ABC Television Sport: Public Broadcasting, Innovation and Nation Building
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ABC Television Sport: Public Broadcasting, Innovation and Nation Building Michael Ward Bachelor of Arts, Murdoch University Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Stuart Cunningham Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Research) Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology 2017 Keywords Public broadcasting, innovation, nation building, sport, cricket, World Series Cricket, Dix Inquiry, public broadcasting policy. ii Abstract ABC TV test cricket coverage to the 1970s showed that only the ABC had the national organisation, infrastructure and network to organise, negotiate and deliver sport across the country. The ABC dominated cricket broadcasting as commercial interest and coverage was sporadic. However, this changed with World Series Cricket. (WSC). The received wisdom in popular culture, history and myth is of a WSC “revolution”. While WSC was a pivotal moment, much of what is perceived as a revolutionary change in fact evolved from innovative production and audience strategies developed over twenty years. Post-WSC the ABC reinvented itself as a sports broadcaster. The 1970s changes established a point of departure for a second era of ABC televised sport, with a new focus on local (state and territory) competitions and codes, and a range of sports that had been ignored by commercial broadcasters. The history of the ABC’s development of a television audience for test cricket and a cricket rights market pre- WSC, and its development of profile for minority and regional sports post-WSC, are examples of public broadcasting’s innovation role, providing insight into how the ABC provided key research and development for the broadcasting ecosystem. This thesis charts that history of public broadcasting R&D, using ABC television sports as an illustration of the ABC’s role as both a comprehensive and a complementary broadcaster – at different times. iii Table of Contents Keywords .................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................ vii List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. viii Statement of Original Authorship ........................................................................... ix Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... x Chapter One Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Cricket’s place in ABC sports history ···················································· 6 Primary research methods ·································································· 8 Chapter structure ············································································· 8 Chapter Two 1956–1977: The ABC as a “Dominant Supplier” Sports Broadcaster ........................................................................................................ 12 Organisational innovation ································································ 14 ABC Television sports output ···························································· 20 The ABC establishes a sports rights market ··········································· 24 Development of a television audience for cricket and the decline of match attendance ··················································································· 33 Audience innovation: cricket programming strategies and technology developments ··············································································· 37 Conclusion ·················································································· 42 Chapter Three The WSC moment, 1977–1981 ..................................................... 45 ABC and the WSC ‘evolution’ ·························································· 47 The WSC negotiations ···································································· 51 The WSC media technology ‘revolution’ ·············································· 56 The sports administration shake up: WSC and the relationship between cricket’s administration and broadcasters ························································· 58 A workers revolution ····································································· 61 The WSC marketing and promotion “revolution” ····································· 63 The impact of regulation – Australian content rule changes and tobacco advertising prohibition ···································································· 64 The WSC – ACB rapprochement ························································ 65 Chapter Four 1981 – Present: The ABC’s Complementary Broadcasting Role in the Post-dominant Phase of its Sports History .......................................... 68 The ABC’s television sports broadcasting reinvention ······························· 68 The 1980s ··················································································· 71 The Dix Inquiry: The ABC in Review: National Broadcasting in the 1980s ······ 74 The ABC’s post-WSC role in test cricket broadcasts ································· 79 The ABC diversifies ······································································· 80 The impact of satellite distribution, commercial television ownership de-regulation and the Review of National Broadcasting Policy ····································· 82 1988 Review of National Broadcasting Policy ········································ 84 1990s ························································································ 86 Paralympics ················································································· 88 1997 Mansfield Review: The challenge of a better ABC ···························· 90 National and regional sports broadcast after 2000 ···································· 91 Women’s sport ············································································· 93 iv 2011 – Present: Further revision of the ABC’s complementary role as a multi- platform provider ·········································································· 97 Conclusion ················································································· 101 Chapter Five Conclusion ....................................................................................... 103 Research methodology ··································································· 105 Further research ··········································································· 105 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 107 v List of Figures Figure 2.1: ABC Television: annual hours broadcast by genre (Australian): 1961– 1977 (Sport hours noted) .................................................................................. 22 Figure 2.2: Average annual hours broadcast by genre (Australian): 1961–1977 ...... 23 Figure 2.3: ABC and Commercial Television: annual sports hours broadcast (Australian) 1965–1974 .................................................................................... 24 Figure 2.4: Cricket test series rights payments 1958–1976, in real and actual $ ....... 32 Figure 2.5: Ashes test series attendance 1928–1979 ................................................. 35 Figure 2.6: ABC Film Highlights First test 1958: Peter May, England captain ........ 41 Figure 2.7: ABC Film Highlights First test 1958: Richie Benaud, Australia captain 41 Figure 3.1: Average hours of ABC Television Australian programs 1977–1981 ..... 50 Figure 3.2: ABC Television Australian sport hours 1962–1982 ............................... 51 Figure 3.3: Australian international cricket matches (1920s–1970s) ........................ 63 Figure 4.1: ABC TV average annual, national sport hours broadcast by decade (1960s–2010s) .................................................................................................... 71 Figure 4.2: ABC Television average annual Australia hours broadcast by genre (1981/2–1990/91) ............................................................................................... 72 Figure 4.3: ABC Television average annual Australia hours broadcast by genre (1991/92–2000/01) ............................................................................................. 86 Figure 4.4: ABC Television average annual Australia hours broadcast by genre (2001/2–2010/11) ............................................................................................... 92 Figure 4.5: Regional and National Sports annual average hours broadcast on ABC TV: 2008/09–2010/11 ........................................................................................ 99 Figure 4.6: Average annual hours broadcast by genre (Australian): 2011–2016 .... 100 vi List of Tables Table 2.1: Indicative list of ABC Cricket innovations (“milestones”) ...................... 20 Table 2.2: ABC & commercial television Test cricket rights fees