Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Difference between revisions

The '''A'''ustralian '''B'''roadcasting '''C'''orporation was established in 1932 as the Australian Broadcasting Commission, though its origins can be traced back to the establishment of the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1924. The ABC is a public-funded broadcaster akin to the BBC in the United Kingdom, funded through grants from the Australian Government, yet tasked with maintaining political independence. Like the BBC, they started as a radio broadcaster and originally charged listeners a license fee, though this was abolished in 1948. The ABC launched their television service in 1956, a few months after what would become the Nine Network made Australia's first TV broadcast. The ABC adopted the original lissajous figure as their logo in 1963 following a design competition. The figure took on it's more familiar classic design in 1975 to mark the ABC's launch of color transmission. In 1983, as part of a major restructure, the Austalian Broadcasting ''Commission'' was renamed the Australian Broadcasting ''Corporation''. By 2001, ABC had begun broadcasting on digital television, launching a new metallic logo to coincide as well as the new ABC Kids channel, making ABC the first major network in Australia to have a digital multichannel. This channel was short lived, however and were shut down in 2003 to cut costs. In 2002, the ABC marked its 70th anniversary with a modification of its new logo, returning to a more traditional design. In 2005, ABC launched its second digital multichannel, ABC2 (later [[ABC Comedy (Australia)|ABC Comedy]]), this was followed by a second attempt at a digital kids' channel, ABC3 (now [[ABC ME (Australia)| ABC ME]]), which launched in 2009. Around this time, the main ABC channel was renamed to ABC1, to compliment ABC2. However, this rename would be short lived, as by 2014, the channel had returned to its original name, while also re-instating the classic Lissajous figure as a primary logo 13 years after it was retired on-air, as well as the iconic three-note jingle which hadn't been used on air since 2005.