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ABC overhauls executive structure

The ABC is now advertising for Channel Controllers for ABC1 and ABC2, following a BBC model that it flagged last month.

The ABC is aiming to complete its management restructure by July 1st.

It is now advertising for Channel Controllers for ABC1 and ABC2, following a BBC model that it flagged last month.

Such moves will impact commissioning, acquisitions and programming.

Crikey has published a letter from Kim Dalton to staff which indicates the following targets:

* Create the roles of Channel Controllers who will set the vision, branding and program strategy for ABC1, ABC2, ABC Children’s (across ABC for Kids and ABC3) and ABC Multiplatform.
* Devolve acquisition editorial selection process to content specialists, under the management of the Content Heads, creating appropriate roles that enable Content Area’s to perform this role.
* Consolidate media preparation and management by bringing together Scheduling, Captioning, Presentation Planning*, Quality Control and Media Acceptance, Capital & Technology and the BMS project under Business & Operations, under the leadership of the Manager, Television Media Operations.
* Transfer Classification to Strategy & Governance.
* Merge Drama and Narrative Comedy, creating a new consolidated Fiction Department.
* Bring the Sport & Events content unit under the stewardship of the Factual Department.
* Prioritise Indigenous content. Sally Riley, the recently appointed Head of Indigenous, will be responsible for positioning ABC TV as the leading broadcaster for quality Indigenous content. She commences on 31 May 2010.
* Transfer all iView responsibilities to Multiplatform.

ABC is now also recruiting for:

* Head of Fiction
* Manager, Television Media Operations
* Content Business Analyst

Dalton writes to ABC staff, “I appreciate that implementing a complex model is challenging, and it comes on top of our demanding roles and responsibilities. I thank you for your assistance and patience as we implement this new structure which will allow ABC TV to continue to play a leadership role in Australian Television.”

Source: Crikey

10 Responses

  1. Aaron (10:00am), I hope for the same thing too!

    Excluding the copious amounts of kids programming on all three channels, having an independent programmer for prime-time ABC2 should cut what’s left of ABC1 repeats – likewise for ABC1 to a lesser extent. If some viewers like these repeats, then they need to discover iView already (if you’re not a Spicks & Specks fan).

    I, for one am looking forward to these changes.

  2. You are right Dave, there certainly is less made there every day. The most cost effective way to run the ABC (it seems) is as a distribution model, buy stuff, dont make it then smear it out as thinly as you can across the widest number of platfiorms. Even News and Current Affairs is ‘reducing’ its staff ‘load’, so that journalists produce write and edit all their work, shooting it too cant be far off.

    But there does seem to be a lot of managers/controlers these days…

  3. i endured at least 3 major overhauls during my two decades at the ABC, All it achieves is lots of chaos, more bureaucracy and nepotism and increasingly less program content, or putting it another way decreasingly productive! Dalton himself quipped to a senior employee recently that they are no longer making programs in the television division, leaving News and current affairs the only in house content. Yes, following the deathly blue print of channel 4 in Britain.

  4. Hopefully they will get rid of some of the kids programming on abc2(it used to be a great channel, not anymore, not since abc3 started).
    No more Guest Programming rage repeats, concerts etc that abc2 used to do so well.

  5. @ John, I agree with you re: Conroy, but I think creating unique branding across the various channels is only a good thing. ABC2 is ever so slightly coming into its own, ditto ABC3 (even though Aunty really ought to find something to air on it overnight). It’s a delayed move, but one certainly needed.

  6. So they’re obviously basing this on the existing model of the BBC which the BBC itself is remodelling and restructuring at the moment. Trust good old Australia and the ABC to be just that bit behind rather than being world leaders in anything, particularly in terms of the media or communications. Australia was almost 20 years behind the rest of the world in getting subscription television. And with Conroy at the helm of ACMA, Australia is definitely set to be even more of a communications backwater.

  7. “Sally Riley, the recently appointed Head of Indigenous, will be responsible for positioning ABC TV as the leading broadcaster for quality Indigenous content”

    I thought this was SBS’s Charter – also paid for by me

    I want my 8c back!

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