Yep a joke. Parramatta is barely western Sydney now, almost an extension of the inner west with the transport links that serve it now. A stupid token move serving no point.
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Introducing ABC Family and ABC Entertains
The ABC is introducing two new channels in June â ABC Family and ABC Entertains â and four new innovative digital streams that will bring together the best kids, family, and general entertainment titles.
The new channels will make it easier for audiences to find the programs they love. The new channels will showcase the ABCâs catalogue of family and entertainment programs and feature new titles and original premiere Australian commissions such as Hard Quiz Kids hosted by Gold Logie winning comedian Tom Gleeson launching on ABC Family in June.
The four new digital streams delivering childrenâs LIVE action, animation, education, and family, will launch with the new channels on ABC iview on 3 June.
ABC Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor said the changes are designed to enhance audience experience and boost discoverability.
âThe multichannel changes are designed to simplify and modernise the ABC channels and form part of the ABCâs overall content strategy to adapt and evolve in line with changing audience trends and behaviours,ââ he said.
âThe ABC is uniquely placed to offer audiences the best range of entertainment and family viewing and having two clearly defined channels plus new digital streams that will make it even easier for Australians of all ages to discover and enjoy their favourite ABC content.â
ABC Family, which replaces ABC TV Plus, will be a destination for big kids and their parents, with comedies, game shows, natural history, and movies. Titles will include the sustainable fashion content series Style It Out, family favourites Deadly Mission Shark and Expedition with Steve Backshall, Fresh Off The Boat, the hugely successful, Little Lunch and ABC favourite Tom Gleeson in Hard Quiz Kids.
ABC Family will focus on family friendly and co-viewing content and will broadcast from 7:30pm after ABC Kids finishes each day. The connection of kids and family content allows for a natural flow of programming from pre-school to school age and then broader family viewing in the evenings.
ABC Entertains , which replaces ABC ME, will build on the ABCâs extensive catalogue of comedy and entertainment. It will be the home of the Australian TV premiere of season 2 of the hit supernatural series Interview with a Vampire. Plus, new seasons of the comedy horror Wreck, the raw and revealing Louis Theroux Interviews.
Friday movie nights are also back with Focus, How to be Single, Gravity, Must Love Dogs and Beowulf with superhero fans able to enjoy Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans and the classic Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve and many more. In the mornings, it will feature programs for primary school kids and school-age educational programming such as Behind the News.
ABC Head of Programming, Acquisitions and Streaming Roberta Allan said: âWe are excited to be making these changes to the broadcast channels. We will be adding more family-friendly shows, long running entertainment titles and comedies, plus movies, and much more, further establishing the ABC as a premier destination for family and entertainment viewing. â
In line with the multichannel changes, the live experience on ABC iview will become more dynamic with four digital streams to launch in June. The streams will focus on four dedicated genres, childrenâs LIVE action, animation, education, and family viewing, meaning content is available as live streams as well as on demand whenever audiences choose.
In recent years, ABC iview has become the primary destination for young ABC audiences aged 7-12 years.
Oliver-Taylor added: âPrimary school children are digital natives and want their content on demand and nearly always through a digital platform. The changes announced today means that content for school-age children will be delivered via ABC iview and an altered channel configuration to maximise audience reach.
âThe ABC plays a fundamental role in telling Australian stories for children, reaching more Australians than any network with its childrenâs focussed content and investing more financially than any other network or streamer and that commitment will be maintained into the future.â
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Good. Much needed rebrand. The current lineup is weird - âABC TV Plusâ was a horrendous name.
With the loss of one multichannel, chance of HD?
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Canât see any multichannel being lost.
ABC Family will be available on channel 22 from 7.30pm -ex ABC Plus
ABC Entertains will be available on channel 23 from 5am - ex ABCMe
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Oh derp! My bad. The re-arrangement of content on the channels confused me for a second.
Not sure about these new names ABC Family and ABC Entertains for ABC TV Plus and ABC ME.
ABC Family is already a cable channel in America and Entertain by ITV Studios is from Britain which is now available on Fetch.
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Basically itâs ABC Me and ABC Plus swapping channel frequencies before they each get their own twist.
The American cable channel rebranded to Freeform back in January 2016, so the name ABC Family hasnât been used in over 8 years. Iâd say using the name now should cause no problems. Besides, the channel is only in the US & Canada [using the name ABC Spark, even to this day], so it probably wouldnât have caused a problem anyways.
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Wonder if BtN will continue, especially the weekday BtN Newsbreaks?
If not will mean for the first time since around 1981 (apart from BtNâs first axing in 2004) that an Adelaide station isnât producing a TV show for a national audience. Also ABC Adelaideâs last show outside the 7pm news (however long that continues for).
Also teachers lose a valuable resource that they use to educate kids on latest news and current affairs.
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BtN will continue as part of a streaming channel
Four digital streams for childrenâs and family audiences will be available to stream for free on ABC iview:
- Cartoons: Animation for children aged 7â12 years.
- 100% Faves: Live action favourites for children aged 7â12 years.
- Family Faves: Family content available 24/7
- BTN: BTN and other educational content for kids.
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if only they kept ABC2 and ABC3, so there was no need to continually change the name based on genre
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Why shutdown now? Whatâs the point when itâs the same channel all the time?
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Possibly save costs on scheduling programs, etc.
Wonder if 23 will still have the odd midnight program, and an early morning news update.
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Theyâve simply exchanged one horrendous channel brand for another. Surely thereâs a more creative name for a channel than ABC Entertains?
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Looks like WB has signed a deal with the ABC for the new channel, as all the movie listed are from Warners. Looks like they donât have an exclusive deal with anyone, as there has been WB films on SBS, Nine, Seven and now ABC recently.
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ABC Family is fine
ABC Entertains sounds like a threat. Itâs a terrible name.
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And in glorious SD! Fabbo!!!
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Exactly!!
Rebrand happened like a decade ago. Theyâre Freeform now.
But regardless, theyâre going to have a hard time capturing the pre-teen/teen audience with Family in the name
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