There are many practices used by the commercial television channels that annoy viewers. Station timing for programmes are a bit of a joke because they consistently over-run time slots to make it difficult for viewers to change channels and catch the start of a competing show. That is all bout ratings achievement. Advertising revenue lives or dies on those all important ratings and station bosses jockey to block another channels crowd pleasers by the clever placement of their own high end shows. Viewers also complain about those interminably long advertisement breaks !
Then we have our two "public broadcasters " - the ABC and SBS. The ABC is advertisement free, while SBS defrays it's cost on the public purse by a moderate selection of commercial advertising. The ABC has been with us since the inception of radio and it's televised format while SBS was a newcomer intended to serve our multilingual society as we opened our doors to the world.
It seems that the ABC is looking over it's shoulder and finding that SBS is morphing into a "general broadcaster " and is now attracting a greater viewing audience than it's left leaning counterpart. SBS has shows such as "The Bridge " which attracts a cult following and it's world view programme "Dateline " is a ratings attraction. The ABC has seen fit to move it's competing show "Foreign Correspondent "to the same time slot to mimic the commercial channels tactics to go head to head with the "opposition "!
A war of words has erupted with the ABC boss - Mark Scott - suggesting that Australia has no need of two public broadcasters and that SBS should be incorporated into the ABC. Many people who enjoy the fresh, innovative style of SBS and it's balance in news reporting would think that exactly the opposite should apply - and that the ABC should be folded into the SBS format to give a new approach to public broadcasting.
That would certainly raise the perennial issue of funding. The purists insist that the ABC must remain advertisement free, but that ignores the existing content of programme promotion and what really amounts to advertising of cultural events in which the ABC participates. Few would welcome the intensity of advertising common on the commercial channels, but SBS seems to have achieved a nice balance and the public purse is struggling to adequately fund our needs for health and education in this welfare state.
There is no suggestion of shutting down either the ABC or SBS free to air television channels. It seems more of a need to re-clarify the objectives of each entity. SBS started life with a day mission to educate migrants struggling to learn the English language with news and entertainment in the language of their former country. The purpose of the ABC is not so clear - and there is still a degree of uncertainty whether it is intended as a way of educating the masses - or is simply there to entertain !
For a very long time the ABC has been tainted by it's left wing bias. SBS is a more " middle of the road " broadcaster. In a country as diverse as Australia there is clearly room for different points of view. If SBS can take audiences away from the ABC it will be because it presents matter that appeals to that wider spectrum. Rather than try and absorb a competitor endangering it's reason to exist, the ABC would be better advised to have a long look at it's faults - and rectify them !
What is clear is that the ABC intends to war with SBS as a competitor rather than as a complimentary broadcaster achieving a mutual purpose. The fact that in future Dateline and Foreign Correspondent will face off in the same time slot will present viewers with a choice and the only reason seems to be some sort of moral victory when the ratings are disclosed. It is a pertinent fact that it is the ABC who is moving it's programme rather than the other way around. It is the ABC that feels threatened by SBS popularity.
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