The ABC's news division has been hit particularly hard by the Abbott government's budget cuts, with an estimated 100 job losses expected and changes to flagship programs and news bulletins.
News director Kate Torney outlined the cuts in a staff briefing at ABC's Ultimo headquarters on Monday afternoon.
Respected television programs including Four Corners, Australian Story, Foreign Correspondent, Landline and the fact checking unit will lose resources, Torney confirmed – but will not be axed.
All radio news bulletins will be reduced to five minutes, except the 7am and 7.45am updates and Triple J's bulletins.
The state-based editions of 7.30 will air for the last time on December 5. They will be replaced by a cheaper, national version of 7.30, the details of which are yet to be announced.
Lateline will move to a "fixed timeslot" – yet to be announced – on the News24 channel and will be repeated on ABC's main channel.
The regional radio program Bush Telegraph tweeted that it will not continue next year, while ABC Newcastle afternoon presenter Carol Duncan also posted that her program had been decommissioned.
The ABC will also reduce its fleet of outside broadcast vans and scale back local sports coverage in favour of national events.
But sources who attended the briefing told Fairfax Media that around 65 to 70 of the 100 retrenched workers could be re-deployed in "digital-focused" roles. Torney said she expects a "net reduction of about 35 full-time positions", though it is unclear if all of these proposed new jobs will be filled internally.
Torney said the ABC does not propose to conduct a voluntary redundancy process and that in some cases, staff will be targeted for retrenchment.
Fairfax Media understands the ABC currently spends 95 per cent of its budget on broadcasting and only 5 per cent on internet-based services. It now intends to increase its investment in the latter to 8 per cent, to satisfy booming audience demand for mobile and online content.
While the state-based editions of 7.30 will soon end, a "state coverage producer" will be appointed in each state and territory to oversee local current affairs across television, radio and digital. Some within the ABC have described this as an "opportunity" for greater coverage; others fear that without a dedicated state show, local current affairs will be reduced.
The ABC is yet to confirm the precise format of the soon-to-launch Friday 7.30 program, or whether current national host Leigh Sales will present it.
Last month, Fairfax Media revealed that 7.30's national producer, Sally Neighbour, is developing the new show. A planning workshop agenda asked participants to consider: "What can we take from other models, e.g. The Project, The Feed, The Roast, Good News Week, [Lateline], etc?"
While some in the ABC claim there has been "misinformation" published about this show, they acknowledge it will be "a bit different" to the current national 7.30.
Torney also told staff that ABC's Auckland bureau will close, with the broadcaster now planning to cover New Zealand's affairs from Australia.
A Beirut "post" will open to extend coverage of the Middle East, while "major multi-platform content hubs" will be created in the Washington, London, Beijing and Jakarta offices. But bureaux in Tokyo, Bangkok, New Delhi and Jerusalem will be reduced to "home-based operations led by a video journalist with a local producer".
The ABC intends to boost its business coverage across all platforms, including online and mobile, through the creation of a "National Business Team". A 10-minute Business PM program will launch on radio and The Business will be re-launched as two daily 15-minute programs on News24.
While a "Regional Division" will be created – with Torney claiming that "the ABC is increasing its focus on the services we deliver to rural and regional Australia" – staff have privately expressed fears that regional coverage will be dramatically reduced.
Some staff tweeted that Torney ended her address by apologising for the anxiety these cuts are causing.
These sweeping changes follow confirmation last week the Coalition had stripped $254 million from the ABC and $53 million from SBS, despite promising no cuts before the last election.
ABC cuts and changes
Jobs/overall
- More than 400 jobs to be lost, 10% of ongoing workforce
- 300 redundancies to take effect immediately
- 10% in management (including abolition of state and territory director positions)
TV
- Adelaide TV production studio to be closed
- Selling outside broadcast vans and scaling back broadcasts of local and state-based sport
- State editions of 7:30 to end
- Lateline to have a timeslot on ABC News 24, while continuing to broadcast on ABC1 in 2015
- New foreign bureau to be opened in Beirut while Auckland bureau is to shut down, others to be restructured
Radio
- News bulletins to be cut from ten to five minutes
- Shut five regional radio posts (Wagin, Morwell, Gladstone, Port Augusta and Nowra)
- Cutting back on number of concerts recorded by Classic FM
- News Radio will move out of radio into the news division
- Radio National's Bush Telegraph to finish up at end of 2014
Digital
- New "Digital Network" to centralise and boost online and mobile services
- Closing down more than 100 websites and consolidating content
- Investment in iview, developing personalisation, 24-hour support and stand-alone content
- Investment in News Digital, boosting breaking and rolling coverage online
And the rest ...
- Sale of Lanceley Place property in Artarmon, Sydney - reported to be worth around $20 million
- "National Business Team" to boost coverage of finance and business across all platforms
- Newcastle to be downgraded to a regional station, with consequent redundancies
- New Regional Division to take responsibility of rural and regional reporting
- Review procurement and purchasing arrangements, look at more co-operation with SBS
- Streamline rostering and other human resources systems
with Judith Ireland
