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| Type | News and Current Affairs channel |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Broadcast area | Broadcast in Australia nationally and internationally |
| Network | ABC Television |
| Headquarters | Ultimo, New South Wales |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Sister channels | ABC TV ABC TV HD ABC Kids ABC Family ABC Entertains |
| History | |
| Launched | 22 July 2010; 15 years ago (22 July 2010) |
| Replaced | ABC HD (HD channel space; 2008–10, relaunched on 6 December 2016) |
| Former names | ABC News 24 (2010–2017) |
| Links | |
| Website | abc.net.au/news/newschannel |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| ABN Sydney (DVB-T) | 544 @ 12 (226.5 MHz)[1] |
| ABV Melbourne (DVB-T) | 560 @ 12 (226.5 MHz) |
| ABQ Brisbane (DVB-T) | 576 @ 12 (226.5 MHz) |
| ABS Adelaide (DVB-T) | 592 @ 12 (226.5 MHz) |
| ABW Perth/Mandurah (DVB-T) | 736 @ 12 (226.5 MHz) |
| ABT Hobart (DVB-T) | 624 @ 8 (191.5 MHz) |
| ABD Darwin (DVB-T) | 640 @ 30 (543.5 MHz) |
| Freeview | Channel 24 |
| Streaming media | |
| ABC iview | ABC iview Live Stream |
| ABC News website | ABC News Live Stream (Australia only) |
| YouTube | Live Stream |
TheABC News channel is an Australian24-hournews channel launched and owned by theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation.[2][3][4] The channel replaced and used the then-formerABC HD channel space (which simulcastABC TV in high definition) and commenced broadcasting asABC News 24 at 7:30pm (AEST) on Thursday, 22 July 2010.[5][6]
The network is a division ofthe ABC's News and Current Affairs department. The majority of the channel's content is produced from the studios of the ABC's Sydney station,ABN, inUltimo, Sydney which the public can view being presented from an atrium looking into the news presentation studio. The ABC'sbreakfast television programme,News Breakfast, Afternoon Briefing and the evening programmeThe World is produced atABVSouthbank, Melbourne (weekdays).
Initially launched in MPEG-2 high definition, the channel's picture format reduced to standard definition on 6 December 2016, following the relaunch of ABC HD.[7] The HD feed, however, gradually rolled out as an alternative option via ABC iView, the ABC News website and on Youtube; before restoring it, now in the MPEG-4 encoding format, to terrestrial viewers in June 2025.
The ABC announced in January 2010 that it planned to launch a 24-hour news channel.[2] The logo of ABC News 24 was revealed byFreeview in their new promotion on Tuesday 22 June.[8] The official promotional reel for the channel was launched on digital channel 24 between 6 and 8 July.[9]
Speculation about a launch date for the channel took place in the weeks prior to the official announcement.The Daily Telegraph claimed in early July that the channel would be delayed due to technical issues at the ABC's new playout facility, MediaHub, in south west Sydney while other outlets reported that the channel was on track to begin in mid-July.[10]
The ABC announced on 13 July 2010 that the channel would have its first live broadcast on 22 July.[5][6]
In November 2016, the ABC announced that ABC News 24 andABC NewsRadio would be rebranded under a unifiedABC News brand.[11] The relaunch occurred on 10 April 2017.[12][13]
On 22 July 2024, the ABC announced that the entire ABC News division would receive a new look, including for the channel.[14] The relaunch occurred on 19 August 2024.[15]
On 19 May 2025, the ABC announced that the channel will be in high definition again, this time as MPEG-4, alongsideABC Entertains. The changes will occur between 11 and 26 June 2025.[16]
Since the commencement of regular broadcasting, the reaction to the new news channel has been mixed. A particular concern has been the pressure placed upon the budget and operations of both the news division of the ABC, as well as the broadcaster as a whole, particularly the shifting of funds from other departments like drama, Indigenous, documentary and children's[17] owing to the decision to launch the channel without additional Government funding, as was the case with the recent launch of the children's channel ABC3 (now namedABC Entertains).
In Senate Estimates hearings in February 2012, the broadcaster confirmed a $2.5 million shortfall in the budget for its news and current affairs division and imposed a 1.5% cut in newsroom budgets, though denies the link to the channel, instead pointing to recent major news events in the past year such as the Christchurch earthquakes and flooding in Queensland and Victoria.[18] However, Independent SenatorNick Xenophon has blamed the reported $20 million annual cost of the network for cutbacks inABC TV sports coverage of theSANFL.[19]
However, the network has seen success with high viewership compared to competitorSky News Australia, with reach exceeding 2 million viewers weekly, tripling that of Sky News.[20]
The channel's highest primetime viewership share was 9.5% during the2016 Federal election coverage on 2 July 2016.[21]
ABC News programming consists of a mix of live news bulletins,time-shifted repeats of existingABC News and Current Affairs output, live broadcasts from events (such as Parliament Question Time and selected press conferences), documentaries and factual and arts programming.[22] These draw upon the ABC's own resources and those of its partner broadcasters, theBBC,SABC,TVNZ,PBS,NHK, andAl Jazeera English.
On weekdays, throughout most of the day, straight news programming is presented from one of the studios inUltimo. General rolling news continues from 8pm AEST/AEDT (only interrupted from 9:45pm to 11pm by a specialist Asian-focused business bulletin andThe World) before ABC News switches to the overnight format at 12:30am AEST/AEDT which features a mix of repeats of the day's programs and (usually live) news content from the partner broadcasters. Live ABC-produced news bulletins air once per hour until 4am AEST/AEDT.
On weekends, except theWeekend Breakfast news block, the channel airs a live news bulletin at the top of almost all hours, which lasts 15 or 30 minutes. Occasionally it is a one-minute headline recap. A live news hour is featured on Sundays at 7pm. ABC News switches to the overnight format at 12:15am AEST/AEDT, without any live newscast until the next morning.
Live newscasters are Gemma Veness andKathryn Robinson (ABC News Mornings),Ros Childs (ABC News at Noon andABC News Day), Patricia Karvelas (Afternoon Briefing),Joe O'Brien (ABC News Tonight), Michael Tetlow (weekday editions ofABC Late News/News Overnight), Ruby Cornish (weekends), Mariam Saab and Meridth Sheenan (ABC News Weekend and weekend editions ofABC Late News/News Overnight). Specialist and feature programming includes a daily business programme covering the Asia-Pacific region and an international bulletin with Girish Sawlani entitledThe World presented from ABC Melbourne Studio.[22][23]
Existing showsNews Breakfast andABC News at Noon are broadcast live on the ABC News channel at the same time as on ABC TV in AEST/AEDT time zones; viewers in the AWST and ACST time zones can choose to watch these programs either live (on the ABC News channel) or on delay in their local time (on ABC TV). In addition,The Business is shown in an earlier timeslot than currently scheduled on ABC TV.
On 30 September 2010, the ABC announced the first new programme to be shown on the channel titledCapital Hill. The political programme, originally hosted byChris Uhlmann airs Fridays at 5:30pm AEST/AEDT and takes a look at the week's political events and news, as well as feature interviews with the key players of politics. It is now broadcast every weekday at 1:00pm AEST/AEDT and is hosted byGreg Jennett (Monday – Thursday) and Matthew Doran (Friday).
Overnight, the ABC News channel uses "satellite" programming, mainly fromBBC World News which mostly uses the mainBBC News bulletins, as well asDeutsche Welle news and current affairs bulletins and sometimes using shows such asImpact withYalda Hakim,Outside Source withRos Atkins andGlobal withMatthew Amroliwala. The BBC World News broadcasts come live into the ABC News channel before being broadcast around Australia. About twoAl Jazeera EnglishNewshours are also broadcast. However, since 2018, the overnight programming has slowly refocused on rebroadcasts of the channel's daytime live shows likeThe Drum andThe World (on weekdays), and ABC's own live news updates have increasingly carried.[citation needed]
Along with other rolling news channels, the ABC News channel has been criticised for launching into rolling news coverage for "breaking news" where little new information supports such coverage, and just repeating limited information and footage about an event.[24] Conversely, the ABC News channel has also been criticised for not turning to rolling coverage.[25][26]
The ABC News channel can be streamed online at the ABC's website and onYouTube.[27] However, the YouTube stream is made available internationally except for the stream in iView where it is only available in Australia only,[28] and unlike other programming on iView, it is not currently offered as unmetered content by any internet service providers. The ABC News channel stream is available in medium and high bandwidth varieties on the iView site.
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As of October 2020[update] there were bureaus in the following cities:[29]
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)All news channels, including the ABC, played the same pictures, and the same interviews, over and over again.
THE ABC's news channel, ABC24, has been slammed by critics for failing to recognise the scale of the Christmas Island asylum-seeker tragedy.
And other critics (including me) have complained that the channel is too slow to switch to breaking news.