The " Aunty " question ?

For the first time, funding the ABC has cost the Australian taxpayer a billion dollars in the 2012/13 year.    " Aunty " is fast becoming a drain on Treasury and the money it gives back from it's commercial activities has slipped by a third - to a return of just $ 159 million.

A lot of people will question just why we need a radio and television network paid for from the public purse in the twenty-first century.   Originally, the ABC was supposed to provide news and entertainment to the Australian people that may not be available from other sources - and the purists insisted that it do this free of the taint of running commercial advertisements with it's services.

Today's citizens have an amazing range of news sources spread across the commercial sector and including the ever expanding Internet.  Never has a society had so much entertainment thrust at them from free to air channels and the general entertainment industry - and the rise of electronics promises more mobility and further expansion in the years to come.

The fare Aunty delivers is the creation of very highly paid executives who are safely ensconced in a government department insulated from the pressures of the commercial world.   Their offerings are supposed to cater for all levels of society, but shows often miss the mark because they are aimed either too high - or too low - in the entertainment spectrum.

The freedom of the ABC from commercial advertising seems a big part of the cost conundrum.   Running parallel to Aunty - is SBS - and it shows paid advertisements, although much less frequently than it's commercial rivals.   It also runs material considered much more " risque " than ABC fare and rates well on the ratings.  SBS is supposed to fill the vacuum faced by new settlers to this country who are struggling to adapt to English as a replacement for their native tongue.

The question that must be asked - is whether we can still afford the luxury of the ABC ?

Has the time come for the ABC to defray it's costs by running a proportion of it's air time for commercial gain in similar fashion to SBS  ?     Of course the purists will howl, but to some it must seem that the ABC represents the view of the highly paid elite and has little bearing on the outlook and needs of ordinary Australians.

In a world of rapidly shrinking free services it could be argued that the ABC has reached it's " use by " date !