There is a glut of crappy local news in the Australian TV landscape. It is SO difficult to find quality national and international news. ABC News has the perfect balance, at least in WA.
If anything we need less sports reports - at least in WA - some weekdays they feel the need to include several reports just to have the sports presenter do something. Why do we need sports on a Tuesday evening?
ABC is the national broadcaster and as such there should be a national flagship bulletin at 7pm, if anything, with state news to follow at perhaps 7:30.
Further - no one watches ABC News 24. To say national and international news should be dumped there is to say our national broadcaster shouldnât be broadcasting national news. Unbelievable!
The ABC should not be chasing ratings. It should be providing a service no other network does, and shitty local news is overdone and boring across three networks already.
The aging ABC audience is because it is extremely popular in the country and actually files stories related to regional and rural issues with far greater frequency than commercial alternatives. In Queensland, a state more decentralised than most, this rural aspect is massively important.
Further, the ABC needs older viewers. Younger audiences are already catered for on ABC2 and Triple J.
No one is saying national and international new should be âdumpedâ on News 24.
However News 24, plus all the digital platforms and social platforms all have a national focus. Likewise News Breakfast at 6am, News Mornings at 9am, Midday News and News at 5 and Lateline. All these are nationally focused. 7pm is the only broadcast that allows for a delve into state issues. No other ABC broadcast or channel touches state news. So 7pm should have more of this. As the national broadcaster - ABC needs to be doing more state news.
Who said local car accident stories? Not local stories. State news of significance.
If ABC does nothing to attract younger people to itâs product - it will die a slow death. Younger people watch less TV, correct - but ABC needs to be growing the next generation of viewers too. If they donât keep attracting NEW audiences, as the older viewers die, ABC will be left with no one watching. Exaggeration but you get the point.
Anyone 16 and older with a job is paying tac to fund ABC. And ABC News needs to be proud cig news content that appeals to them too. Young people are more interested in news than ever before - but ABC needs to be delivering in a format that appeals to younger people as well as older people. Commercial networks live and die by profit. ABC does not. Whilst they don not need to chase ratings - they should be getting healthy spread of all age groups. And they are not.
If ABC does nothing as you guys seem to want - then it will become irrelevant in the decades ahead. And no one wants that.
If I am 25-40 and an ABC taxpayer - where is the news that appeals to me?
Even ABC realizes this more than you guys. Which is saying something,
Who cares if those âplatformsâ (ie. channels and mediums through which two people and a dog get their news) cover national news. That doesnât mean the 7pm news shouldnât.
If the problem is a lack of delving into state issuesâŚthen that doesnât mean other news should be shafted. Like I said, incorporate state news either end of 7pm? Just as a rough idea. Personally, I donât think thereâs any issue at the moment anyway.
State news of significance is already covered very adequately. What more local means is the local youâd find on Seven and Nine.
The 7pm news IS for a mature audience - and they deserve to have a bulletin cater for their needs. It is not exclusively for them either, anyone of any age that wants to be informed on a state, national or world level can tune in. If they donât want to tune in on a TV, they can find it online. Silly to think actual news content needs to be modified so kids can be tempted to sit down at 7pm with their pipe and their newspaper. Never going to happen. Donât chase it.
The last half of your post I donât even understand. If youâre complaining about the platform, it is ALL available online. If youâre talking about the news itself, I donât see why younger people are crying out for more state politics (for example) on the 7pm bulletinâŚin fact, Iâm struggling to grasp the problem youâre even identifying here. What sort of news, specifically, at a local or state level, is the ABC News not covering at 7pm, such that younger audiences actually tune out?
I know not everyone is going to agree but maybe the problem with the 7pm edition of ABC News isâŚthe length of the bulletin.
Is 30 minutes still enough time to adequately cover state, national and international news in 2017? Or should the ABC join Seven (in most markets), Nine, Ten and SBS in running itâs main evening news bulletins for a full hour?
Iâm surprised that a) ABC is talking about ratings having stated categorically on a number of occasions that they arenât! and b) they needed to have any sort of review to realise that that older demographics are watching their news, that can be seen everyday in the ratings numbers.
I donât think there is much the ABC can change about its 7pm bulletin to increase the number of younger viewers. Linear TV news bulletins on all channels are dominated by older audiences. If the network wants to produce such a bulletin, donât expect younger people to tune in.
The biggest demographic problem for ABC is the rest of their schedule (IMO). Without going off the topic of ABC News, if they could attract more younger viewers to primetime on ABC1 a few of those might decide to watch the news as well.
Briefly, I would move 7.30 to 9.30 and start the entertainment programs 30 minutes earlier. Provide a âqualityâ alternative to the reality shows on commercial TV that is more entertaining than a current affairs show. So on Monday, Australian Story could have the 7.30 spot, Juliaâs Home Delivery on Wednesday etc.
Absolutely right. Younger people just arenât interested in watching the news. They never have been. And ill-advised moves to tempt them to watch it (like putting on young presenters) have never, ever worked.
Itâs made even more difficult these days by the dominance of social media and easily accessible news via apps etc. So if they actually want to see whatâs happening in the world theyâll gravitate to those sources. If they want something more cerebral and in depth, the nightly news ainât the place to find it.
ABC needs to attract some younger viewers to its news (and itâs whole network) as if they donât recruit some younger viewers they wonât have a new generation of viewers In 10 years. This doesnât mean the news wonât still skew old and it doesnât mean radical things need be done to the news. But they do need to make a bulletin that is a little more appealing to younger audiences as well. Things like pacing, presentation, language used - the marketing and positioning of the news brand, as well as the content and stories covered - can be tweaked and adjusted. Social issues. Gay marriage. Home affordability. These are issues that appeal to gen X. This is something even abc realizes it needs to do.
more state content is unrelated to the above and just something I personally believe the 7pm news
Should cover a bit more - as all
Other bulletins are national and all other platforms are national. If youâre going to go to the trouble of producing 7 state bulletins - they should have a slightly more state focus. Otherwise just run a national bulletin at 7. This does not mean dumping national news and international news at all - I never said that - perhaps 2-3 more state stories per night. And 2-3 less national. And adjustment
Perhaps youâre forgetting that ABC News doesnât have commercial breaks? Yes it is long enough.
Less local/state/territory stories (than some would like) will be because of budget pressures.
National & international stories can air on all the bulletins including on ABC News 24, while another local story is usually shown just that once and so itâs much more expensive (cost per overall minutes of airtime, etc.).
Within the constraints I think ABC News at 19:00 is doing pretty well, they do have a fair amount of state/territory stories, and I certainly wouldnât move it.
Iâm certainly well aware that ABC News doesnât have commercial breaks and I hope this will always be the case.
As far as the content of ABC News at 7pm is concerned, I think some people here donât realise that the bulletins are supposed to be state/territory focused, rather than capital city focused as is the case with the commercial networks. As a taxpayer-funded broadcaster itâs the ABCâs responsibility to adequately serve all Australians with their news services (both on TV and radio), not just those who are fortunate enough to live in the capital cities.
This drives me insane. âLetâs cross now to our reporter whoâs been hanging around for hours since the incident occurred.â Itâs pointless and a waste of resources.
As for ABC News, they currently do do more regional stories than commercials. Here in Victoria they have a reporter based in Geelong covering the south coast with stories throughout the week. This should be expanded, although currently local reporters do contribute occasional stories of state or national significance.
As for criticism of too much international news, sure itâs about creating balance, but ABC News cover interesting stories that the commercials will never touch and long may they do that.
They have a pretty substantial amount of interaction with younger demographics on their online and social platforms. TV-wise ABC has always had a smaller audience with younger viewers anyway, as for many people aging and maturation evokes a sense of worldly concern that Auntie provides for. Iâm not too worried about there being no audience into the future, as one will form and grow, and the ABC usually adapts quite well to change too.
I donât think anybody is saying the 7pm State News shouldnât cover national news, but it should also cover state issues, and not just one token story 20 minutes in.
How often do you watch ABC News at Seven? Granted, I havenât been able to watch it in six months, but from what I remember of the Queensland edition, state politics always earnt a prominent slot in the bulletin and other state-centric stories were also there.
In 10 years timeâŚthere will be a whole generation 10 years older, people of an age more likely to watch a television news bulletin. This is the kind of circular argument that always predicts the demise of the Liberal Party.
There is absolutely no need to make anything more appealing to younger audiences because, well, this is the news, and it is already presented in a widely accessible format for all. I donât believe at all that the pacing, presentation or language locks out younger viewers as you point out.
What is a social issue? What is a social issue not already covered adequately by ABC News? What is simply saying âgay marriageâ? What issue surrounding âgay marriageâ is not already covered adequately by ABC News? Why arenât these being covered on 7.30 if youâre concerned about more depth? Weâre talking about the news here, not magazine style 60 Minutes reporting.
We canât just use cliches on the assumption that this is what younger viewers want, is what younger viewers are not currently getting from ABC News, and what will actually make them tune in at 7pm if changes are made.
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2) more state content is unrelated to the above and just something I personally believe the 7pm news
Should cover a bit more - as all
Other bulletins are national and all other platforms are national. If youâre going to go to the trouble of producing 7 state bulletins - they should have a slightly more state focus. Otherwise just run a national bulletin at 7. This does not mean dumping national news and international news at all - I never said that - perhaps 2-3 more state stories per night. And 2-3 less national. And adjustment[/quote]
But there is already a competitive tension there - when there is national news of significance, more time is appropriately dedicated to those stories. When there are state issues running hot, we have a focus on those. Why must we prescribe arbitrary allocations of how many reports on each we are allowed?
Why on earth are you not watching Seven or Nine if this is what you want? Itâs just bizarre. Why would you want to change the single point of difference, of some kind of variety, in the Australian news landscape?
More local news? What sort of stories? What has happened that you thought has not been covered adequately?
Live crosses? Why? Youâre saying you want more content squeezed into these bulletinsâŚyet youâre saying you want time soaked up by unnecessary repetition before and after reports are played. Inconsistent.
We already have a daily sports presenter in Perth. As I said, it often means time is wasted mid-week on sports reports when not necessary, but I donât really have too much of a problem with that.