I wish one of the many ABC networks was directed to re-broadcast the audio of the 7pm state news bulletin.
Think about it, all these radio stations, taking up spectrum, not one re-broadcasts the flagship news daily news bulletin for those not around a TV.
ABC has a highly inner Sydney centric view that we all have access to devices worth hundreds of dollars and will pay big bucks for data to look at an inferior mobile picture on tiny screen.
We just want the audio, cheaply rebroadcast, only 30 mins out of a program schedule, itâs nothing.
It would also make a good use of the TV resource, reaching more people than before.
This frustration would also be shared by people in VHF band II areas where their FM audio of TV is no longer available. Newcastle, Spencer Gulf, Bunbury, Townsville + more and Canberra before ABC analogue moved to Band III
That would be a good idea.
The most obvious candidate would be News Radio.
The only issue I can see is infrastructure - given that News Radio is live nationally 24/7. So they would need to split it up into state/territory specific feeds to incorporate that state/territoryâs 7pm bullletin, so they would need 8 feeds on the satellite instead of just 1 and reconfigure the inputs from each local satellite to take that state/territoryâs feed.
Or change the transmitter feeds to a land based option etc.
I canât see a 30 min news bulletin working on Local Radio however, and Evenings is a good listen.
Newsradio has separate feeds when itâs used as an overflow to have sporting fixtures broadcast into a market. Newsradio will differ from Bris/Gold Coast. Newcastle different to Sydney, so it can be done.
Surely thereâs enough radio stations that provide an equivalent news coverage in lieu of a TV news simulcast, with News Radio, Local Radio, Radio National, commercial talkback, etc
And is the 7pm News streamed online? That would allow people away from a TV to catch the bulletin.
But people want access to the actual bulletin, itâs something different, content you donât get elsewhere in a form unavailable elsewhere.
I made my case clear enough, here goes again:
Not everything people do enables them to look at their bloody iPads and mobile phones and other mobile devices. Radio is one of the best mediums for holding an audience, you can use it in the background, work two handed on things, be active, be driving, quite endless really.
And you donât need money for devices and be paying for data and then searching for a signal.
I often laugh at Telstra and the rest claiming 90, now 98% of Australiaâs population, big deal. On land mass coverage, the wide area coverage where it really matters, this is where radio will not be surpassed by data signal for a very long time, if ever.
The people driving along a highway at 7pm deserve access too.
With comments like this, I could write a blistering submission to the Senate inquiry grilling the ABC on their removal of SW coverage to northern Australia if I do say so myself!
I havenât heard anyone suggest this other than yourself - yes, that doesnât mean that a radio simulcast of the 7pm bulletin is therefore automatically unwarranted, but if the ABC canât find enough of an audience for it, it isnât going to happen.
As weâve seen, NewsRadio is run on a bare bones budget. I donât know how much there actually is to cut there.
The station will broadcast todayâs A-League Grand Final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory from 4pm AEST. Kickoff is at 5pm. Ned Hall will lead the broadcast.
ABC News on Radio will pick up coverage of A-League from next weekend (November 10-12), from Round 6 to the end of 2017/18 season. But in good news for soccer fans and also for listeners in Tasmania and NT, every A-League match will now be heard on the station, across Australia. Currently only selected matches are broadcast on Local Radio in the competing teamsâ home state (e.g. tonightâs Perth Glory v Adelaide clash will be heard on Local Radio in SA and WA). A-League coverage will continue to be available online, on Grandstand Digital and the ABC Listen mobile app.
Itâs annoying that ABC News(Radio) is used for sport. One should expect the name of the station to reflect its content.
I wouldâve preferred if the ABC had taken inspiration from the BBC, whose news radio station also features sport and so omits news from its name. BBC Radio Five Live. So ABC Radio Live or something.
The A-League coverage on ABC News on Radio faces its first hurdle on Saturday November 25 with the Queensland state election count. In the past, the station has either simulcast every state, territory and federal election coverage on Local Radio or provided its own coverage, pre-empting any sporting broadcast including the AFL. There will be two A-League matches on the day: Wellington v Central Coast (5.30pm AEDT) and Sydney FC v Brisbane (7.30pm AEDT). Will the soccer coverage be cut short so ABC News can start broadcasting at 7pm AEDT?
Looking at the ABC Grandstand guide for this weekend, on digital radio the A-League is not on ABC News on Radio but some games are on ABC Grandstand Digital. Presumably the soccer will be on ABC News on Radio on AM/FM with the Queenland election on digital?