i agree to an extent, but the issue is that what do you do with the AM frequencies when Parliament is not on?
it’s better to use them for something than just dead air, and as a newsradio listener (mostly overnights though when they carry the BBC) it feels like this is a good option, considering for weeks a year parliment takes over the stations.
I’d ask a more basic question - do we still need a radio station that broadcasts parliament? I get it that 20+ years ago that there were limited options for finding out what was happening in parliament, but now with streaming and the like you could have a parliamentary website that would enable users to watch whatever highlights (or is that lowlights) that appeals. In my case, none. 
Personally, I think NewsRadio should be replaced/integrated with the RPH programming (ie the ABC would become the RPH operator on its channels), enabling the RPH frequencies to be released and also allowing Vision Australia/Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind/other charities for the blind to use their limited dollars on other worthwhile projects.
1 Like
ok i think the answer is yes. we need to increase access to the parliamentary process and give as many people the chance to see what the pollies are doing as possible, after all, they are paid by our taxes and we elect them.
As a matter of fact i’m of the opinion that DAB should carry at a minimum the house of reps, the senate and any chambers of state parliment.
1 Like
Back in the 80s, Parliament used to be broadcast on what is now ABC Local Radio.
My mum was an avid 1233 2NC Newcastle listener, when Parliament was on, that was the only time she’d ever listen to commercial radio (then it was 2KO).
6 Likes
My folks had a similar attitude - but instead 3LO switched typically to one of 3AR, 3KZ, FOX or Off (most common).
Do the people want that? I think @Radiohead has confirmed the thesis that many simply do not want to hear pollies for hours on end. Apart from the politicial diehards, many probably find news bulletins sufficient for updating themselves. I s’pose it is the perennial question - what narrowcast/specialist services should the ABC provide? Are political diehards a specialist group worthy of a government funded service compared to other specialist areas (such as the blind)?
2 Likes
Yeah I think it shows transparency. If you want to listen you can. Maybe using internet streams might be adequate these days rather than radio. If there were no options then I don’t think it’s necessarily good (even we save taxpayer money). Although one could argue, I cannot listen to Hornsby’s shire meetings online (or I have not tried yet 
) or NSW Govt.
Edit: Looks like I can watch if I want.
And also NSW ;
2 Likes
Totally agree it’s all about the transparency… you can imagine all the complaints if Parliament wasn’t easily accessible, even if not many people listen now.
The worst thing about the ABC not targeting a mainstream audience and only going for the niche audiences that aren’t served by commercial broadcasters is that as they turn away mainstream Australia, no one is going to support them getting increased funding.
30 years ago the ABC certainly did have to cater to mainstream audiences - they were often the only broadcaster available in many country areas, so they HAD to carry mainstream content like movies, sports, some entertainment, etc. But now?
That’s all gone due to funding cuts which have caused a lot of talent to migrate over to commercial stations and has left the ABC workforce mostly stacked full of staunch lefties who feel that commercial broadcasting is beneath them.
There was a recording of a 2BL breakfast show from the 1970s which I listened to a few years ago which featured a very high level of contemporary music, kind of like the BBC Radio 2 of today. They were clearly trying to go after the mainstream audience then, but now they want to play it safe and play to a safe ABC audience. It was nothing like the pure ‘non-conservative’ talkback that dominates today’s ABC Radio Sydney.
The more the ABC try and play this ‘niche’ audience strategy, the more they will lose support from mainstream Australia and one day the Liberal Party will likely say ‘vote for us, we will abolish the ABC’ and the electorate will say ‘huh’ and not actually give much of a shit. I believe in a strong public broadcaster but I’m not a fan of the way the ABC is tracking these days by deserting mainstream Australia to pander to niche interests.
10 Likes
They are terrified of more budget cuts from the Liberal party who will bend over backwards for commercial companies like major donors such as Nine Ent.
3 Likes
Agree with all that.
3 Likes
Same with 3LO in Melbourne. They had ID jingles and played a lot of music in breakfast and drive in particular. They even ditched the Majestic Fanfare short news theme (horror!) for their own 770 3LO news intro. Graham Kennedy and Richard Combe together. It was great.
2 Likes
The ABC Charter states:
the Corporation shall take account of:
(i) the broadcasting services provided by the commercial and community sectors of the Australian broadcasting system;
(iii) the responsibility of the Corporation as the provider of an independent national broadcasting service to provide a balance between broadcasting programs of wide appeal and specialized broadcasting programs;
… talent has migrated to commercial radio and television since the dawn of time - mostly for more money … in fact, since the ABC started paying excessive contract salaries - particularly to people who call themselves journalists - the reverse has occurred, which is one of the reasons that the ABC finds itself in financial difficulties … because so much more of its total expenditure is on wages …
The specific issue for radio, particularly in regional areas where the ABC was once important, is that it was taken over by the news department in 2016 and most of the “entertaining” content was dropped in the misguided view that people wanted more “news-based” (to use their own words) content.
The reason for the change is not “budget cuts”, it’s misguided “ideology” which was started by Mark Scott when he referred to the ABC as a “news organisation” rather than the “broadcasting” organisation (it’s what the ‘B’ in ‘ABC’ stands for) that its Charter says it’s supposed to be.
2 Likes
Radio was particularly important to younger people, with nearly one in two listeners aged between 10 and 24 saying they would “feel lost” if they couldn’t listen to radio for a week.
Overall, nine out of 10 radio listeners said they listened to radio as much or more over summer, a figure that has held stable over the past four years of the survey.
3 Likes
Looks like something put out by the Trump campaign
1 Like
I wonder what kind of twisted questions they would have had to ask to get those baffling and almost unbelievable results.
2 Likes
2 Likes
3 Likes
well duh. over summer people are listening to the cricket on the radio and having BBQ’s with the radio on, as well as just taking longer road trips (for example, to the beach) with the radio on in the car
2 Likes
It’s pronounced der. Haven’t you seen the latest Aldi pizza ad? 
1 Like
Please don’t judge me 
. I decided to listen to WSFM using my USB dongle. Wow it sounds so much better than DAB/online streaming. I wish SWR had decent reception at my location.
2 Likes