ABC management continues to disappoint

The Turnbull Government decision to continue the former Abbott Government's white anting of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is alienating ABC listeners in remote Australia.

What the ABC is stating…..

6 December 2016 Press Release regarding ABC Shortwave Radio Services:

The ABC will end its shortwave transmission service in the Northern Territory and to international audiences from 31 January 2017.

The move is in line with the national broadcaster’s commitment to dispense with outdated technology and to expand its digital content offerings including DAB+ digital radio, online and mobile services, together with FM services for international audiences.

The majority of ABC audiences in the Northern Territory currently access ABC services via AM and FM and all ABC radio and digital radio services are available on the VAST satellite service.

ABC International’s shortwave services currently broadcast to PNG and the Pacific. Savings realised through decommissioning this service will be reinvested in a more robust FM transmitter network and an expanded content offering for the region that will include English and in-language audio content.

Michael Mason, ABC’s Director of Radio said, “While shortwave technology has served audiences well for many decades, it is now nearly a century old and serves a very limited audience. The ABC is seeking efficiencies and will instead service this audience through modern technology”.

The ABC, working alongside SBS, is planning to extend its digital radio services in Darwin and Hobart, and to make permanent its current digital radio trial in Canberra. Extending DAB+ into the nation’s eight capital cities will ensure ABC digital radio services can reach an additional 700,000 people, increasing the overall reach of ABC digital radio to 60% of the Australian population.

ABC Radio is also investigating transmission improvements to address reception gaps in the existing five DAB+ markets. It aims to ensure a resilient DAB+ service in every capital city, with enhanced bitrates and infill where necessary.

“Extending our DAB+ offer will allow audiences in every capital city in Australia equal access to our digital radio offering, as well as representing an ongoing broadcast cost saving owing to lower transmission costs,” added Michael Mason.

ABC International’s Chief Executive Officer Lynley Marshall said the reinvestment from closing international shortwave services would maximise the ABC’s broadcast capabilities in the region.

“In considering how best to serve our Pacific regional audiences into the future we will move away from the legacy of shortwave radio distribution,” Ms Marshall said. “An ever-growing number of people in the region now have access to mobile phones with FM receivers and the ABC will redirect funds towards an extended content offering and a robust FM distribution network to better serve audiences into the future.”

Once international shortwave ceases transmission, international listeners can continue to access ABC International services via:

 ·         a web stream at: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/listen
 ·         in-country FM transmitters, see Radio Australia’s ‘Ways to Listen’ at: 
        http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/waystolisten/fiji
 ·         the Australia Plus expats app (available in both iOS and Android)
 ·         partner websites and apps such as www.tunein.com and www.vtuner.com.

Audiences can access further information via the reception advice line 1300 139  994 or via ABC Local Radio (Darwin & Alice Springs).

For more information

Louise Alley
P: +61 2 8333 2621
alley.louise@abc.net.au
(ABC Radio queries)

Nick Leys
p: +61 3 9626 1417
leys.nick@abc.net.au
(ABC International queries)

Domestic Shortwave Radio Service available until 31 January 2017:

ABC's Domestic Shortwave Service provides Local Radio (not Radio Australia).

The frequencies are:

Site	Day Frequency	Night Frequency
Roe Creek	4835kHz	4835kHz
Katherine	5025kHz	2485kHz
Tennant Creek	4910kHz	2325kHz

Roe Creek site is Alice Springs.

To receive this service you will need a shortwave radio. All three services would be received in parts of the Kimberley Region.

 What the people are saying.....

Click on image to enlarge

ABC News, 8 December 2016:

An Indigenous ranger group in the Northern Territory says the ABC's decision to end its shortwave radio service could be life threatening.

The ABC announced this week its three HF shortwave radio transmitters at Katherine, Tennant Creek and Roe Creek (Alice Springs), would be switched off on January 31, 2017.

ABC Radio will continue to broadcast on FM and AM bands, via the viewer access satellite television (VAST) service, streaming online and via the mobile phone application.

Mark Crocombe from the Thamarrurr Rangers, in the remote community of Wadeye, said the rangers spent days and sometimes weeks at a time away in the bush and out on sea patrols.

He said the group relied on the ABC's shortwave radio for weather reports and emergency information.

"Otherwise you have to call back to the base on the HF radio to ask people [there], but then you can't listen to the report yourself, you are relying on someone else's second-hand report," Mr Crocombe said.

Mr Crocombe said on previous bush trips he had received warnings of cyclones via the ABC's shortwave service, without which he would not have had any notice.

"Sure, it is expensive to keep the shortwave radio service going, but during cyclones, for the bush camps and people on boats, that is their only way of getting the weather reports," he said.

"It could be life threatening, if you are out and you don't know a cyclone is coming."

Mr Crocombe said the VAST service did not work during cloudy weather, especially during monsoons and cyclones.

"The VAST satellite dish is fixed to your house, we are working in the field, and when we are on the boats we are not in mobile phone range, so applications and VAST do not work in the bush," he said……

The national broadcaster said in a statement on Tuesday the move was in line with its "commitment to dispense with outdated technology and to expand its digital content offerings."

But the announcement was met with anger by the Northern Territory Cattleman's Association.

President Tom Stockwell, who lives on Sunday Creek Station with no access to AM or FM radio or mobile phone coverage, said the ABC's decision to focus on digital transmission ignored people in the bush.

"It affects a big area of Australia and it affects those people that are remote from other forms of communication that rely on radio network," he said.

"The ABC argument that it's a 100-year-old technology doesn't stack up. Electricity is 100-years-old — is the ABC going to get rid of electricity as well?

"Anybody who's remote and away from a satellite dish won't get local radio, won't get emergency radio, won't get emergency messages and they're going to use the money to put in another digital platform for crying out loud.

"It's just the most selfish, ridiculous decision I've ever heard," Mr Stockwell said......