ABC Calls for Submissions for its One Million Dollar Podcast Fund
Think you have an idea that could become the next big Australian podcast hit? Then the ABC wants to hear from you.
In September, the ABC announced the launch of its one-million-dollar podcast fund aimed at finding up-and-coming Australian podcasters with great Australian stories to tell.
Submissions are now open for funding to work alongside the creative team at ABC Audio Studios to produce these distinctive and compelling podcasts.
Head of ABC Audio Studios, Kellie Riordan, said they were primarily looking for ideas that were original and entertaining and that reflected contemporary Australian life. “We already have a growing list of popular podcasts covering a wide range of topics and subjects including comedy, lifestyle and real-life crime. What we are seeking through this fund is something unique – something we haven’t heard before,” she said.
“The pitches that will grab our attention will be ones that try different formats and feature different voices talking on diverse topics. They need to have a targeted or niche audience in mind – content that can find passionate followers who will share the word more widely in their specific communities.”
There will be a series of stages in the podcast submission process. The first submissions stage – open to all those who wish to pitch an idea – will run until November 17.
A shortlist of pitchers will then be invited to hone their ideas with some help and advice from members of the ABC team.
A final selection will be made early in the New Year when the successful podcasts will pitch directly to the commissioning panel. Those podcasts selected for either production or piloting will be announced in late February.
TO SUBMIT YOUR IDEA, CLICK HERE
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
We are looking for podcasts that:
• Are original, entertaining and something we haven’t heard before
• Use a unique style and format
• Feature different voices talking about diverse topics
• Reflect contemporary Australia
• Appeal to a targeted and niche audience
• Can find passionate followers who will share the word
We are NOT looking for podcasts that:
• Duplicate our current podcast output
• That directly promote a business or commercial activity
SUBMISSION DATES
• Wednesday 25 Oct - Friday 17 Oct, 2017: Submissions open
• Friday 1 Dec - Friday 15 Dec: Shortlisting, followed by a one-on-one session with ABC Audio Executive Producer.
• Friday 5 Jan, 2018: Deadline for refined pitches to be submitted.
• Friday 19 Jan: Final round pitch selections made and parties notified.
• Monday 29 Jan – Friday, February 9: Direct pitch to Commissioning Panel
• Late February: Announcement of successful podcasts
11 ABC staff have put up their hand for voluntary redundancy, including a reporter for radio current affairs show AM, senior news operations director and an award-winning senior 7.30 journalist. It is understood this round of redundancies aren’t related to budget cuts and will allow more digital staff to be hired.
Why does the ABC have a separate app for itself, plus separate apps for iView, Listen and 2 Triple J apps? Surely it could be done in one app?
I get the ABC ME and ABC Kids apps, sure. The World War history apps, useful for educators. But surely there is no need for 5 apps that could be done in ONE.
The ABC app is for news (a la the Seven/Nine News apps), iview is for iview, listen is for radio/podcasts Triple J has it’s own apps probably because it’s core audience would demand it.
I agree, the ABC should really just have one app for News, iView and ABC Listen - or at the very least, combine iView and Listen into one app.
I wonder why they rebranded the ABC Radio app to ABC Listen so quickly. It seems like only yesterday they were promoting the ABC Radio app with a huge advertising campaign on billboards, etc.
The SBS and ABC are staring down the Turnbull government and will not voluntarily disclose names and salaries of all employees earning over $200,000.
In letters to Communications Minister Mitch Fifield from SBS chairman Dr Bulent Haas Dellal and ABC chairman Justin Milne, the pair say they cannot disclose the names and salaries of all employees earning over $200,000 because it would override the privacy act and both boards have concerns about how it will impact employees and the running of the two businesses.
Senator Fifield will now be forced to try to pass legislation through Parliament, which looks difficult, or abandon the proposal.
The letters, seen by The Australian Financial Review, raise concerns about employee privacy, and keeping the public broadcasters competitive against commercial rivals, be it retaining staff and programming or attracting new staff.
The ABC will this week axe its television and radio divisions in a far-reaching shake-up that will reorganise 70 per cent of its 4766 staff that produce content, allocating them into just three teams.
Under the new structure, likely to be announced tomorrow, old program-making units and divisions will be swept aside in favour of a structure that allows ABC journalists and producers to keep pace with the different ways audiences consume media, without bias to old television and radio broadcast schedules.
So long as they are focusing on producing programs that are the best they can be for an intended medium. Not trying to produce programs that will sit muddled up trying (failing) to suit all forms of media and end up being crappy in all of them
We would like to invite you to our first Annual Public Meeting to join a conversation with the ABC. You will meet the ABC’s Chairman and Board and hear how we are creating a stronger ABC, now and into the future.
Sign up for the LIVE stream and to submit a question
Something I noticed recently in some news reports about the ABC (namely those cabinet raids and centralising the archives in Melbourne) - the ABC Centre in Ultimo now has a very large flat ABC logo painted/stickered on the glass next to the main entrance.
In NSW, on digital TV (LCN 2) there are 2 different station LCN names for metro and regional areas (though I think the content/promos are both the same 24/7).
ABC Sydney
ABC NSW
I’m pretty sure VIC and QLD have separate metro and regional LCN names, do all other states and territories do this too?
That would make sense, considering that there seems to be provision for the Sydney feed to be different to the NSW feed. I think there was an example last year where an ABC Radio Sydney promo was played in Sydney only.
ABC LAUNCHES NEW DESTINATION FOR AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION
The ABC is excited to announce the launch of ABC EDUCATION (abc.net.au/education), a one-stop destination for outstanding educational resources for Australian teachers, students and parents.
ABC EDUCATION will allow teachers, students and parents to have access to thousands of curriculum-matched videos, games, interactive tools and articles, and a new suite of content on the highly engaged English-language learning service, Learn English (abc.net.au/education/learn-english).
The launch will include the return of Australia’s much loved and only children’s news and current affairs program, Behind the News (BTN), with new host Amelia Moseley. Moseley has already worked on the program for four years as a reporter and presenter. Airing Tuesdays at 10.00am on ABC ME, BTN will continue to deliver the week’s news to approximately one million primary school students around the country on air and online (abc.net.au/btn).
ABC EDUCATION will identify and partner with leading institutions, including the gallery, library and museum sector, to create innovative resources to inspire and educate students nationally.
Australia’s first Media Literacy Week, an initiative of ABC EDUCATION, will be held in September. The resources and activities created for this week will equip the audience to navigate the complex world of information that is on offer to them every day through many platforms and media outlets.
Audiences will also be able to access to educational material broadcast on ABC ME on weekdays from 10.00am–12.00pm during the school term. These programs, including titles such as Bistro Escargot and Fall in Love with Music, will also be available on ABC iview.
The launch of ABC EDUCATION reflects an important step in the way the ABC delivers content to audiences across Australia and demonstrates its commitment to educate Australians and deliver content of an educational nature.
Director of Television, David Anderson, said: “ABC Education not only delivers on the broadcaster’s responsibility to inform, educate and entertain but more importantly is an intuitive destination for teachers, students and parents who want high-quality, trusted education content in one place regardless of whether it is online, on television or on radio.”
Annabel Astbury, Head of ABC EDUCATION, said: “ABC Education will continue to offer this vast range of content that has been built up over the past five years through ABC Splash, as well as offering a new suite of exciting experiences that reflect changing classroom practices and help equip students with essential skills and knowledge to participate in and contribute to a global community.”
ABC EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS
Minibeast Heroes
An amazing animation for both young and old, which teaches all about the wonders of the small but mighty invertebrate bugs that live in our gardens and homes. The six-episode series will be accompanied by learning resources, including interactive models of the bugs that will allow kids to see detail like never before, along with an immersive virtual reality experience making these tiny bugs bigger than life.
Additional educational resources, including interactives will be available on ABC EDUCATION.
You can watch Minibeast Heroes now on ABC EDUCATION:
Or Watch Now on ABC iview
The first episode of Minibeast Heroes airs Tuesday 27 February at 10.25am on ABC ME.
Behind the News (BTN)
This year, BTN will collaborate with the University of Melbourne to find out how Australian children contribute at home, at school and in their communities. This will form an important part of international research around the true value of children within our society today.
Plus, after 30,000 students got involved last year, BTN will again facilitate one of the world’s largest class friendship programs: Aussie Classroom Connection. It will also check in with some of last year’s connected classes, to find out what they’ve learned from each other.
And finally, BTN will invite students around Australia to nominate an inspirational teacher for its annual BTN Teacher Award – to celebrate teachers and educators around the country who inspire, guide and influence young Australians every day.
Behind the News airs Tuesday at 10.00am on ABC ME and on the ABC ME app.
abc.net.au/btn
Learn English
English-language learners will be delighted with a new suite of video courses and resources to help them learn English and navigate life in Australia. With a growing international community four-million-people strong, the ABC is proud to be able to deliver unique conversations and stories to this audience.
abc.net.au/education/learn-english
Partnerships
ABC EDUCATION will partner with Australia’s great galleries, libraries and museums, bringing beautiful content from collections that will inspire teachers and students alike.
In conjunction with the Koori Heritage Trust, ABC EDUCATION has produced a collection of videos that teach students about Melbourne’s Indigenous history; and Sydney Living Museums “Susannah Place” will uncover the life of children during Australia’s convict years.
For those wanting to unravel how Australian politics work, a unique content collaboration with the Parliamentary Education Office at Parliament House will answer all your tricky questions about our democracy.
ABC EDUCATION will also connect with communities in Perth, Hobart, Darwin and Ballarat to create innovative resources that help educate Australian students about national histories and cultures, by working with local galleries, libraries and museums.
ABC EDUCATION is thrilled to announce Australia’s first Media Literacy Week in September 2018. Across the year, ABC EDUCATION will offer new resources that will help Australian school students decipher and understand media and news in a hyper-connected, social media-driven news world. And in preparation for this, a new set of resources for teenage students around media literacy will be released.
ABC EDUCATION TV PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Bistro Escargot
A new six-episode French-language series for beginners. Jasmine and Daniel
become lost on a school trip with their French class. They happen upon a
bistro where a zany chef and an impatient waitress treat them to an
experience they won’t forget.
Bistro Escargot airs Thursday at 10.15am on ABC ME and on ABC iview.
Fall in Love with Music
An eight-episode series for middle to upper secondary students, teaching listening skills that will help viewers understand, enjoy and better connect with all of the music in their lives.
Fall in Love with Music airs Friday at 10.35am on ABC ME and on ABC iview.
