…the Federal Government’s indexation pause, which effectively cut the ABC’s budget by $84m over three years, [and] ongoing reduction of $41m a year from 2022, combined with the $64m in ongoing cuts imposed in 2014 made these kinds of announcements inevitable.
Summary of changes:
- Job cuts across all divisions, totalling around 250 staff
- Increase spending on digital services such as ABC iview
- ABC Life will rebrand as ABC Local, and include ABC content from outer suburban and regional areas
- ABC Comedy television channel will be rebranded
- 75 per cent of ABC content-makers to be based outside Sydney’s Ultimo HQ by 2025
- ABC News Channel programs will be reviewed
- Flagship 7.45am radio news bulletin to be cut after an 80-year run
- Spending on television productions will be cut by $5 million a year
- Original content screening will fall back from 48 to 42 weeks per year
- Shows will no longer be commissioned to screen after 9.30pm
- Internal content teams will be reduced from 5 to 4
Source: ABC axes ABC Life, Comedy and up to 250 jobs as part of five-year plan