and G Flip played to a crowd of 15,000. In 2020, who knows which Australian town will be having a One Night Stand with triple j and the ABC?
Football on ABC TV and iviewThe ABC is broadcasting the A-League, W-League, Matilda’s and Socceroos on TV and iview over the next two years as the free-to-air broadcast partner for Football Federation Australia. Football fans can watch the A-League on ABC TV for the first time, while the W-League returns to ABC TV for the first time since 2017.
International Women’s DayEvery year on March 8, the ABC highlights the immense contribution of women to our societies and culture around the world. Through features and interviews, the stories of women and struggles for equality are in the foreground all day across ABC TV and Radio. From Kids and ME, to Local and News, the ABC is fronted by our experienced and emerging female presenters. On our Music networks, Double J, triple j and Unearthed put Girls To The Front with all-female music, features and presenters. ABC Classic lifts the profile of female composers with airplay and special programs dedicated to unheralded women in classical music.
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Priorities for 2020-22So that the ABC remains strong, relevant and essential to future generations, over the next 3 years we will prioritise delivering public broadcasting services that:
Are relevant for all AustraliansWe’ll make the stories we tell and the way we tell them accessible and valuable to key, growing audience groups.
Deliver public benefit with impactWe’ll deliver distinctive, public benefit content that engages mass audiences, builds national conversations and creates meaningful change.
Look and sound like contemporary AustraliaWe’ll increase the diversity of our content and the people making it, so that our stories, people and organisation truly reflect the breadth of modern day Australia.
Are creative, push boundaries and take risksWe innovate and pioneer, our Charter demands it of us. We’ll put creativity and exploration at the heart of everything we do.
Right: Yvonne Strahovski in Stateless (A Matchbox Pictures production. Photo Ben King.)
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Be relevant for all Australians We’ll make the stories we tell and the way we tell them accessible and valuable for all Australians by focusing on important, growing audience groups:
We’ll continue to serve our most engaged audiences:• children aged 2–12• adults aged >55.
While focusing on content that can engage:• adults aged <55• culturally diverse families• Australia’s growing suburban population.
We’ll also seek targeted ways to be more relevant to:• young adults aged 18–29• older teens aged 12–17.
Left: Christine Anu
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Deliver public benefit with impact We’ll make distinctive content that’s broader, reaches more people, connects more communities and creates meaningful change
We’ll share stories and spark discussion about things that matter to audiences and communities that others in the media sector won’t.
We’ll harness all of our platforms and partner with grass roots organisations to build these into national conversations that act as catalysts for positive change.
We’ll make the complex and the unfamiliar accessible by explaining them simply and clearly.
We’ll be compelling and entertaining and focus on quality over quantity.
Left: Deborah Mailman in Total Control (A Blackfella Films production. Photo John Platt.)
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Look and sound like contemporary Australia
We’ll increase the diversity of our content and the people making it so that we’re engaging to more Australians
We’ll share stories that authentically reflect more people’s lives, perspectives and experiences.
We’ll do this across different age groups, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and in every part of the country.
By doing so, more people will be able to see themselves in the ABC and engage with it.
Left: Bluey (A Ludo Studio Production)
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Be creative, push boundaries and take risksWe’ll make creativity and exploration the heart of what we do
We know that nothing is off the table if it’s distinctive and valuable for our audiences.
We’ll try new things responsibly, comfortable in the knowledge that not everything will work.
We’ll learn by doing.
Right: Richard Fidler
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Our Content:
National Conversations
News
Regional & Local
Factual & Entertainment
Specialist
Drama, Comedy & Indigenous
Music
Children’s
Targeted Initiatives
Acquisitions
Audio Studios
Content Ideas Lab
Education
International
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Our contentThis section lays out the ambitions, strategies and inspiration for our audio, video and written content over the next three years. It introduces some of the national conversations we’ll spark and the plans for our teams. It also gives an overview of areas who focus on targeted audiences and formats.
For each team and targeted area, we highlight key content, initiatives and slates for 2020. Where relevant we present slates in quadrants to show the focus and mix of content.
How to read these quadrants:
• Content in every quadrant will deliver value and public benefit to audiences.
• Content in upper quadrants (Broad, distinctive and large impact) is expected to appeal to larger and broader audiences.
• Content in the upper-right quadrant (Distinctive and large impact) is expected to deliver strong engagement and real-world impact.
• The lower quadrants are focused on content that either meets the needs of a particular audience (Focused) or delivers a public benefit that’s independent of audience size (High public benefit e.g. triple j Unearthed).
• For each team, the spread of content across these quadrants is different, based on their focus.
• To meet our priorities, we balance the ABC’s portfolio with a spread of content across each quadrant.
BROAD
FOCUSED HIGH PUBLIC BENEFIT
DISTINCTIVE AND LARGE IMPACT
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As the national broadcaster we are uniquely placed to build national conversations on issues that are important to Australians. Throughout the year we mobilise teams across radio, television and online to collaborate and produce content around themes of national importance. We heighten awareness, increase understanding, spark discussion and give Australians practical tools they can use and actions they can take.
National Conversations
Right: Craig Reucassel
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Ideas and stories that inspire, challenge and entertainWe’ll come together across all platforms to build on Australia’s love for Book Week and Science Week.
In both entertaining and informative ways, we’ll draw on data from the Australia Talks survey to explore the things that Australians care about – whether it's mental health and wellbeing on World Mental Health Day (October 10) or gender equality and hope for future generations on International Day Of The Girl (October 11).
Winter is a chance to make the most of staying inside. We’ll stack together our favourite TV and podcast series, as well as highlight recipes and long reads to provide plenty of excuses for having a quiet weekend in.
In November we’ll once again mark Ausmusic Month at the ABC. Whether discovering new Australian composers on ABC Classic, listening to live jazz performances on ABC Jazz, or donning a favourite band t-shirt for triple j’s Ausmusic T-Shirt day, music lovers of all genres will have a part to play come November.
Upcoming themes for 2020 include:Climate and weatherMost Australians accept that climate change is real. However, many of us don’t know what we can actually do about it. Bombarded by contradictory political messages and intangible climate targets, many of us feel powerless on how to make a difference.
In 2020, the ABC and our external partners will build a super-sized conversation on climate change to inspire accelerated action. We will provide easy to digest information and tools for Australians to understand better how to make a difference to their lives and the future of the planet.
The centre-piece will be two prime time shows. Fight for Planet A: The Climate Challenge focuses on how Australians can reduce their food, energy and transport carbon footprint to help reduce climate change. Big Weather (and how to survive it) asks how we can be better prepared to survive and thrive in a land of increasingly intense and unpredictable weather extremes.
Walking TogetherThroughout 2020 teams across the ABC will come together, working alongside external partners, to inspire and enable all Australians to contribute to reconciliation.
It’s 20 years since Indigenous and non-Indigenous people walked together across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the largest demonstrations ever in Australia.
A referendum on constitutional recognition of Australia’s Indigenous people is set to happen in the next three years. We will celebrate Indigenous culture through listening, sharing and building – on TV, on radio, on social media, our own digital platforms and in the community.
To walk together Australia must challenge itself to honour the history and experiences of First Australians with Indigenous voices and perspectives leading the conversation.
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Pictured: Leigh Sales
News
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Our ambitions• Present journalism and coverage that is valuable
and relevant to all Australians, particularly addressing younger, female, suburban and culturally diverse audiences.
• Be a trusted part of communities, listening to and collaborating with Australians to tell the stories and explain the issues that matter to them every day.
• Objectively and accurately report on events that matter to Australians using simple and clear everyday language.
• Strengthen Australian society and democracy by informing people, holding the powerful to account and promoting media literacy.
• Highlight solutions and provide information that audiences can use.
• Invite Australians to participate in the important conversations that they care about.
How we’ll do this• Include a range of perspectives that reflect the
breadth of contemporary Australia, so that all Australians can see themselves in our stories.
• Align our editorial values to the interests and concerns of more Australians through the stories we cover and commission, the perspectives we reflect, the style and tone of our reporting and the services we provide.
• Embed in more communities to increase the variety of stories we tell and to cover the issues and events other media organisations aren’t focussing on.
• Change the way we work to create content that is more easily accessible to Australians whenever and wherever they seek their news and information.
Our inspiration• We are part of Australian communities,
listening and collaborating to tell the stories that matter to them. We are the home of important conversations that people care about and invite their participation. We look and sound like Australia; all Australians can see and hear themselves in our stories.
• We are approachable, distinctive, engaging and constructive. Our stories highlight solutions and provide information that audiences can use. We speak simply and clearly using everyday language and provide explanations and context that make sense of complex stories.
• We deliver high-quality, independent journalism that earns the trust of audiences by being accurate, objective and impartial. Our first commitment is to the public interest and we strengthen Australian society by informing people and holding the powerful to account. We approach our journalism bravely, honestly and ethically, and seek constantly to improve it.
• We earn our audiences’ attention and loyalty by ensuring the news they need is available and accessible when, where and how they need it.
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Our highlightsMore outer metropolitan coverageIn 2020 ABC News is sharpening its focus on serving Australians who live in outer metropolitan areas. We have already embedded our teams in areas as diverse as Tarneit and Box Hill (VIC), Sunnybank (QLD) and Mandurah (WA) to raise the issues that matter most to those communities. As part of this we will be expanding our bureau in Parramatta (NSW) to ensure we have the broadest range of issues and perspectives represented in our news.
Explaining our complex world With Sarah Ferguson in Beijing, we’ll spend more time explaining China to Australia and exploring China’s impact in Australia. We’ll invest more resources to tell stories from our Pacific neighbours and place coverage of the broader Asian region as our international priority. A U.S. presidential election late in the year will be covered from all angles through our Washington bureau and specialist programming like Planet America.
The Signal returnsOne of the ABC’s most successful podcasts, The Signal, is back in 2020. After more than doubling its growth from last year and bringing new and younger audiences with it, this daily news podcast helps cut through the noise by covering the biggest stories, explaining not only what is happening but why. It's an entertaining 15-minute show, perfect for the commute or getting ready in the morning.
Left top: ABC’s chief elections analyst Antony Green Left centre: The Signal Left bottom: Kyle Harley shooting Creightons Creek fire
From our team “We’ll work hard so the stories we tell and the
issues we explain have the broadest range of community perspectives represented. We serve all Australians and our journalism will put the public’s interests front and centre.” Gaven Morris, Director, News
“By doing away with assumed
knowledge and simplifying complex topics in a quick digestible way we can expand the audience of daily news.” Jacqueline Howard,
Visual storyteller, News
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Our content
BROAD DISTINCTIVE AND LARGE IMPACT
HIGH PUBLIC BENEFITFOCUSED
National Press Club
News Channel Programs (e.g. Planet America, The Business The Mix, One Plus One)
News Messenger
RN Drive
The Party Room
The World
News Apple News
News Breakfast (TV)
News Channel (TV)
News Facebook
News Instagram
News Radio
News YouTube
7.30
7pm
AM
Australian Story
Four Corners
Foreign Correspondent
Insiders
News Digital (Web and app)
Q&A
Background Briefing
Behind the News
PM
Question Time (TV)
RN Breakfast
The Drum
The Signal
The World Today
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Pictured: Ali Clarke
Regional & Local
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Our inspiration• Be everyday for everyone by connecting
Australians with content about real life, real people, real places.
• Be the first choice for Australians looking to connect with their communities.
• Strengthen communities through content that builds resilience and supports informed decision making about issues that matter to local communities.
• Celebrate our shared experiences and national events, and the unique stories and perspectives of Australian people and places.
• Look and sound like contemporary Australia by sharing the stories and experiences of diverse voices.
Our ambitions • Maintain our loyal audience on traditional platforms
(TV and Radio) and broaden it by reaching more people on more platforms, particularly digital.
• Reach Australians in every community – urban and suburban, regional and rural, every day.
• Make content that engages, strengthens and celebrates communities across Australia.
• Connect communities of shared geography, identity and interest across all platforms.
How we’ll do this• Provide audiences with more everyday content
that is relevant to their lives so that we become an essential part of their daily routine.
• Provide a personalised content experience for audiences so they can better connect with the content that is relevant to them.
• Collaborate with teams across the ABC to deliver digital content that is practical and useful for our audiences’ lives.
• Continue to bring together national audiences around our common interests, including the big shared moments and events like New Year’s Eve and Australia Day.
• Use external partnerships to engage with non traditional ABC audiences and tap into alternative distribution methods.
• Increase the diversity of our staff, our presenters and guests, our topics and stories.
• Support strong and resilient Australian communities through our content and activities, including the emergency broadcasting work undertaken by our teams.
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From our team “The better our conversations are with
the communities we serve, the better our programs and content will be. Strengthening these connections to our audiences enables us to cover the issues that matter to them, every day.”
Warwick Tiernan, Head Capital City Radio Network
“Landline has always showcased the country’s very best farmers and the latest innovations
in agriculture; but it’s much more than that. We set out to find stories and people who epitomise the resilience and adaptability of rural Australians. We celebrate their
successes and triumphs and share their tragedies in tough times.”
Pip Courtney, Presenter, Landline
Our highlightsThe Australian DreamThe Australian Dream shares the inspirational story of AFL player Adam Goodes, while exploring broader themes of race, identity and belonging. In this feature documentary for the screen written by Stan Grant, Adam Goodes and those around him reflect on his personal journey, while asking deeper questions about racism in society and how we can reconcile our history to move forward together.
The Little Green Pod Feel like you want to do more to help the planet but not sure how to fit anything else into your life? Produced in collaboration with Audio Studios, Little Green Pod provides practical guidance and advice as host Fiona Poole investigates quick and easy ways to live a little greener.
Football on ABC TV and iviewThe ABC is broadcasting the A-League, W-League, Matildas and Socceroos on TV and iview over the next two years as the free-to-air broadcast partner for Football Federation Australia, increasing the diversity of our sports coverage and broadening our audience reach, including suburban audiences. Football fans can watch the A-League on ABC TV for the first time, while the W-League returns to ABC TV for the first time since 2017.
ABC HeywireFor 22 years, ABC Heywire has created a powerful launchpad for young regional Australians to be heard, to share their stories and initiate projects that strengthen their communities. This year ABC Heywire and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal will add a new grants round to the program to support trailblazers, young people already making a difference in regional Australia.
Left top: The Australian Dream shares the story of ex AFL player Adam Goodes (Good Thing Productions (Aus) & Passion Pictures (UK). Photo Andy Boag.) Left centre: Students participate in the ABC Heywire 2019 Grants Launch Left bottom: The Little Green Pod podcast
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Take overYoung Australians will have the chance to take over their local ABC, and have a say on the future of their city. Modelled on the hugely successful ABC Heywire regional youth program, the ABC will partner with Government to empower young people in suburban Australia to be heard and make a difference in their communities.
Local for youABC local stations and bureaux will continue to connect and inform audiences, delivering news and information direct to their inbox through newsletters that extend the impact of local radio from broadcast to print. Local newsletters will deliver the relevant national stories for local audiences, the local stories and information, and importantly, what is local for you.
New Year’s EveEach New Year’s Eve, the ABC brings the party to all Australians with a broadcast spectacular that showcases Australia’s brightest talent and culminates with coverage of one of the most spectacular New Year’s Eve firework displays broadcast to viewers around the world.
Emergency BroadcastingIn times of emergency, Australians turn to the ABC. Each year our Emergency Broadcast team supports local radio teams to keep communities up to date and informed on fast-moving natural disasters such as floods, fire and cyclones. This specialist team works closely with emergency services to bring the most accurate and timely information to people when it is most needed.
ABC Adelaide – Guess your bin nightEvery day across Australia, ABC Radio presenters engage with their audience in unique and personal ways, building strong relationships through daily interactions with local listeners. ABC Radio Adelaide’s Jules Schiller has taken ‘getting to know’ his audience a step further through his weekly segment ‘guess your bin night’. Jules gets just three questions before he has to guess a listener’s bin night and if he fails, comes over to put out their bins the following week. Now that’s commitment!
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Our content
BROAD
HIGH PUBLIC BENEFITFOCUSED
AFL (Radio)
Australia Wide
Cricket YouTube Series
Farmer of the year
Features for Metro & Regional audiences (Radio and digital)
Golden Guitars 2020
Golf: HANDA Women's Australian Open and Victorian Open
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 (Radio) Nightlife
NRL (Radio)
Offsiders (S11)
Overnights
Sports podcasts
Surburban stories focus across platforms
The Men’s Ashes 2021 (Radio)
The Women’s Ashes 2021 (Radio)
ABC Australia Facebook
Gardening Australia (S31)
Gardening Australia Facebook
Gardening Australia YouTube
Local Radio Breakfast and Drive Programs around Australia
New Year’s Eve
Sports documentaries
Weekend Grandstand (Radio)
ANZAC Day (Events coverage and programming)
Australia All Over
Back Roads (S6)
Football Internationals – Socceroos and Matildas (TV)
Landline (S24)
Local Radio (Broadcasts across Australia)
Regional local news and stories (Radio, TV, News digital)
The Australian Dream
A-League (TV)
AFLW (Radio)
Ausmusic Month Concert
Australia Day (Events coverage and programming)
Australian of the Year Awards
Emergency broadcasting
Heywire and Trailblazers
Indigenous Seasonal Weather
Men and Women’s football – Soccer (Radio)
Regional Storyteller Scholarship
Remote community coverage
Rural news (Radio, digital)
Take Over
The Country Hour
The Helpmann Awards
W-League (TV)
WNRL (Radio)
DISTINCTIVE AND LARGE IMPACT
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Pictured: Julia Zemiro
Factual & Entertainment
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How we’ll do this• Create and connect content across platforms
to amplify impact.
• Build a broad slate that balances ‘brand defining returners’, ‘spiky new reach drivers’ and ‘public service culturally significant, Charter based productions’.
• Ensure the ABC has enough depth of content to sustain habitual appointment viewing occasions across weeks and seasons on broadcast and build returnable on-demand destinations.
• Strengthen the production sector by encouraging and supporting creative talent and bold storytellers from around the country.
Our inspiration • Reach broad audiences.
• Produce brand defining content that’s distinctive and high quality.
• Connect with audiences by asking the questions ‘Why this story? Why now?’, then creating content that resonates and is memorable.
• Tell stories that are entertaining but informative. Offer an alternative, new or surprising perspective on subjects both familiar and unfamiliar.
• Think about how our stories can be told across all platforms and contribute to growing a diverse slate.
• Tell stories with, for and about the diversity of contemporary Australia.
• Nurture creative partnerships and talent.
• Be innovative, inspirational and creative with ideas and execution.
Our ambition• Maintain a broad audience with shows that have mass
appeal.
• Create content offers that connect with ABC’s engaged audiences while extending reach with those not engaging with the ABC – particularly adults under 55.
• Create real-world impact by igniting national conversations and actions around topics of social and cultural significance.
• Empower individuals to make sense of and respond to challenging issues that impact their lives and communities.
• Be a home for comedy and satire that deliver entertaining ways to help us understand our world so that Australians can laugh throughout their day.
• Reflect and support the cultural, gender, regional and socio-economic diversity of Australia in the stories we tell and the way they are told.
• Give a voice to misunderstood, judged or marginalised Australians.
• Provide insight into the heritage and history of the diverse peoples and cultures that have shaped Australia and our national identity.
• Foster an appreciation for Australia’s unique landscapes, environment and wildlife.
• Nurture and celebrate Australian talent, creative communities and the arts sector.
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From our team “The Factual and Entertainment team are
passionate to be bringing our slate to the Australian people. We work with outstanding creatives to deliver content that innovates, entertains and begins conservations that inspire, challenge and bind our audience. Our
aim is the same whether we are creating Gruen, Anh Do’s Brush with
Fame, Restoration Australia, Mad as Hell or Old People’s Home for Four Year Olds; to deliver ‘TV with purpose’ that strengthens our connection to the audiences we serve. We are honoured to tell these compelling Australian stories that reflect the depth and breadth of our diverse Australian community.” Josie Mason-Campbell, Head Factual & Entertainment.
“In my role as Manager of Development and Partnerships, it is a privilege to
work with the best TV creative minds in the country, both inside and outside of the ABC. Their dedication to telling the stories of our nation in new and innovative ways ensures that the
Factual and Entertainment department continues to create surprising and
illuminating content that ignites national conversations and impacts the lives of our broad and diverse audiences.” Richard Huddleston, Manager of Development and Partnerships
“Through big, bold and ambitious Factual series we go to the heart and
soul of who we are as Australians. We strive to take risks, go beneath the surface, celebrate our diversity and push the boundaries in ways that resonate with Australian
audiences.” Julie Hanna, Manager of Factual
“Entertainment and comedy are delivery systems for ideas. They
tickle the part of the brain that wants to learn and to laugh. In each project we ask ‘what is the idea?’ and ‘how can we do it differently?’. Sometimes we aim to reach as many
people as possible, other times to touch fewer people more deeply. But
we always aim to entertain.” Nick Hayden, Manager of Entertainment
Left above: Craig Reucassel hosts Big Weather (and how to survive it) and Fight for Planet A: The Climate Challenge Left below: Anh Do hosts Anh’s Brush With Fame (A Screentime production. Photo Luke Cameron.)
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Shaun Micallef’s On the SauceShaun Micallef doesn’t get alcohol. Why would you drink something that robs you of your reason? He’s tried it, he doesn’t like it and now he is on a mission to understand Australia’s love affair with the sauce. This series is a dramatic snapshot of Australia’s cultural relationship with alcohol today.
Shaun looks beyond the clichés and misconceptions to discover the new face of alcohol in Australia. Gone are the days of Bazza Mackenzie and the six o’clock swill. Australia is no longer a nation of beer drinkers and alcoholism is seeping into surprising sections of our community. How much is too much? How have we changed? Is there a sweet spot for our relationship with booze? As he experiences the highs and lows of alcohol consumption, Shaun has his own revelations about our national pastime and how it’s changing rapidly, right under our noses. Shocking, surprising, and of course very funny – this is Shaun Micallef’s On the Sauce.
Reputation Rehab Reputation Rehab sees co-hosts Kirsten Drysdale and Zoe Norton Lodge find reputations in distress and provide a unique opportunity for transformation and redemption. We are living in an age of outrage culture and everyone is tired of it. Barely a week goes by without someone getting publicly crucified in a torrent of angry tweets, by opinion pieces, radio and TV punditry, for real or imagined mistakes.
This series is a timely response to the culture everyone wants to change. It tackles shame head-on and breaks the outrage cycle by using comedy and empathy. Steeped in the conventions of reality TV, Reputation Rehab draws inspiration from scandals, personal failure and public humiliation.
Left top: Annabel Crabb hosts Further Back In Time For Dinner Left centre: Spicks and Specks Left bottom: Shaun Micallef
Our highlightsBig Weather (and how to survive it) This is an unmissable series hosted by Craig Reucassel. Craig answers the big questions; how have extreme weather events shaped our nation’s story? Why are these events becoming less predictable and more intense? And what can ordinary Australians do to adapt, survive and thrive into the future? The series embeds on the frontlines, showcasing the warmth, humour, resilience and experiences of Australian communities and emergency services personnel who are confronted by bushfires, floods and cyclones.
Fight for Planet A: The Climate Challenge Most Australians accept that climate change is real. However, many of us don’t know what we can do about it and feel powerless on how to make a difference. In this series host Craig Reucassel looks at the solutions and the practical day-to-day changes that each and every one of us can make to reduce our carbon footprint and help minimise the impact of climate change.
Episodes look at our relationship with food, energy and transport, demonstrating the scale of problems in ways that are compelling, emotionally engaging and easy to understand. The series features five families who have been challenged to reduce their carbon footprint, which will also knock some money off their household budget. And far from taking the pressure off politicians and business, the series asks whether they are doing enough to make the changes we need in our homes, schools and workplaces.
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A warm welcome back to our Wednesday night brands Hard Quiz, Gruen, The Weekly, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell and Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery will continue to tickle our funny bones with their trademark wit, humour and insightful analysis of our society.
Further Back In Time For DinnerAfter capturing Australia’s hearts, the Ferrone family are back. Guided by Annabel Crabb, they’re going further back than they’ve ever gone before. Battling the bubonic plague, butchering their own meat, growing their own food, not to mention surviving two world wars and the depression will ensure this time machine will continue to engage and enthral our audiences.
Australia's Ocean HighwayWe live on a planet whose waters were the birthplace of life. Around five hundred million years ago life left this blue womb and colonised the land, but we are still intricately linked to the ocean. Our climates, coastlines, ecosystems and economies are tied to the perpetual movement of water between continents. The great ocean currents are the arteries and veins of the planet. This is the story of one fascinating flow; The East Australian Current, a massive oceanic river that stretches the length of the East Australian coast, is one hundred kilometres wide and home to an incredible array of life.
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Our content
BROAD
HIGH PUBLIC BENEFITFOCUSED
Dream Gardens (S3)
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian
Anh's Brush with Fame (S5)
Hard Quiz (S5)
Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery (S7)
New Year’s Eve
Restoration Australia (S3)
Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell (S11/12)
Spicks and Specks Specials
The Weekly (S6)
Big Weather (and how to survive it)
Fight for Planet A: The Climate Challenge
Further Back In Time For Dinner
Gruen (S12)
Revelation
Shaun Micallef: On the Sauce
You Can't Ask That (S5)
Outback Ringer
Reputation Rehab
Sammy J (S5)
Australia's Ocean Highway
DISTINCTIVE AND LARGE IMPACT
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Pictured: Kumi Taguchi
Specialist
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• Foster talent as a key part of our relationships with audiences, and the trust they have in us. We will continue to create openings for new voices and find ways to develop them across what we do.
• Deepen our digital thinking – we already have deep expertise across a range of platforms – and the ability to move content across them to maximise reach and find audiences where they are. We will innovate with new shapes of storytelling to reach new audiences and create digital communities around shared interests.
• Develop new stakeholder relationships and partnerships, so we can increase our ambition and amplify our impact.
Our inspiration• Empower individuals to take control of their
lives – for example in areas like health and well being – and inspire individuals and communities to make a difference.
• Help people understand their world and find a place in it by telling our most powerful and moving stories in culture and arts, and understanding ethical and religious dimensions to our lives.
• Reflect the beliefs and backgrounds of all Australians; and look to explore what brings us together. We do light, not heat.
Our ambition• Bring our content to wide audiences and to
Australians with more focused interests.
• Make stories that connect broadly around big, resonant subjects and stories that cater to passionate fans.
• Use our expertise to provoke and enrich the national conversation on subjects from health and well being to the arts, religion and the future of work.
• Be a trustworthy guide for Australians to help understand and navigate what’s happening to them and their communities.
• Celebrate and promote understanding of our diverse cultural achievements. Tell stories of belonging and explore the questions of culture, science, belief and ethics that matter deeply to Australians.
• Reflect the voices, stories and interests of modern Australia. We’ll expand the range of our output and the people we work with so that we can achieve a greater diversity of output across our platforms and how we look and sound.
• Encourage and promote the arts in Australia.
• Continue to be a key driver of ABC quality and distinctiveness.
How we’ll do this• Take more risks with our content; especially with the
shape and form of what we do. We will continue to innovate in how we tell stories and explore new topics. To stand out and be noticed, we need to be noisier in our offer.
• Widen the appeal of our broad offer so that we attract new audiences, make the relationship with our fans deeper and more engaged.
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From our team “How did Utzon come up with the ‘idea’ of the
Opera House? How did he pull it off? What was it about Michael Hutchence and his music that we all felt so immediately and deeply? Art and the artistic process provokes and inspires me simply because
it reminds me what is possible.” Miranda Culley, Executive Producer, Arts
“Podcasting is exciting because no one really knows how it works yet. But here at ABC Science, we’re keenly experimenting to figure it out. From international collaborations (BBC, Gimlet) to viral smash hits (The Labradoodle
of Regret), it’s a great time to be in the digital first science audio.”
Joel Werner, Audio Lead, Science
“Every day in this job, my mind wanders. It explores the world, discovers new
perspectives, and gains understanding – all via the radio. I work with incredibly diverse programs, but they’re united by a curiosity that builds on itself, each
question leading to the next. It’s a very exciting world to be a part of.”
Monique Ross, Society & Culture Digital Lead
Our highlightsArts on ABC TV ABC Arts engages with some of Australia’s finest filmmakers to produce documentaries that tell stories about Australian artists and how art intersects with our lives. In 2020, the suite of Arts programs will include major documentaries about Bangarra Dance Theatre and Midnight Oil.
How Food WorksA 2 x 1 hour Catalyst special in April 2020. How Food Works is a unique blend of science and culture. In this series chef Paul West, Dr Nobby Leong and Professor Clare Collins uncover the latest research that will help you cook better and eat healthier – and may also save you money.
RN. The home of ideas at the ABCIts role has never been more important as our world turns upside down. From Geraldine Doogue to Waleed Aly – we showcase some of the most incisive and best informed broadcasters across Australia.
CompassCompass is the only weekly program on Australian television devoted to issues of faith, ethics & values, drawing stories from myriad grassroots communities spread across the continent. The program provides a distinctive lens on the diverse lives that comprise modern Australia. In 2020 the team will again produce break-out hour specials for a prime-time audience, complementing the unique weekly Compass mission.
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Our content
BROAD
HIGH PUBLIC BENEFITFOCUSED
Science on Facebook All in the Mind
Backburning: Midnight Oil
Catalyst (S21)
How Food Works: A Catalyst Special
RN (Broadcast and Podcasts)
Adelaide Festival
Arts on RN (e.g. Screen Show)
Compass
Compass Specials
Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra
Science and Health online publishing
Science and Health on RN
Society and Culture on RN
Religion and Ethics on RN
Religion and Ethics online
DISTINCTIVE AND LARGE IMPACT
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Pictured: Fallout (Working title)
Drama,Comedy & Indigenous
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Our inspiration• Tell stories that anticipate the zeitgeist with
cultural currency, relevance and authenticity.
• Be distinctive, bold and ground-breaking in our choice of stories and how we tell them.
• Know what works, but don’t be formulaic.
• Tap into the emotional and make people feel.
• Use drama and comedy to generate positive social impact.
• Focus on visibility and representation. Help diverse audiences feel seen and their lives and experiences acknowledged and authentically reflected in the stories we tell. In particular, redefine Indigenous stories and representation
• Foster new, diverse talent. Be a cradle of creativity for all Australia.
Our ambitions• Maintain a broad audience with shows that have
mass appeal or target unique and underrepresented audiences.
• Entertain and defy expectations with bold, ground-breaking and uniquely Australian stories that are recognised via awards, critical acclaim and global impact.
• Tell distinctive and inclusive stories that shape the cultural conversation and engage with broad and diverse audiences.
• Reflect the diversity of contemporary Australia so that all Australians can see and hear themselves in our stories.
• Identify and nurture new and diverse talent in production and performance, particularly emerging indigenous talent and people of culturally diverse backgrounds.
• Cultivate and strengthen the production sector, especially outside of NSW/VIC.
How we’ll do this• Build a slate that balances known ‘broad
returners’ and bold ‘calculated risks’. Do controlled experimentation with genre, narrative and form to find new audiences and non-traditional distribution to meet them where they are.
• Ensure we have a balanced mix of drama types e.g. crime, procedural, genre, relationship and uniquely Australian.
• Ensure the ABC has a depth of content that can sustain habitual appointment viewing occasions across weeks and seasons on broadcast and on-demand.
• Identify and work with the best creative talent in the industry.
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From our team “In all our content we first and foremost want to
entertain and surprise audiences, but it’s really important to me and my team that we engage them emotionally – that’s how you change hearts and minds. We are constantly looking for ways to defy expectations of our content and the ABC”.
Sally Riley, Head of Drama, Comedy and Indigenous
“ABC is the home of Australian comedy. Our aspiration is to strengthen that position
with national audiences, against rising competition, while continuing to bring our outstanding shows to the rest of the world through international co-investment. My job is truly an honour.”
Rick Kalowski, Head of Comedy
“I get to work with a great team of content makers who are passionate about telling
cracking good stories and are wholly committed to genuine inclusion and representation. There’s no better place than the ABC where we can make
dramas and comedies that speak to who we are as Australians.”
Que Minh Luu, Executive Producer, Scripted
Our highlightsStatelessA flagship drama that weaves together the stories of an unlikely detainee (Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale), a guard (Jai Courtney, Suicide Squad), a bureaucrat (Asher Keddie, The Cry) and an asylum seeker (Fayssal Bazzi, The Merger) to depict life in a remote detention centre and confront us with tough questions about Australia’s policies towards ‘unlawful non-citizens’. Also starring (and co-produced by) Academy Award®-winning actress Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok, Blue Jasmine), and Dominic West (The Affair, The Wire).
Dark Emu Based on his award-winning book, author Bruce Pascoe leads us on a revelatory and inspiring journey across Australia to present a very different history of our nation and the First Australians. This is a story you have never heard, facts you were never told. The true story of Aboriginal achievement. The First Australians as farmers, bakers, designers, traders and astronomers. This 2 x 1 hour series will redefine Aboriginal history and will present lessons from our past that can shape our future.
The Heights S2 The Heights is a warm and positively geared relationship drama series for Australian audiences to come home to. It’s about community and life in urban Australia and reflects the world as we know it – one that is inclusive and grounded in truth, and that explores social issues and conversations of today in an accessible and family friendly space. Off screen, The Heights empowers diverse storytelling and escalates talent in the television industry.
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Our content
BROAD
HIGH PUBLIC BENEFITFOCUSED
Harrow (S3)
Rosehaven (S4)
Fallout (Working title)
Mystery Road (S2)
Stateless
Awaye
Black Comedy (S4)
Dark Emu
Little Yarns
Speaking Out
The Heights (S2)
DISTINCTIVE AND LARGE IMPACT
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Pictured: Sally & Erica
Music
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How we’ll do this• Find new audience and engage current
audiences via:
– returning campaigns and events such as Classic 100 and Hottest 100
– targeted digital and video content
– targeted campaigns and platforms for regional audiences
– extending the triple j Hack content offer.
• Increase artist representation of:
– women via International Women’s Day campaigns including the Classic Female Composers focus and triple j and Double J’s Girls To The Front, and on air targets
– culturally and linguistically diverse people via on air targets and leveraging Unearthed
– indigenous people via Unearthed scholarships and ABC Classic live recording projects and on-air targets
– young artists via Unearthed High.
• Help other ABC audiences become aware of and engage with music that is relevant to them by:
– migrating older audiences (>30) from triple j to Double J and beyond
– making RN, Local and TV audiences aware of Double J, ABC Classic, Country and RN Music by providing music and commentary for them.
• Reach more audiences for traditionally niche genres of classical and jazz by:
– making the offers more accessible to audiences by matching mood and time of day
– making music programs focused on adjacent niches (e.g. Film and Gaming).
Our ambition • Increase triple j’s share of the 18–24 year old audience.
Influence content tone, topic and treatment for the rest of the ABC aiming for this demographic.
• Increase broadcast radio audiences for ABC Classic and Double J. Maintain broadcast radio audiences for ABC Jazz and ABC Country.
• Reach younger audiences (<50) on ABC Classic, while retaining the existing audience.
• Find new and diverse audiences interested in classical, jazz and country music via digital platforms.
• Give young Australians a voice.
• Build audience communities around musical interest and identity.
• Reflect the diversity of Australia, including CALD and regional / rural audiences.
• Support female and culturally diverse artists and presenters.
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Our inspiration• Make people’s lives better through music.
• Launch the careers of Australian artists, help their music find audiences and give them a career trajectory.
• Share the voices, opinions and ideas of young people.
• Take advantage of the immediacy of live radio and digital / social content to talk to audiences immediately and quickly about their lives and interests.
• Find new, diverse talent and share them with the rest of the ABC.
• Use music to connect people to a live community of people like themselves and contribute to their sense of belonging.
From our team “ABC Classic provides the soundtrack
to people’s lives. Whether waking up, concentrating at work or celebrating the end of the week, we inspire our audiences with the very best music written across 1000 years, brought to life by a
family of beloved presenters.” Toby Chadd, Content Manager,
ABC Classic & ABC Jazz
“triple j is privileged to be simultaneously a voice and a mirror
to young Australians, often as they navigate experiences for the first time. To be a guide and a friend, triple j considers every piece of content through the prism of 18–
24s and every piece of content needs to be fit for the platform it’s on”
Ollie Wards, Manager triple j, Hack, Unearthed
“Double J speaks the language of our 30–50 year old audience. We know a
song is more than a piece of music, it shapes who we are and reminds us of the best time of our life. We embrace our history and give context to new music.”
Meagan Loader, Content Manager Double J, Rage and ABC Country
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triple j HackHack is the ABC’s news and issue’s program for young Australians (18-24s), with a daily radio program and digital content made especially for young audiences. Hack is focused on the stories that matter to young people’s lives, so talks about sex, drugs and mental health as often as it discusses politics. The show has a strong social media presence and experiments with new content forms on platforms such as Instagram stories. The program combines with triple j News bulletins and The Hook Up sex & relationships content to provide comprehensive talk content for the millions of young Australians engaging with triple j every week.
triple j Unearthed HighUnearthed High is a national Unearthed talent search for Australia’s best high school aged band or artist. The campaign has built over a decade and now receives over a thousand entries each year with five finalists profiled and given airplay on triple j. Previous winners include Kian, Gretta Ray, Japanese Wallpaper and Stonefield. The campaign also includes an Indigenous Initiative, giving one Indigenous high school act a prize of mentorship, management support and an APRA/AMCOS Songmaker workshop at their school.
Our highlightstriple j Hottest 100 The Hottest 100 is the biggest music campaign of its type in the world, capturing the imagination of young Australians every summer when triple j collates millions of votes and counts down the greatest 100 songs of the year. The Hottest Weekend is the soundtrack to thousands of parties and BBQs at the end of January as an estimated 3.2 million people listen to the countdown live across triple j and the retro countdown on Double J. The Hottest 100 is without doubt the largest radio event in Australia. The success of the Hottest 100 is mirrored in the increasing audience for the Classic 100 and in 2020, we will introduce a special Jazz 100 on ABC Jazz.
International Women’s Day / Girls To The FrontEvery year on March 8, our music networks highlight the immense contribution of women to music culture around the world. Led by Double J, the triple j family look at female musical pioneers, while triple j Unearthed highlights some of the best upcoming women on the Australian scene. ABC Classic works to lift the profile of female composers who are vastly underrepresented in the history of classical music, with past features including Clara Schumann and Hildegard von Bingen alongside Australia’s best such as Elena Kats-Chernin. ABC Classic also commissions new recordings of works by female composers, bringing their work to a new and interested audience. This day connects with our music networks overall efforts to increase the proportion of female artists in daily playlists.
Like A VersionEvery Friday morning, another act drops in to the triple j studios to play an original song and a cover. It’s a simple premise that is now the most popular live music segment across the ABC, spanning radio, podcast, video and audio on-demand. It is the ABC’s biggest segment on third party video, with Youtube numbers in the tens of millions for acts such as Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys and Chvrches. triple j’s Youtube channel is the biggest in the ABC, recently topping 1 million subscribers. triple j is now expanding in to new segments such as Bars Of Steel – a weekly freestyle video that highlights rappers from diverse cultural backgrounds.
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triple j’s One Night StandIt takes a community to build a One Night Stand. This is triple j’s annual regional concert event, where some of Australian music’s biggest names put on a show for locals and tens of thousands of travellers. The triple j team collaborates with ABC Regional & Local and works closely with the local Council to turn a footy oval into a concert arena for one night only. In 2019, triple j took over Lucindale in South Australia (pop.500) where the Hilltop Hoods, Ocean Alley, Meg Mac and G Flip played to a crowd of 15,000. In 2020, who knows which Australian town will be having a One Night Stand with triple j and the ABC.
ABC Classic Beethoven 250In 2020, the world will celebrate 250 years since the birth of the greatest musician in history; Ludwig Van Beethoven. ABC Classic will feature new live recordings from Australia’s best orchestras and ensembles across 2020, with some special live to air events and campaigns. There will be a weekly Beethoven program, in which ABC Classic aims to play every piece of music that the composer ever wrote. It is a celebration of music, of passion, of creativity and of one person’s giant achievement in humanity.
Below: triple j’s One Night Stand
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Our content
BROAD
HIGH PUBLIC BENEFITFOCUSED
ABC Classic Breakfast and Drive
ABC Country
ABC Jazz
Double J
Double J 90s
Rage
Saturday Night Country
triple j Breakfast and Drive
triple j Like A Version
triple j Splendour in the Grass
triple j YouTube, Facebook and Instagram
ABC Classic
Ausmusic Month
Hottest 100
triple j
triple j Hack
triple j News
triple j One Night Stand
Classic 100
Girls To The Front
International Women's Day weekend
RN Music Show
triple j Unearthed
DISTINCTIVE AND LARGE IMPACT
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Pictured: Angharad ‘Rad’ Yeo
Children’s
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• Support parents, families, carers and the early childhood sector with educational resources and co-viewing programs as the trusted age appropriate source.
• Support the Australian production community with a commitment to pathways for emerging diverse talent and working with Australia’s brightest creators and producers to make premium Children’s Content.
• Commit to authentic voices and representation in front and behind the camera with a focus on under-represented groups from CALD, Indigenous and Disabled communities. Continue our 50/50 female cast and crew targets.
Our inspiration • Listen to our audience and make them laugh,
think and feel.
• Be bold, brave and take creative risks while empowering, entertaining and informing.
• Always take an inclusive lens to give children content that they can see themselves in. Create a sense of belonging in an expanding national identity.
• Never patronise children and their caregivers. Let parents’ parent and respect the intelligence of children.
• Work with passionate, driven content creators who love making kids content as much as we do.
• Focus on accuracy and pushing the boundaries of stories and topics while balancing trust and risk in a noisy & complex information world.
• Experiment with new formats and approaches to content development, designed for the platform of consumption.
Our ambitions• Entertain and inspire the 4.4 million Australian
children (between 2-14yrs) with light entertainment, drama, comedy, preschool and factual content that’s underpinned by early learning and childhood development principles.
• Help children build life-long connection to the ABC through podcasts, premium TV programs, live streams, music, digital content and educational resources delivered on ABC linear and digital platforms.
• Tell stories that:
– reflect our diverse and rich Australian identity
– guide children through the big and small transitions of childhood
– connect city & regional kids to each other and the global village
– empower children to speak up and participate within their communities.
How we’ll do this• Make expertly crafted content for younger audiences
with age appropriate pace and style using a range of production techniques including world class live-action, puppets, songs and animation for learning and entertainment in equal measure.
• Make premium comedy and drama content with a distinctively Australian point of view to speak directly to Australian kids and global audiences who are fascinated with our big-hearted characters and epic locations.
• Supercharge kids “smarts” and intelligence through entertainment and factual programs that put them in the driving seat, allowing them to explore, investigate and make sense of the world around them.
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From our team “ABC Children’s programs are the cultural
touchpoints that shape our children’s sense of themselves and what it means to be
Australian. Wherever they end up in life, they can draw on the collective memories of Play School or Bluey to connect with others and their country. Instilling kids with
a lifelong love of Australian culture and the arts is the beating heart of everything we do.”
Libbie Doherty, Head of Children’s
“Every child should see themselves, their lives and their experiences being reflected
back at them – see their families, their friends, their struggles and their achievements wrapped up in stories that are entertaining, genuine and inclusive.
They should know that their voices are all equal, all important and all represented in
our content.” Amanda Isdale, Executive Producer
“Pre-school content is limitless in what you can do (a family of talking dogs may be the most
relatable show on TV!), and the fun is never-ending – however our audiences are unequivocal, so we must always be on top of our game. That’s exciting!”
Bryson Hall, Series Producer Play School
Our highlightsMore Australian contentIn 2020 ABC KIDS & ABC ME will feature more Australian titles! Breakout ‘Australian Made’ series Bluey returns to audience acclaim with new episodes of the hilarious and heart-warming life in the Heeler family. Kangaroo Beach will premiere its first season introducing the junior lifesaving crew and Play School and Giggle & Hoot will return as firm favourites. Itch, Mustangs FC Series 3, 100% Wolf and Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors will expand older kids thinking with big global questions alongside the ups and downs of everyday life.
New ABC KIDS Listen podcastStory Salad is a storytelling show that introduces kids to the fun of improvisation and creative storytelling. Expert Play School and ABC ME hosts are given three words to make a stupendous story using them, right then and there, on the spot! What do Jellyfish, rainbows and spaghetti have in common? No idea! But we’ll mix them together and find out.
Early childhood resources As the trusted source on childhood development, for parents, families, carers and the early childhood community we will continue to create and publish resources that keep parents up to date on the latest childhood research and studies and provide early childhood workers with practical and fun exercises that can be used in centres around the country.
Industry development initiativePlay School Directors Attachment Scheme. In 2020 Play School will be working with mid-career directors from CALD backgrounds as Directors attachments, gaining on the ground experience in the ABC multi-cam studio on arguably Australia’s most well-oiled production.
Left top: Bluey (A Ludo Studio Production) Left centre: Play School Nursery Rhyme News Time Left bottom: Mustangs FC (A Matchbox Pictures production. Photo Sarah Enticknap.)
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Our content
PRE-SCHOOL (2-8YRS)
ABC KIDS listen, including podcasts Imagine This (S3) & Little Yarns
Bluey (S2)
Giggle and Hoot
Kangaroo Beach
Little J and Big Cuz (S2)
Play School Specials, Art Time, Story Time, Nursery Rhyme News Time.
100% WOLF
Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors?
DisRupted (Disability initiative)
First Day
Get it Together! (S2)
Good Game SP (S13)
Itch
Mustangs FC (S3)
Prank You Very Much
Space Nova
Stacked
Teenage Boss (S2)
Thalu
The Strange Chores
What's for Dinner? (S2)
What It’s Like (S3)
CHILDRENS (7-14YRS)
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Pictured: Killing Eve (BBC America)
Targeted Initiatives
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Our inspirationHigh quality unique stories, fresh perspectives that engage audiences and connect people.
Our content
Our ambition• Attract new audiences and retain core audiences
allowing commissioning to focus resources on younger Australian audiences.
• Acquire unique and distinct local and international content for ABC audiences.
• Provide content with broad audience reach for linear broadcast and on-demand.
• Provide international perspectives on topics and issues of interest.
• Be proactive and responsive in a dynamic programming and commercial environment.
• Bolster Australian content hours.
How we’ll do this• Deliver a broad range of high-quality
content that shines a light on stories from around the world.
• Spot and secure the must-see programs that will have people talking.
• Maintain and develop strong relationships with key distributors and producers.
• Source specifically targeted local and international content that complements commissioned titles and broadens the audience experience.
• Act quickly to secure content and negotiate the best-value outcome for the ABC.
• Track the state of the content marketplace to ensure the ABC is primed to acquire content that meets audience needs.
• Bolster Australian content hours with local enhanced acquisitions.
Documentary, factual entertainment, comedy, drama and children’s.
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• Create innovative content for family and shared co-listening experiences.
• Focus on growth areas such as series-based narrative podcasts, and scripted and fictionalised podcasts.
• Provide practical information and non-judgmental advice that helps people better control their lives.
• Partner with other ABC departments to create enticing companion digital content.
• Scale our podcast expertise across the ABC and the broader industry via workshops, training, Ozpod conference, participation in industry events.
Our inspiration• The future for audio – like video – is on
demand, so we create content that’s native to the podcasting format.
• Tailored podcasts designed for an audience on-the-go is a growth opportunity. Audio Studios is at the centre of the current renaissance in audio storytelling in the on-demand environment.
• Audiences want niche content, specific to their needs and aspirations. Podcasting is the way the ABC can offer this and complement the broadcast offer.
• To constantly test and measure our processes and offer, to constantly refine and pivot our slate.
• Take brave and calculated risks to create distinctive content.
Our ambition • Attract new audiences to the ABC through bold, world-
class and market-leading podcasts.
• Reach under-served ABC audiences, including younger audiences, SINKS/DINKS, home duties and working families with tailored podcast content.
• Build the habit of audio listening in digital environments to increase on-demand consumption and reach.
• Explore and experiment with new and emerging audio storytelling techniques.
• Create podcast content that is native to the format and fit for platform.
• Focus equally on both the creation and the distribution of our world-class podcast content.
• Lead the ABC and the Australian industry on best-practice principles for podcast production.
How we’ll do this• Use audience insights to drive our audience-focussed
commissioning process and measure our success.
• Focus on content which can acquire non-core audiences and transition them to other ABC audio content.
• Produce content on topics, in genres, and via story treatments that appeal to underserved audiences and market gaps such as: True Crime and History, Comedy, Work and Career, Parenting and Families, Women’s Health, Wellbeing and Sexuality, and Sustainability.
• Reach younger audiences by focusing on niche content specific to their needs and aspirations, and making content that is accessible and relevant to them.
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Our highlights The EleventhThis explosive spy thriller explores the downfall of Gough Whitlam. Reporter Alex Mann re-examines the role of the CIA and Buckingham Palace in the events surrounding the dismissal of Australia’s 21st Prime Minister. We introduce new characters and relive the scandals and subplots that brought down a prime minister. This seven-part podcast makes Australian political history accessible to a younger audience through a contemporary and compelling narrative style.
Judith Lucy is Overwhelmed and DyingJudith Lucy’s boyfriend has been stealing money from her. Her brother, the last remaining member of her family, has died suddenly. On top of this, she’s wondering whether to give up comedy. And every time she looks at her phone she feels depressed by the current state of the world. Surely this isn’t how life was meant to be? This eight-episode podcast sees Judith on a quest to regain hope, reclaim happiness, and to make the most of her remaining years. In her search for meaning, Judith Lucy attempts to address her own health, sex life, relationships, career, faith, and purpose in life.
Mackaroy (working title)Tien and Mitchell are 14-year-old best friends who live in the small country town, Mackaroy. Tien and Mitchell spend all their spare time investigating conspiracies for their YouTube show. One day, they realise something very strange is going on. In their home town, at the same time every night for one hour, the internet goes down. What, and who, is sucking up all the data, and more to the point, why? This scripted podcast examines how much of our data others have access to, why that’s not necessarily a great thing, and also the lengths companies will go to, to influence us to buy their products. Created in collaboration between ABC Audio Studios and ABC Children’s. Mackaroy is the ABC’s first audio product for children aged 10-12.
From our team “The future for audio – like video – is on demand.
People don’t want to wait for content and increasingly they aren’t. Audiences want great content readily available on the platforms they’re already on. Audiences also want niche content specific to their needs, wants, desires, aspirations.
Podcasting is where the ABC can give them that. Tailored podcasting content
designed for digital consumption on mobile platforms is a growth opportunity the ABC can’t afford to ignore.” Kellie Riordan, Manager of ABC Audio Studios
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Our content
Conversations
Ladies, We Need to Talk
Short & Curly
The Pineapple Project (S4)
ABC Comedy Presents
Fierce Girls (S4)
Judith Lucy is Overwhelmed & Dying
Mackaroy (working title)
Little Green Pod
Parental As Anything with Maggie Dent
Tall Tales & True (S7)
New Scripted Comedy Musical (working title)
Mindfully
The Eleventh
Right: ABC podcasts
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Our inspiration• Create lasting value to audiences with
distinctive content with longtail appeal.
• Engage and involve the audience in telling stories.
• Sit with conversations and allow them to breathe over time and build, slowly.
• Combine personal experience with expertise to create content that is relatable and credible.
• Create, publish and share content in ways that are most useful to its audience.
• Starts conversations and creates a space to continue them.
• Content is made collaboratively to ensure it is inclusive and relevant.
• Reflects the diverse moods of our audience to build enjoyment and resilience.
Content Ideas LabOur ambitions• Focus on growing Australian audiences currently underserved
by the ABC e.g. younger audiences (18–40 year olds), women, outer metropolitan audiences and diverse audiences with respect to culture, disability, gender and sexuality.
• Work with teams across the ABC to explore new and refine existing ways of:
– reaching underserved audiences e.g. younger women for ABC Life
– telling different types of stories e.g. the topics / formats / tones / treatments we explore and use
– working together e.g. the processes, workflows and tools we use.
• Help audiences act on challenges and choices in their lives and connect with other people facing similar situations.
How we’ll do this• Evolve and incubate offers optimised for targeted
audiences important to the ABC.
• Trial new content types, tones and treatments.
• Build, measure and learn through trials, experimentation and prototyping of new technology and formats.
• Support ABC teams through coaching, collaboration, and providing resource and expertise; particularly in the discovery phase of new initiatives.
• Start with audience needs to help people build the lives they want.
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Collaboration Collaboration has been at the heart of ABC Life’s ways of working across the organisation to achieve what it has for audiences in its first year of being live. These collaborations will expand across the nation as the service continues to evolve, ensuring that we’re as relevant as possible to Australians everywhere.
StoryboxIn Q1 2020 we launch an innovative local storytelling project using public space media in ways never tried before. Partnering with a local council, a screen in a busy public square will deliver digital, experiential media to enhance connections between people and place. Content Ideas Lab will commission original video content made specifically for consumption in public space, as well as curating and reworking existing ABC video content. The video works will tell high quality Australian stories and showcase Australian culture, diversity, culture and the local community. This experiment will explore ABC’s place in public screens and, if successful, has potential to scale to Local Government Areas around Australia.
Evergreen contentContent Ideas Lab is exploring the future state of digital evergreen text content at the ABC. Through rigorous analysis with data scientists and expert interviews with subject matter experts, we aim to uncover the biggest opportunities to reach new audiences through evergreen/long tail content. We will build on ABC’s already successful text and graphics content through scalable pilots.
From our team “What sets ABC Life apart is that we are here to
mirror the full and rich diversity of Australian lives today. Whether it’s in our relationships with each other, or those big moments of transition or the everyday niggles, we want to be able to provide meaningful help.”
Bhakthi Puvanenthiran, ABC Life Editor
“In Content Ideas Lab we get to work with teams
across the ABC to turn opportunity areas into creative content ideas that we can pilot and test with new audiences. We want to help build a vibrant and compelling ABC now and into the future.”
Anisha Khopkar, Content Strategist
“We’re passionate about interacting with
Australian audiences and do it every day. This daily engagement builds connection
and community, and puts us in touch with audience members who have a story to tell."
Sonya Gee, ABC Life Assistant Editor
Our highlights ABC Life’s approach to foodABC Life helps Australians navigate the challenges and choices in their lives—food and cooking can fall into either category, depending on your life stage or simply the kind of day you’re having. Our recipes meet audiences where they are, whether they’re trying to assemble a meal their kids will actually eat, experimenting with vegetarian dinners in an effort to cut back on meat, or making time to bake as a way to unwind.
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• Expand participation in initiatives that engage the community and allow that community to drive conversations (e.g. BTN at Garma).
• Leverage Learn English content for Australian local audiences.
Our inspiration• Work in a platform-agnostic, digital-first way
that benefits all of the ABC.
• Explore new and emerging content formats for educational audiences using new production methods.
• Focus on issues that inspire young people to act and participate in a democracies at local and global level.
• Create content for children from diverse communities that they can see themselves in, creating a sense of belonging in an expanding and evolving national identity.
• The students and teachers in schools across Australia who help us understand what content works in Australian classrooms.
Our ambition• Focus on educators, students and carers with content
that enhances learning experiences.
• Expand our content for teen student audiences.
• Connect further into local communities.
• Educate, inspire and delight students, whether they are learning at school, home or virtually.
• Equip young people with the skills, knowledge and attributes of being active, informed citizens in Australian democracy who think critically.
• Push the boundaries of stories and topics we cover, balancing trust and risk.
How we’ll do this• Produce curriculum-focused digital education
resources that allow educators to strengthen education and learning opportunities for their students.
• Acquire early stage high school audiences with content that has different tones, treatment, topics and distribution methods.
• Build communities in digital and real spaces.
• Introduce children to the world around them by explaining current news events and topical issues.
• Engage local and global audiences in media literacy by continuing to participate in Media Literacy Week and working with organisations who are dedicated to the area.
• Connect Australian teachers and students to stories from across Australia, cities, suburbs and regions that help them understand the world in which they live (e.g. Agricultural Economy Digibook).
• Give local communities a voice to tell their stories or place a local lens on key stories or topics of the moment using our regional networks and connections.
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From our team “Making learning resources that work brilliantly
in the classroom comes with a plethora of creative challenges! Students come to our content via teachers (who are time poor). We are one of many resources available. Relatable references and contemporary
designs are key hooks. Our presentation of complex concepts needs to strike the right
balance. Resources must be simple, useful AND exciting and inspiring. The tone and voices used
must resonate. Our creative partnerships with content and production specialists are crucial. Schools have such a disparate range of devices and teaching environments. There are multiple modes to consider (working as a class, in groups, individually). Interactives need to work on projectors (plus desktops, laptops and tablets). We experiment with new formats such as our interactive lessons to meet these needs. We also strive to make interactives as accessible as possible.” Amy Nelson, Senior Producer and Content Strategist, ABC Education
“In 2018, there were nearly 3.9 million students and over 288,000 full-time equivalent
teaching staff in 9,477 Australian schools.1 I’m proud to work for a team that caters for this crucial segment of Australian society. I love bringing teachers industry-specific news and articles, knowing it not only helps
in their practice of educating future Australians, but also highlights the incredible
resources available on ABC Education and the brilliant content across the ABC that we package for classrooms. I’m also thrilled to be providing students with plain-language articles they can connect with directly to satisfy their thirst for knowledge.” Ara Sarafian, Editor, ABC Education
1 Source: Schools, Australia ABS Nov 2018 4221.0
Our highlightsPartnershipsForthcoming content for 2020 includes National Gallery of Victoria featuring their antiquities collection, Sydney Living Museums and a collection made in partnership with the Department Primary Industries NSW on sharks
Ag Heroes (working title)A series of at least 20 short form clips that explores the major Agricultural Industries that contribute to Australia’s economy. The history and production processes of these industries will be explored through the lens of young people on farms and whose families work in these industries. It will cover the geography, history and science curricula.
Life ChatA series of ten role-plays for the Learn English audience that will be included on iview, International iview and Learn English. These are for both international audiences and local audiences who may be learning English as an additional language.
Media Literacy We will continue to work with ABC News, ABC Local and Regional and national and international partners to create content for our Media Literacy Week website. These resources to help students and teachers fight threats such as “fake news” underline the commitment by the public broadcaster to inform and educate people by fostering social inclusion, trust and understanding in the world around them.
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Our content
Financial literacy
Agriculture digibook
Child Convicts
Continue to curate content from across the ABC and match to the curriculum.
Immigration digibooks
International Media Literacy Week October 21-27
Learn English role-plays
Learn English social content (short vocab. explainers)
Media / news literacy
The News Diet Challenge
Bruce Pascoe digibook
Work with BTN production team to produce short explainers on topical news / history concepts.
Content partnerships with galleries, libraries, archives and museums across the country.
Community competitions
Articles to support educators and parents
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Our inspiration• Bring Australia’s diverse and inclusive stories
to the heads, hearts, and hands of people around the world.
• Share Australian culture and values to build a safer more inclusive region.
• Be a daily media source for Australians abroad.
• Be a trusted source of information, education, and entertainment for people of the Indo-Pacific.
• Reinforce Australia’s place the Indo-Pacific, particularly as the interface between “east” and “west”.
• Increase Australia’s curiosity and knowledge of the Indo-Pacific region.
• Increase media literacy and build capacity within communities in the Pacific to be able to tell their own stories.
• Be a place for conversations and collaborations with the CALD communities to amplify our inclusive community and values overseas.
Our ambitions• Focus on Australia’s neighbours in the Pacific,
Indonesia, the Chinese and Indian diasporas, and the 1.2 million Australians abroad, in particular on:
– influential people of the Indo-Pacific region who have an interest in connecting with Australia for family, business, education, or leisure
– young people (often the largest demographic in our target countries)
– speakers of Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia and Tok Pisin
– Australians working and traveling abroad.
• Grow Australia’s standing around the world by targeting people who are politically, culturally, or economically influential.
How we’ll do this• Grow audiences on ABC Australia and ABC Radio
Australia broadcast channels by increasing the breadth of the content offering across news, sport, education, drama, comedy, and kids; and by increasing distribution of the service.
• Work with key genres that speak an ‘international’ language such as arts, music, science, and children’s to shape content that can increase international audiences.
• Translate content into key relevant languages – Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, and Tok Pisin (for PNG).
• Create news content in partnership with communities so it is more inclusive in approach and tone.
• Internationalise key ABC activities like New Year’s Eve coverage.
• Experiment with newer forms of content including podcasting and digital story telling that reach younger audiences on more platforms including local media channels in the Pacific, Indonesia, and China, which are part of their natural media consumption.
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From our team “There are over one million Australians of
Chinese heritage. We will collaborate with them to tell stories about travel, health, lifestyle, arts, culture that will engage Chinese audiences all over the world and will build greater understanding between
Australia and China.” Grace Feng, ABC Chinese
“Australia shares deep historical and cultural
ties with people of the ‘blue continent’. The ABC has been Australia’s voice in the Pacific for decades and a competition like Pacific Break will engage and unite young people through music.”
Ilaria Walker, ABC Indo-Pacific
Our highlightsPacific focusThe countries of the Pacific face environmental and political challenges and Australia has a big role to play in navigating them. News, talk, sport, and culture will be priority content areas. This will include a revitalised Pacific Break – a competition for Pacific musicians with the winner playing at the Womadelaide festival.
Learn EnglishEnglish-language learning is a strong international audience drawcard particularly via social media. New lessons will be created for use across multiple digital and broadcast platforms.
Digital storytelling A digital first storytelling team will focus on vertical video storytelling and making content in the ways that younger audiences are consuming content. This will include dedicated social media/ community producers. Content will include sharing stories of success from Australia’s diverse communities, and Australian Heart – a series about Australians abroad making a difference in improving peoples’ lives.
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To complement the specific guidelines our teams use to make decisions, we’ve described some universal qualities we look for in content. We’ve also described how we will work and measure success over the next three years to meet our priorities.
We value content that is
Relatable and approachableWe tell stories about the things that Australians care about and the issues and events that matter to them. We help people connect with these stories by speaking clearly, embracing feeling and using personal experience, drama and humour.
A constructive part of the communityWe’re part of communities across Australia and work with them to tell their stories and share their perspectives. We do more than just report events and raise issues, we help people and communities understand them, know what’s being done about them and the practical things they can do themselves.
Distinctive and AustralianWe tell stories for and about everything that’s uniquely Australian – our people, places and communities. We raise and discuss the things that others won’t. We do so with depth, rigour and lasting relevance.
What we value and how we work
Bold and compellingWe know that no treatment is off the table if it makes our stories compelling, surprising, entertaining and valuable for our audiences.
Right: The Weekly with
Charlie Pickering (A Thinkative
Television production. Photo
Kelly Gardner.)
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Start with audienceWe focus on our priority audiences. In every discussion we ask ‘Who is this for?’, ‘How will it be relevant?’ and ‘What does the data or audience insight tell us?’
Consider platformWe make content for the platforms our audience use. We balance making content that works across multiple platforms with content designed for specific platforms and their audiences.
Build destinations and brandsWe make complementary content to build destinations and brands that help audiences to discover content and build habits. We do this with enough variety to keep audiences interested.
Make it returnableWe craft narratives and connect content to make audiences return across episodes, series and seasons and move across our platforms. Ultimately, we look to build lifelong relationships with Australians.
Rally around returning eventsWe use existing events (e.g. New Year’s Eve) and make new ones (e.g. Jazz 100) to unite engaged people and build audiences.
Blur genresSome of our biggest and most distinctive content blurs genres intentionally. When we connect public benefit to entertainment, more people connect with it. (e.g. Comedy & News – The Weekly With Charlie Pickering, Art & Human Interest – Anh’s Brush With Fame).
Partner and collaborateWe work with teams across the ABC to tell stories that are broader, reach more people and build conversations. We work with grass roots organisations and cultural institutions to increase social impact.
Are creative and groundedWe experiment and try new things, but don’t discard what works. We learn from our past and trends here and overseas, but are never formulaic.
Consider our content mixContent doesn’t exist in a vacuum. To balance our content mix, we ask:
• What is unique about this content? Are we avoiding unnecessary duplication and over-servicing of a particular audience?
• What aspects of the content might have universal or broader appeal? How can we maximise this while creating a distinctively ABC offer?
• If we are focusing on a targeted audience, are we creating content for Australians we wouldn’t normally reach?
• Can we connect this to other ABC content to tell a more compelling story overall?
• Is there similar or adjacent content that will help us to create broadcast schedules and online platforms that are habit building for our audiences?
When we work we
Left: Karl Kruszelnicki
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We will measure success against each of our four priorities:
Relevant for all AustraliansWe will determine how relevant and essential our portfolio of content is by continually assessing where our audience gaps lie and tracking the awareness, reach and engagement of our content (individual and collective) across all audience segments.
Deliver public benefit with impactWe will understand the extent of the impact and public benefit our content delivers by monitoring the real world impacts on the behaviours and attitudes of Australians.
Measuring success
successLeft: Wil Anderson hosts Gruen (A CJZ production. Photo Ian Corridore.)
Look and sound like contemporary AustraliaWe will monitor the diversity of talent used in the story selection, curation, creation, performance and presentation of our content as well as audience perceptions of diversity, balance and inclusion to ensure we truly look and sound like contemporary Australia.
Creative, push boundaries and take risksWe will measure the quality and distinctiveness of our content in meeting audience needs and expectations and ensure that we remain innovative in our approach to creating extraordinary experiences.
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