ABC TV
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| ABC TV | |
|---|---|
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| Launched | November 5, 1956 |
| Network | ABC Television |
| Owned by | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) |
| Audience share | 16.2% Nationally (March 24, 2007, [1]) |
| Slogan | There's more to Television |
| Website | abc.net.au/tv/abctv |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Analogue | Normally tuned to 2 |
| SD Digital | Channel 2 |
| HD Digital | Channel 20 |
| Satellite | |
| Foxtel Digital | Channel 102 |
| Austar Digital | Channel 102 |
| Cable | |
| Foxtel Digital | Channel 102 |
| Optus Digital | Channel 102 |
ABC TV, sometimes ABC-TV, is a national public television channel in Australia. It is the primary television service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Launched on 5 November 1956, the channel is available nationally and has a market share of over 16% of viewers.
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[edit] History
- Further information: History of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
ABC TV began broadcasts on 5 November 1956 from its Sydney station ABN-2 with an inauguration by Prime Minister Robert Menzies. It began broadcasts in Melbourne on ABV-2 on 18 November 1956 just in time for its coverage of the 1956 Olympic Games.
[edit] Programming
- Further information: List of programs broadcast by ABC Television
ABC TV is required by charter to meet certain programming obligations. Its focus is on news and current affairs but it also presents documentaries and educational programmes, children's shows, drama, comedy and variety, and sports. It is often criticised for a perceived lack of locally-produced content and for its reliance on foreign, particularly British, programmes. This largely results from restricted funds.
ABC TV's drama line-up consists almost entirely of imported content including The West Wing, The Bill, Doctor Who and Spooks. It currently does not produce any primetime drama series, but still produces mini-series such as Answered by Fire. It also shows repeats of past successful local drama series including SeaChange, Something in the Air and Head Start.
Comedy on ABC TV is primarily locally-produced but also includes foreign series such as Little Britain and Extras. The network has a reputation for launching the careers of comedians including Magda Szubanski, Wil Anderson, Dave Hughes and Chris Lilley. Its present flagship comedy shows are Kath & Kim, Spicks and Specks and The Chaser's War on Everything. Former successful shows include Frontline, The Micallef Program, The D-Generation, Mother and Son, BackBerner, Good News Week, The Glass House and The Aunty Jack Show.
The remainder of ABC TV's schedule consists of lifestyle, music, game and talk shows. Lifestyle programmes are mostly cooking shows like The Cook and The Chef and travel shows like Pilot Guides but also include shows such as Gardening Australia, Compass and Message Stick. The network's music shows include Rage and jtv while past shows include Countdown and Recovery. Its game shows include quiz shows The Einstein Factor and Head 2 Head and competition programmes Strictly Dancing and The New Inventors. ABC TV presents three talk shows, the locally made Enough Rope and Talking Heads, and ITV1's Parkinson. It also broadcasts arts discussion shows At The Movies and Sunday Arts.
[edit] News & Current affairs
- Further information: ABC News and Current Affairs, ABC News
A significant proportion of ABC TV programming is current affairs-related. It is produced by the ABC's News and Current Affairs division and an investigative unit headed by Andrew Fowler. Its flagship programmes Four Corners, Australian Story, Foreign Correspondent, Lateline, Stateline and The 7.30 Report are broadcast in primetime and are widely-regarded for agenda-setting. In addition, Landline, Insiders and Media Watch cover rural, political and business, and media affairs. The current affairs line-up is supported by state-based evening newscast ABC News at 7pm and the weekdaily Midday Report at noon.
[edit] Sport
Sports coverage on ABC TV generally includes a diverse range of less popular sports which are not shown on commercial television. It currently presents netball, lawn bowls, basketball and state football legue competitions (Australian rules football and rugby league). It also has rights to the Paralympic Games and the Hopman Cup tennis tournament.
[edit] Children
- Further information: ABC Kids
ABC TV's children's programming is more extensive than any other channel in Australia. Children's shows are typically broadcast under the ABC Kids banner in two blocks: mornings 6am–10am and afternoons 3pm–6pm. ABC Rollercoaster is a segment shown from 5pm-6pm that is aimed at a sligtly older demographic than ABC Kids' 6–12 year olds.
ABC Kids is a mixture of ABC TV-produced and international shows. Due to their longevity, programmes such as Play School and Bananas in Pyjamas are iconic within Australia. Popular locally-made drama series include The Saddle Club, Out There, Blue Water High, Ship to Shore and Round the Twist. International programmes which regularly feature it the line-up include Sesame Street, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Arthur, Fireman Sam and older-years shows Degrassi, Lizzie McGuire, Freaky Stories and Daria.
Children's programming also includes educational programmes. Behind the News is a long-running series which provides background information to current affairs. The programme has come to be incorporated into many school curricula. Schools TV is a segment between 10am-11am that consists of documentaries and specials relevant to school study.
[edit] Current schedule
| 6:00 PM | 6:30 PM | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUN | At The Movies | Einstein Factor | ABC News | Sunday Night Documentary | My Family and Other Animals | Compass | |||
| MON | Message Stick | Talking Heads | The 7.30 Report | Australian Story | Four Corners | Media Watch | Difference Of Opinion | ||
| TUE | Time Team | Painting Australia | The Bill | Foreign Correspondent | |||||
| WED | Kylie Kwong | Cook & The Chef | The New Inventors | Spicks & Specks | The Chaser's War | Catherine Tate | At The Movies | ||
| THU | Grand Designs | Catalyst | Thursday Night Documentaries | ||||||
| FRI | As Time Goes By | Can We Help? | Stateline | Collectors | Murphy's Law | Spooks | |||
| SAT | Goodnight Swee.. | Gardening Austral. | Around the World in 80 Treasures | The Bill | The West Wing | ||||
Note: News & Current Affairs are in Grey; Drama is in Blue; Sitcoms, Animation and Comedy are in Purple; Lifestyle programs are in Green; Factual programs and Documentaries are Yellow; Reality, Game shows and Talk shows are in Red; Sport is in Orange; Movies are in Pink. The above represents ABC TV's usual primetime schedule. It does not reflect one-off events, and program starting times may vary from those shown. For up-to-date information, see the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's online television guide. (link)
[edit] Availability
- Further information: ABC Television
ABC TV is available on all of ABC Television's television transmitters in Analogue, SD Digital, and 720p HD Digital. The channel only differs from each state by local content, which is typically only the nightly ABC News newscast and the weekly current affairs programme Stateline. Coverage of events of state interest, such as state elections, is also undertaken by state ABC Television stations.
[edit] Identity
A staff competition held by the ABC to create an ABC logo was won by Bill Kennard in 1963 for a prize of £25. The logo was a three-loop wavelength design based on patterns that can be seen in an oscilloscope(called a Lissajous curve). This logo was modified from 2D to Colour to 3D over time and it is now one of the most well-known logos in Australia.
- In 1975, the ABC logo was modified to a thickened version. The logo was also changed to an "over and under" design.
- In 1988, on Australia Day, the national idents were modified to celebrate the Australian Bicentenary. The original set of idents were titled "Natural Textures of Australia", with a following called "Man Made Textures of Australia".
- From 1994 to 1999, the ABC logo featured on idents and promos was modified to his similar logo as 1979-1986 NBC logo and design to this seen in 1955 USA color TV on the other design. That Logo was Sparks Fly Slowly by Flys (1994-96) and Friends (1997-99) featured in the promos and idents.
- In 1995, the ABC logo featured on idents and promos was modified to a similar design to that seen in 1963 on the first design. The logo was hand drawn by persons featured in the promos and idents.
- In 2001, to celebrate the new millennium and the introduction of Digital Television in Australia, the ABC TV's logo was again modified, but this time to a 3D Metalic design. The logo was also radically modified to lose the "over and under" design.
- In 2002, to celebrate 70 years of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC TV's logo changed back to the "over and under" design, however it still kept the 3D Metalic design. The channels idents featured elements - fire, leaf and ice, and the slogan was modified to "Everyone's ABC". Later in 2002, the channels idents were modified to feature everyday Australians.
- In 2005, on December 19, the channels idents were revamped featuring glass televisions. The ident's were also carried on ABC2 for the "ABC New & Digital Media" promo.
[edit] Logos
ABC TV has used many logos throughout its history.
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| 1965 - 1974 | 1975 - 2000 | 2001 - 2002 | 2002 - present |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| ABC Television (Australia) |
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Television Channels: ABC TV | ABC2 International Channels: Australia Network Defunct channels: ABC Kids Channel | Fly TV |
| Free-To-Air Television Channels in Australia |
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ABC TV | ABC2 | Channel Seven | Channel Nine | Channel Ten | SBS TV |
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Regional Affiliate Networks: Prime (GWN) | Southern Cross | Imparja | NBN | WIN | Southern Cross Ten |
