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In the archive
free-to-air programming 

Hours of local and imported programming broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 1996/97–2008/09

2007/08–2008/09 | 2005/06–2006/07 | 2000/01–2004/05 | 1996/97–1999/00

2007/08–2008/09

These tables show the number of hours of local and imported programming broadcast annually by the ABC in each program category, and the share this represents of total hours broadcast.

In 2008/09, imported children’s programming again recorded the largest share of broadcast hours on both ABC1 and ABC2 with 17 per cent and 27.6 per cent respectively. This was followed by local entertainment (14 per cent) and local current affairs (12.6 per cent) on ABC1 and local news (10.6 per cent) on ABC2.

On ABC1, the largest increases in local hours broadcast were recorded by drama, rising from 56 to 365 hours, and comedy, up from 14 to 41 hours. Similarly, on ABC2, local comedy went from 4 to 31 hours, and local drama rose from 67 to 141 hours. For the third consecutive year, Australian-produced news on ABC2 continued to gain hours, going from 67 hours in 2005/06 to 655 hours in 2008/09.

Imported programs on ABC2 have experienced steady growth over the four years since the channel’s launch, from 1,804 hours in 2005/06 to 3,518 in 2008/09, while local programs have fallen from 4,364 hours to 2,687 over the corresponding period. Almost all program types, local and imported, experienced significant fluctuations during this time.

See also Archive: ABC program types and Australian content.

Type of programming No. hours broadcast
2007/08 2008/09
ABC1 ABC2 ABC1 ABC2
Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Arts and culture 197 149 163 131 153 151 134 260
Children’s 530 1,426 187 1,621 476 1,490 295 1,711
Comedy 14 113 4 192 41 87 31 243
Current affairs 1,093 1 969 0 1,105 1 312 0
Documentaries 183 389 180 323 185 381 60 365
Drama 56 676 67 77 365 559 141 210
Education 134 66 23 0 148 53 0 0
Entertainment 1,122 111 465 318 1,225 92 389 309
Factual 332 65 521 100 372 45 232 252
Features     39 0     4 0
Indigenous 65 0 34 0 59 0 23 0
Movies 4 934 14 168 2 613 6 159
Natural history and environment 20 81 22 3 27 73 4 2
News 366 0 195 0 393 0 655 0
Religion and ethics 34 60 42 0 27 58 32 0
Science and technology 34 4 74 2 40 0 22 7
Sport 314 0 248 0 305 0 134 0
Other1 211 0 409 0 234 0 213 0
Total 4,709 4,075 3,656 2,935 5,157 3,603 2,687 3,518
Type of programming1 Share of total hours broadcast
2007/08 2008/09
ABC1 ABC2 ABC1 ABC2
Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Total 53.8% 46.5% 55.5% 44.5% 58.9% 41.1% 43.3% 56.7%
Arts and culture 2.2% 1.7% 2.5% 2.0% 1.7% 1.7% 2.2% 4.2%
Children’s 6.0% 16.3% 2.8% 24.6% 5.4% 17.0% 4.8% 27.6%
Comedy 0.2% 1.3% 0.1% 2.9% 0.5% 1.0% 0.5% 3.9%
Current affairs 12.5% <0.1% 14.7% 0.0% 12.6% 0.0% 5.0% 0.0%
Documentaries 2.1% 4.4% 2.7% 4.9% 2.1% 4.3% 1.0% 5.9%
Drama 0.6% 7.7% 1.0% 1.2% 4.2% 6.4% 2.3% 3.4%
Education 1.5% 0.8% 0.3% 0.0% 1.7% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0%
Entertainment 12.8% 1.3% 7.1% 4.8% 14.0% 1.1% 6.3% 5.0%
Factual 3.8% 0.7% 7.9% 1.5% 4.2% 0.5% 3.7% 4.1%
Features     0.6% 0.0%     0.1% 0.0%
Indigenous 0.7% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0%
Movies 0.4% 10.7% 0.2% 2.5% 0.0% 7.0% 0.1% 2.6%
Natural history and environment 0.2% 0.9% 0.3% <0.1% 0.3% 0.8% 0.1% 0.0%
News 4.2% 0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 4.5% 0.0% 10.6% 0.0%
Religion and ethics 0.4% 0.7% 0.6% 0.0% 0.3% 0.7% 0.5% 0.0%
Science and technology 0.4% 0.4% 1.1% <0.1% 0.5% 0.0% 0.4% 0.1%
Sport 3.6% 0.0% 3.8% 0.0% 3.5% 0.0% 2.2% 0.0%
Other2 2.4% 0.0% 6.2% 0.0% 2.7% 0.0% 3.4% 0.0%

Source: Compiled by Screen Australia from Australian Broadcasting Corporation annual reports.

Notes:
Figures reflect hours broadcast from the Sydney transmitter, comprising national and local New South Wales transmissions. Figures may differ slightly in other states and territories as a result of varying levels of local content. Hours have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Includes repeats.
1. Over the years some categories identified by the ABC have changed, added or dropped. Blank cells in the table indicate where a category has been dropped, or has not yet begun.
2. ‘Other’ comprises program announcements, promotions, ABC announcements and community service announcements.

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2005/06–2006/07

Type of programming1 No. hours broadcast
2005/06 2006/07
ABC1 ABC22 ABC1 ABC22
Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Total 4,577 4,182 4,364 1,804 4,808 3,951 4,634 2,189
Arts and culture 155 99 161 240 209 107 137 204
Business             11 0
Children’s 578 1,455 257 1,409 508 1,432 184 1,537
Comedy 34 115 2 0 21 118 4 19
Current affairs 895 0 1,454 0 1,094 1 1,373 0
Documentaries 141 335 163 49 177 411 294 65
Drama 127 715 0 0 46 651 0 0
Education 154 87 56 0 132 67 34 0
Entertainment 1,124 48 303 0 1,169 151 461 229
Factual 215 117 697 70 323 62 616 46
Features             72 0
Indigenous 66 0 47 0 62 0 48 0
Movies 14 1,048 0 0 5 762 2 56
Natural history and environment 20 68 13 5 15 87 23 3
News 358 0 67 20 365 0 144 0
Religion and ethics 30 71 76 0 28 84 55 0
Science and technology 34 4 82 0 37 4 94 24
Sport 284 20 853 0 371 13 1,000 7
Other3 349 0 133 11 244 0 84 0
Type of programming1 Share of total hours broadcast
2005/06 2006/07
ABC1 ABC22 ABC1 ABC22
Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Total 52.3% 47.7% 70.8% 29.2% 54.9% 45.1% 67.9% 32.1%
Arts and culture 1.8% 1.1% 2.6% 3.9% 2.4% 1.2% 2.0% 3.0%
Business             0.2% 0%
Children’s 6.6% 16.6% 4.2% 22.8% 5.8% 16.3% 2.7% 22.5%
Comedy 0.4% 1.3% 0% 0% 0.2% 1.3% 0.1% 0.3%
Current affairs 10.2% 0% 23.6% 0% 12.5% 0% 20.1% 0%
Documentaries 1.6% 3.8% 2.6% 0.8% 2.0% 4.7% 4.3% 1.0%
Drama 1.4% 8.2% 0% 0% 0.5% 7.4% 0% 0%
Education 1.8% 1.0% 0.9% 0% 1.5% 0.8% 0.5% 0%
Entertainment 12.8% 0.5% 4.9% 0% 13.3% 1.7% 6.8% 3.4%
Factual 2.5% 1.3% 11.3% 1.1% 3.7% 0.7% 9.0% 0.7%
Features             1.1% 0%
Indigenous 0.8% 0% 0.8% 0% 0.7% 0% 0.7% 0%
Movies 0.2% 12.0% 0% 0% 0.1% 8.7% 0% 0.8%
Natural history and environment 0.2% 0.8% 0.2% 0.1% 0.2% 1.0% 0.3% 0%
News 4.1% 0% 1.1% 0.3% 4.2% 0% 2.1% 0%
Religion and ethics 0.3% 0.8% 1.2% 0% 0.3% 1.0% 0.8% 0%
Science and technology 0.4% 0.1% 1.3% 0% 0.4% 0.1% 1.4% 0.4%
Sport 3.2% 0.2% 13.8% 0% 4.2% 0.1% 14.7% 0.1%
Other3 4.0% 0% 2.2% 0.2% 2.8% 0% 1.2% 0%

Source: Compiled by the Australian Film Commission from Australian Broadcasting Corporation annual reports.

Notes:
ABC2 – a digital only, free-to-air TV channel – started broadcasting in 2005 with the first full year of results available for 200506.
ABC’s ‘main channel’ was officially named ABC1 in February 2008.
Figures reflect hours broadcast from the Sydney transmitter, comprising national and local New South Wales transmissions. Figures may differ slightly in other states and territories as a result of varying levels of local content. Hours have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Includes repeats.
1. Over the years some categories have changed or been added or dropped. Blank cells in the table indicate where a category has been dropped, or has not yet begun.
2. Figures as reported in the ABC annual report in 2006/07. These breakdowns are different to total hours reported for each genre: see Archive: ABC program types and Australian content..
3. ‘Other’ comprises program announcements, promotions, ABC announcements and community service announcements.

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2000/01–2004/05

Type of programming1 No. hours broadcast
2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05
Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Total 5,175 3,585 4856 3,904 4,594 4,166 4,329 4,456 4,524 4,236
Arts and culture 129 187 178 209 244 90 154 122 178 127
Children’s 499 1,247 431 1,214 517 1,260 418 1,465 548 1,436
Comedy 82 176 51 113 26 156 40 201 22 169
Current affairs 823 0 817 0 1032 0 845 0 848 0
Documentaries 230 333 228 320 165 312 119 413 140 301
Drama 349 342 387 429 192 700 133 771 163 688
Education 795 361 485 261 174 155 155 155 171 137
Entertainment 987 17 992 45 867 58 1,048 41 1,104 60
Factual 210 23 269 64 311 136 274 59 192 154
Indigenous 10 0 26 0 40 0 42 0 65 0
Movies 10 748 32 1,115 21 1,185 8 1,084 5 993
Natural history and environment     12 21 2 35 12 55 19 91
News 285 0 295 0 348 0 330 0 353 0
Religion and ethics 34 66 46 68 28 68 45 89 39 76
Science and technology 19 0 34 22 37 6 27 0 35 4
Sport 415 87 242 23 208 5 224 0 283 0
Other2 298 0 331 0 383 0 455 0 358 0
Type of programming1 Share of total hours broadcast
2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05
Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Total 59.1% 40.9% 55.4% 44.6% 52.4% 47.6% 49.3% 50.7% 51.6% 48.4%
Arts and culture 1.5% 2.1% 2.0% 2.4% 2.8% 1.0% 1.8% 1.4% 2.0% 1.4%
Children’s 5.7% 14.2% 4.9% 13.9% 5.9% 14.4% 4.8% 16.7% 6.3% 16.4%
Comedy 0.9% 2.0% 0.6% 1.3% 0.3% 1.8% 0.5% 2.3% 0.3% 1.9%
Current affairs 9.4% 0% 9.3% 0% 11.8% 0% 9.6% 0% 9.7% 0%
Documentaries 2.6% 3.8% 2.6% 3.7% 1.9% 3.6% 1.4% 4.7% 1.6% 3.4%
Drama 4.0% 3.9% 4.4% 4.9% 2.2% 8.0% 1.5% 8.8% 1.9% 7.9%
Education 9.1% 4.1% 5.5% 3.0% 2% 1.8% 1.8% 1.8% 2.0% 1.6%
Entertainment 11.3% 0.2% 11.3% 0.5% 9.9% 0.7% 11.9% 0.5% 12.6% 0.7%
Factual 2.4% 0.3% 3.1% 0.7% 3.6% 1.6% 3.1% 0.7% 2.2% 1.8%
Indigenous 0.1% 0% 0.3% 0% 0.5% 0% 0.5% 0% 0.7% 0%
Movies 0.1% 8.5% 0.4% 12.7% 0.2% 13.5% 0.1% 12.3% 0.1% 11.3%
Natural history and environment     0.1% 0.2% 0% 0.4% 0.1% 0.6% 0.2% 1.0%
News 3.3% 0% 3.4% 0% 4.0% 0% 3.8% 0% 4.0% 0%
Religion and ethics 0.4% 0.8% 0.5% 0.8% 0.3% 0.8% 0.5% 1.0% 0.4% 0.9%
Science and technology 0.2% 0% 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 0.1% 0.3% 0% 0.4% 0%
Sport 4.7% 1.0% 2.8% 0.3% 2.4% 0.1% 2.6% 0% 3.2% 0%
Other2 3.4% 0% 3.8% 0% 4.4% 0% 5.2% 0% 4.1% 0%

Source: Compiled by the Australian Film Commission from Australian Broadcasting Corporation annual reports.

Notes:
Figures are for total programming from the Sydney transmitter. Exact minutes are calculated throughout the year; totals here are rounded to the nearest hour and, as a result, the sum of hours in each category may not equal total hours.
Includes repeats.
1. Over the years some categories have changed or been added or dropped. Blank cells in the table indicate where a category has been dropped, or has not yet begun.
2. ‘Other’ comprises program announcements, promotions, ABC announcements and community service announcements.

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1996/97–1999/00

Type of programming1 No. hours broadcast
1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00
Local Import. Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Total 5,111 3,653 5,045 3,715 5,088 3,672 5,146 3,614
Arts and culture 476 197 80 160 79 192 177 198
Children’s 457 1,053 430 1,200 511 1,219 459 1,327
Comedy 58 209 101 168 58 206 128 106
Current affairs 785 21 778 3 795 0 804 3
Documentaries 116 206 157 348 197 355 184 305
Drama 260 312 193 474 157 472 147 478
Education 819 757 792 691 807 607 865 499
Entertainment 697 93 947 52 986 50 941 56
Features 163 1 171 18 153 23 191 20
Movies 3 691 3 441 1 472 2 541
News 492 0 559 11 485 1 366 0
Religion and ethics 41 52 30 81 29 66 36 78
Science and technology         7 0 13 0
Sport 378 61 473 64 510 7 531 0
Other2 366 0 331 4 313 2 303 3
Type of programming1 Share of total hours broadcast
1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00
Local Import Local Import. Local Import. Local Import.
Total 58.3% 41.7% 57.6% 42.4% 58.1% 41.9% 58.7% 41.3%
Arts and culture 5.4% 2.2% 0.9% 1.8% 0.9% 2.2% 2.0% 2.3%
Children’s 5.2% 12.0% 4.9% 13.7% 5.8% 13.9% 5.2% 15.1%
Comedy 0.7% 2.4% 1.2% 1.9% 0.7% 2.4% 1.5% 1.2%
Current affairs 9.0% 0.2% 8.9% <0.1% 9.1% 0% 9.2% <0.1%
Documentaries 1.3% 2.4% 1.8% 4.0% 2.2% 4.1% 2.1% 3.5%
Drama 3.0% 3.6% 2.2% 5.4% 1.8% 5.4% 1.7% 5.5%
Education 9.3% 8.6% 9.0% 7.9% 9.2% 6.9% 9.9% 5.7%
Entertainment 8.0% 1.1% 10.8% 0.6% 11.3% 0.6% 10.7% 0.6%
Features 1.9% <0.1% 2.0% 0.2% 1.7% 0.3% 2.2% 0.2%
Movies 0% 7.9% <0.1% 5.0% <0.1% 5.4% <0.1% 6.2%
News 5.6% 0% 6.4% 0.1% 5.5% <0.1% 4.2% 0%
Religion and ethics 0.5% 0.6% 0.3% 0.9% 0.3% 0.8% 0.4% 0.9%
Science and technology         0.1% 0% 0.1% 0%
Sport 4.3% 0.7% 5.4% 0.7% 5.8% 0.1% 6.1% 0%
Other2 4.2% 0% 3.8% <0.1% 3.6% <0.1% 3.5% <0.1%

Source: Compiled by the Australian Film Commission from Australian Broadcasting Corporation annual reports.

Notes:
Figures are for total programming from the Sydney transmitter. Exact minutes are calculated throughout the year; totals here are rounded to the nearest hour and, as a result, the sum of hours in each category may not equal total hours.
Includes repeats.
1. Over the years some categories have changed or been added or dropped. Blank cells in the table indicate where a category has been dropped, or has not yet begun.
2. ‘Other’ comprises program announcements, promotions, ABC announcements and community service announcements.

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