While commercial television’s primary interest is advertiser revenue, the ABC has in some way, more freedom in regards to program choice and content. Like any television station, ratings are important to the ABC, but as it is not funded in anyway by advertising, the pressure of sky-high ratings is somewhat lessened. In commercial television, if audiences do not like a program, then they can simply change to one they do. This audience is predominately working-class and about 50% female. (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2006, p. 36) The ABC however, directs its programs to a much more diverse audience, which is reflected in its programming.
Although this study is on ABC TV, for accessibility reasons we will briefly examine the ABCs news website. The predominant topics have been mentioned previously and the website features international, national and local news. The main story on 6 June 2009, was Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, meeting with Chinalco, a Chinese state-owned miner. (‘ABC News Top Stories- Breaking news from Australia and the world’, 2009, n.p.) This story, titled ‘Rudd reassures Chinalco over failed merger’, incorporates the economy, international affairs, the environment and politics. The page is structured into news topics, in the following order: video; audio; features and analysis; news at a glance; world; sport; entertainment; offbeat; and photos. Obviously, the way the segments are structured indicates the ABCs priorities, which can be seen as agenda setting.
The homepage for Channel Seven news however, features only entertainment stories, such as celebrity gossip, on the same date. (‘TV News- Yahoo!7 TV’, 2009, n.p.) One of the top stories on Channel Seven’s website is ‘Heidi and Spencer quit reality show’. This indicates that each station, or website in this instance, holds different priorities regarding news values and news worthiness. It also indicates the distinct difference in audience between the ABC and the commercial network, Channel Seven.
If we compare ABC1 and Channel Seven on 8 June 2009, we can see there is a dramatic difference in news and current affairs content. ABC1 has eight news and current affairs programs compared to Channel Seven’s five. ABC1 also has many other programs such as BTN Daily (Behind the News), that according to the ABCs website are classified as educational, rather than news or current affairs. There is also numerous documentaries and factual programs.
The eight programs on 8 June 2009 on ABC1 that are considered as news or current affairs, as per the ABCs website are: Landline; Midday Report; Landline Extra; ABC News; The 7.30 Report; Australian Story; Four Corners; and Lateline. (‘ABC1 Television Guide’, 2009, n.p.)
The five programs on 8 June 2009 on Channel 7 that are considered news or current affairs as per Channel Seven’s website are: Sunrise; Seven Morning News; Seven News at 4.30; Seven News; and Today Tonight. (‘TV Guide- Yahoo!7’, 2009, n.p.)
The comparison of news and current affairs between ABC1 and the commercial network Channel Seven is not to say that one is better than the other. Both networks aim their programs towards different audiences and because of such, are structured differently.
To check out each station’s TV guide for yourself:
http://au.tv.yahoo.com/tv-guide/search/index.html?venue=18891&now=1244250000&required=1244412000
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