ABC Launches Ambitious Online Services

By Greg McNevin

March 14, 2008: The ABC has launched a significant update to its online presence with a new 24 hour “continuous news centre” service and a host of new websites offering local news to communities around Australia.

Called ABC Playback, the new online service will also offer three full-screen streaming ABC TV channels, digital downloads from the ABC Online store and a selection of the preceding week’s programming.

While the new portal represents a significant expansion of ABC services, the radio, television and text content will be drawn from existing resources. That said, the move will no doubt put pressure on existing sector operators such as Fairfax Digital, Ninemsn and Yahoo!7.

Regional sites will aggregate local content and be filled out with user-generated material such as blogs, while the news centre will be run by existing staff in Ultimo, Sydney.

While the ABC has been at the forefront of the new online media world, there is some concern that its ambitious new venture could put quite a strain on its staff, particularly considering no new funding has been allocated to the project, nor extra staff hired.

The ABC, however, insists that it is quite capable of delivering a first class 24/7 news service with current staff levels, noting that it is determined to deliver the content its audience wants, in the way it wants it.

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