ABC Innovation

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ABC Innovation was a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation formed in early 2007 as an incubator for digital development across the ABC. [1] The division took over many of the services previously managed by the New Media and Digital Services division, including ABC Online.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia's national broadcaster founded in 1929. It is principally funded by the direct grants from the Australian government, but is expressly independent of government and partisan politics. The ABC plays a leading role in journalistic independence and is fundamental in the history of broadcasting in Australia.

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History

The ABC established its original Multimedia Unit in 1995, [2] to manage the corporation's website (launched in August that year). Although the unit at first relied upon funding allocation to the corporation's television and radio operations, in subsequent budgets it began to receive its own. [2] The ABC provided live, online election coverage for the first time in 1996, although it was not until 1997 that limited news content was provided. [2]

ABC Radio and Regional Content is the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for radio output and regional content.

ABC Multimedia was renamed ABC New Media and Digital Services in 2000, at the same time becoming an 'output division' similar to Television or Radio. [3] The department continued to perform the same functions, in addition to taking control of the ABC's first digital television channels - Fly TV and ABC Kids. 'Broadband news' services were introduced in 2001.

Digital television Transmission of audio and video by digitally processed and multiplexed signal

Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television audiovisual signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advancement and represented the first significant evolution in television technology since color television in the 1950s. Modern digital television is transmitted in high definition (HDTV) with greater resolution than analog TV. It typically uses a widescreen aspect ratio in contrast to the narrower format of analog TV. It makes more economical use of scarce radio spectrum space; it can transmit up to seven channels in the same bandwidth as a single analog channel, and provides many new features that analog television cannot. A transition from analog to digital broadcasting began around 2006. Different digital television broadcasting standards have been adopted in different parts of the world; below are the more widely used standards:

ABC Kids (Australia) Australian TV channel for pre-school-age children

ABC Kids is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's part-time channel, broadcasting shows between the hours of 5am and 7:30pm in each local Australian market for children 6 and under. ABC Kids shares the same bandwidth as ABC Comedy which broadcasts outside ABC Kids' scheduled hours and supplements the flagship ABC channel with extra adult-oriented programming.

In March, 2007 ABC Innovation led the corporation's establishment of an 'ABC Island' in virtual world Second Life, launched with a live simulcast of a Four Corners program on virtual worlds titled You Only Live Twice. [4] The presence was vandalised soon after - an attack on the site resulted in significant damage that was later repaired. [5] The division won a Content+Technology (C+T) Award on 18 July 2007 for the site. [6] In September 2007, ABC Innovation created a mobile off-deck portal providing coverage of the Australian Federal Election which could be downloaded to mobile devices at http://www.abc.net.au/mobile.

<i>Second Life</i> 2003 video game

Second Life is an online virtual world, developed and owned by the San Francisco-based firm Linden Lab and launched on June 23, 2003. By 2013, Second Life had approximately one million regular users; at the end of 2017 active user count totals "between 800,000 and 900,000". In many ways, Second Life is similar to massively multiplayer online role-playing games; however, Linden Lab is emphatic that their creation is not a game: "There is no manufactured conflict, no set objective".

<i>Four Corners</i> (Australian TV program) TV series

Four Corners is an Australian investigative journalism/current affairs documentary television program, the longest of its kind nationally. Broadcast on ABC in HDTV, it premiered on 19 August 1961 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011. Founding producer Robert Raymond (1961–62) and his successor Allan Ashbolt (1963) did much to set the ongoing tone of the program. The program is one of only five in Australia inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.

ABC NOW, a desktop application combining the ABC television, radio and news RSS feeds, was released on 3 December 2007. [7]

Application software computer software designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user

Application software is software designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user. Examples of an application include a word processor, a spreadsheet, an accounting application, a web browser, an email client, a media player, a file viewer, an aeronautical flight simulator, a console game or a photo editor. The collective noun application software refers to all applications collectively. This contrasts with system software, which is mainly involved with running the computer.

Television Telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images

Television (TV), sometimes shortened to tele or telly, is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in monochrome, or in colour, and in two or three dimensions and sound. The term can refer to a television set, a television program, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment and news.

Radio Technology of using radio waves to carry information

Radio is the technology of signaling or communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by a radio receiver connected to another antenna. Radio is very widely used in modern technology, in radio communication, radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing and other applications. In radio communication, used in radio and television broadcasting, cell phones, two-way radios, wireless networking and satellite communication among numerous other uses, radio waves are used to carry information across space from a transmitter to a receiver, by modulating the radio signal in the transmitter. In radar, used to locate and track objects like aircraft, ships, spacecraft and missiles, a beam of radio waves emitted by a radar transmitter reflects off the target object, and the reflected waves reveal the object's location. In radio navigation systems such as GPS and VOR, a mobile receiver receives radio signals from navigational radio beacons whose position is known, and by precisely measuring the arrival time of the radio waves the receiver can calculate its position on Earth. In wireless radio remote control devices like drones, garage door openers, and keyless entry systems, radio signals transmitted from a controller device control the actions of a remote device.

In March 2012, Angela Clark was appointed head of the ABC Innovation unit.

In 2015, the ABC Managing Director Mark Scott announced that the Innovation Division would be replaced with an ABC Digital Network Division, with the aim of prioritising the ABC's online and mobile initiatives. As such this page may be worth renaming, or a new page is needed.

Related Research Articles

The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio, online and television network. About 80 per cent of funding for the SBS Corporation is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates five TV channels and eight radio networks.

Television broadcasting in Australia

As early as 1929, two Melbourne commercial radio stations, 3UZ and 3DB were conducting experimental mechanical television broadcasts - these were conducted in the early hours of the morning, after the stations had officially closed down. In 1934 Dr Val McDowall at amateur station 4CM Brisbane conducted experiments in electronic television.

WLWT NBC affiliate in Cincinnati

WLWT, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by the Hearst Television subsidiary of Hearst Communications. WLWT's studios are located on Young Street in the Mount Auburn neighborhood of Cincinnati. Its transmitter is located on Chickasaw Street, also in Mount Auburn.

ABC Comedy second Australian Broadcasting Corporation general television channel

ABC Comedy is an Australian free-to-air television channel that was launched on 7 March 2005 as ABC2; it is owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel broadcasts a range of comedy supplemented with repeats of popular ABC TV programmes. Between the hours of 5am and 7.30pm daily the channel's bandwidth is used for the ABC Kids channel for young children.

ABC Australia (Southeast Asian TV channel)

ABC Australia is a Southeast Asian pay television channel, launched in 1993 and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel broadcasts a mix of programming, including lifestyle, drama, sports, English-language learning programs, children's programming and news and current affairs.

Arqiva is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, along with commercial WiFi and smart meter facilities for Scotland and the north of England. The company headquarters is located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, just outside Winchester. Its main customers are broadcasters and mobile phone network operators, and its main asset is a network of over 1,000 radio and television transmission sites. It is owned by a consortium of investors led by CPP and the Australian investment house Macquarie Bank. Arqiva is a patron of The Radio Academy.

The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), formerly the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, is a ministry-level executive agency directly under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Its main task is the administration and supervision of state-owned enterprises engaged in the television and radio industries.

Digital terrestrial television in Australia commenced on 1 January 2001 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth using DVB-T standards. The phase out of analogue PAL transmissions began in 30 June 2010 and was completed by 10 December 2013.

KVII-TV ABC/CW affiliate in Amarillo, Texas

KVII-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 7, is a dual ABC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Amarillo, Texas, United States. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. KVII's studios are located at One Broadcast Center between South Pierce and South Buchanan streets in downtown Amarillo, and its transmitter is located west of US 87/287, in unincorporated Potter County. On cable, the station is available on Suddenlink Communications channel 8 in standard definition and digital channel 708 in high definition in Amarillo, and on channel 7 on other providers in outlying areas of the market.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has evolved from its origins as a licensing scheme administered by the Postmaster-General's Department into a content provider in radio, television and new media.

ABC (Australian TV channel) First Australian public television network

ABC is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 5 November 1956 it is the responsibility of the ABC's television division, and is available nationally. The ABC's headquarters is in Ultimo, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales.

ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public service broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas. ABC is one of five main free-to-air networks in Australia.

China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) is a mobile television and multimedia standard developed and specified in China by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT). It is based on the Satellite and Terrestrial Interactive Multiservice Infrastructure (STiMi), developed by TiMiTech, a company formed by the Chinese Academy of Broadcasting Science. Announced in October 2006, it has been described as being similar to Europe's DVB-SH standard for digital video broadcast from both satellites and terrestrial repeaters to handheld devices.

ABC Online online services of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

ABC Online is the brand name in Australia for the online services of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, managed by ABC Innovation. It covers a large network of websites including those for ABC News, television, radio, and video-on-demand through ABC iView.

The Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, is a satellite television platform in Australia, providing digital television and radio services to remote and rural areas, as well as viewers in terrestrial black spots. The service using the Optus C1 and Optus D3 satellites. It is partly funded by the Australian Government and managed through a joint-venture between Southern Cross Media and Imparja Television. It is an even more restricted free-to-view replacement for Optus Aurora providing channels which have been absent on the remote service until now. The platform uses only H.264 video encoding and 8PSK, which allows for more lower bit rate channels on the limited transponder space that's available. The EPG uses an MHEG-5 guide instead of the usual more compatible DVB EIT.

Digital multimedia broadcasting

Digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) is a digital radio transmission technology developed in South Korea as part of the national IT project for sending multimedia such as TV, radio and datacasting to mobile devices such as mobile phones, laptops and GPS navigation systems. This technology, sometimes known as mobile TV, should not be confused with Digital Audio Broadcasting which was developed as a research project for the European Union. DMB was developed in South Korea as the next generation digital technology to replace FM radio, but the technological foundations were laid by Prof. Dr. Gert Siegle and Dr. Hamed Amor at Robert Bosch GmbH in Germany. The world's first official mobile TV service started in South Korea in May 2005, although trials were available much earlier. It can operate via satellite (S-DMB) or terrestrial (T-DMB) transmission. DMB has also some similarities with the main competing mobile TV standard, DVB-H.

Ian Robert Carroll was a television executive, primarily at the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). At the ABC, Carroll established many news and current affairs programs including Lateline and the 7.30 Report, and developed many others. He was chief executive of ABC International's Australia Network, director of innovation from the time the division was set up in 2007, and established two channels for ABC Digital Television. He developed iView and apps for mobile devices, as well as overhauling the ABC's websites.

The history of broadcasting in Australia has been shaped for over a century by the problem of communication across long distances, coupled with a strong base in a wealthy society with a deep taste for aural communications in a silent landscape. Australia developed its own system, through its own engineers, manufacturers, retailers, newspapers, entertainment services, and news agencies. The government set up the first radio system, and business interests marginalized the hobbyists and amateurs. The Labor Party was especially interested in radio because it allowed them to bypass the newspapers, which were mostly controlled by the opposition. Both parties agreed on the need for a national system, and in 1932 set up the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as a government agency that was largely separate from political interference.

References

  1. ↑ "The ABC Of Digital Media Evolution". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-02-07. Archived from the original on 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  2. 1 2 3 "About the ABC - The 90s". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  3. ↑ "About the ABC - The 2000s". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  4. ↑ Stephen Hutcheon (2007-03-16). "Revealed: ABC chief's virtual alter ego". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  5. ↑ Simon Canning (2007-05-23). "ABC's virtual site 'griefed'". The Australian. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  6. ↑ "ABC Wins two C&T Awards" (Press release). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-07-19. Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  7. ↑ "ABC NOW: Another Step in the ABC's Digital Revolution" (Press release). 2007-12-03. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2007-12-04.

See also

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