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AsiaPacific. That’s becauseABCAsiaPacific has
a commercial imperative whereas RadioAustralia
doesn’t and shouldn’t. While there are certain
synergies in the way we operate – and cross-
promotion is a good example – we nonetheless
remain fiercely independent of one another.
KS: Does that mean you’re competitive?
JD: I wouldn’t say competitive, no. We both
seek to gain audience in the Asia Pacific region,
we both seek to engage the region, and therefore
we have much in common.
KS: Presumably you have different target
audiences because Radio Australia has
English plus language services while ABC
AsiaPacific broadcasts solely in English.
Does this mean you are going for an
audience that’s more the educated elite?
JD: I think that’s true to some extent. Obviously
we are an English-language service and we are
pitching at the middle classes. But it’s not entirely
the case. We’ve introduced programming that
has wide appeal. Our English learning
programming is an example of where we are
seeking to engage our audiences by offering them
programming that is not available anywhere
else. There is no question that across the region,
learning English is a matter of some priority,
and we believe that through the programming
that we are offering we are offering audiences
something that perhaps other services aren’t.
KS: It’s a crowded market place out there
– there is a lot of competition. How do you
sell ABC AsiaPacific as an 18-month old
service to advertisers, for example?
JD: That’s something we have looked at closely.
We haven’t gone into this service blindly and
just said “Okay, we are just putting a service out
there expecting everyone to take it”. If you
look at the region, I don’t think it is an
exaggeration to say that there are 150 channels
beaming into Asia and the Pacific. There are
complications since most rebroadcasters or cable
systems are only in a position to broadcast
between 60 and 80 channels at the most. So we
said if we are going to be successful we’ve got to
be different. There are enough news channels
out there, there are enough sports channels, there
are enough movie channels. We offer a unique
and diverse range of programming that covers
most genres. In the morning, we have children’s
and education programming, at lunchtime we
introduce news, in the afternoon we might have
some infotainment lifestyle programming.
Moving into prime time we have drama, more
interesting lifestyle programming and a very
heavy emphasis on news and current affairs. In
the late evening we update our news and current
affairs programming, and then at breakfast we
start introducing news programming once again.
KS: You are beaming this service right
across the Asia Pacific region, where
there’s a very wide and very diverse
population with wide and divergent
interests – how do you choose your
programming so that it is relevant.
JD: We are marketing ourselves as a channel
‘for the region from the region’. It’s got to be
remembered that Australia is a part of the Asia
Pacific region – although maybe some
Australians are not aware of that. Nonetheless,
geographically, that happens to be the case. So
we are targeting our news and current affairs
programming for the region’s needs. Our
rebroadcasters have been very supportive of our
news and current affairs programming that
reflect regional values and reflect regional
thinking, as well as views about world events.
We look at presenting our news and current affairs
programmes in a way that reflects regional
understanding and viewpoints. For instance, on
the first anniversary of September 11 we did
not simply run a programme that had a global
perspective of the events, but we ran a feature
that sought the views of all the leaders in the
region about that tragic event and how it impacted
on the region. I think that approach is a very
strong competitive advantage for us. You have
also got to examine the wider view and the wider
appeal of programmes. There are certain
programmes that appeal to us all, no matter
who we are and where we live – lifestyle
programmes, medical programmes, travel
programmes. After all, each of us has the urge
to travel whether we can afford it or not. We
have those sorts of programmes as well.
KS: In terms of your budget, what is the
emphasis on? Are you more interested in
the marketing, or is more of that funding
going towards making the content or
acquiring content?
JD: I think the easy answer to that is that your
programming, more than anything else, will market
your service. If you have got programming that
people will want to watch, they’ll watch.
KS: But they’ve got to know it’s there, and
with 150 channels beaming in, surely
that’s a problem?
JD: They certainly have to know it’s there, and
we believe that we are meeting that need by
promoting our service. But I firmly believe that
if you have a product that no-one wants to
watch, no matter how much marketing you do
they are not going to watch it. So programming
is our primary source of marketing but obviously
that’s got to be backed up with a very vigorous
marketing strategy. You mentioned earlier that
it is a very diverse market and we understand
that, so our marketing is targeted to the various
countries that our service goes into.
KS: What feedback have you had to ABC
AsiaPacific in the first 18 months?
JD: The feedback has been extremely positive.
In fact we can’t believe how positive it has been
and this may be because there are very few
channels that offer the range of programming
that we do. There is something there for
everyone. We are crossing over most
demographics and we are crossing over most
age groups. For example, mum can be home in
the morning and there is high-quality children’s
programming. We are a contemporary service
offering the best in drama, lifestyle, and
infotainment. Sure most of it comes from
Australia, but nonetheless it is the highest calibre
programming that is available.
KS: Do you pull in some programming
from other parts of the world?
JD: Not at the moment. We are primarily
Australian but we believe we have to widen our
programming mix. We are particularly
interested in examining co-productions with
countries within the region and we are vigorously
pursuing that line at the moment. We are here
for the long haul – we believe there is a
marvellous opportunity here for us, and we want
to cement our relationships in the region. In
other words, we want to be seen as a regional
channel. We have to demonstrate that by
engaging the region. Co-productions, we believe,
is probably one of the best ways of doing that.
KS: Have you an idea of the audience size
for ABC AsiaPacific??
JD: It’s very difficult to put accurate figures on
this. We are passing now more than 13 million
homes. We have begun the process of research,
and research is a very important tool for us, not
only to tell us how many eyeballs we have got
but perhaps why they are
not
watching us when
they are watching someone else. We are in more
than 23 countries and most of the major areas
of the Asia Pacific region are now taking us, and
those that aren’t we believe soon will be.
KS: Could you survive without any
advertising revenue?
JD: We are funded by the Federal government
and we have adequate funding to ensure that the
service continues. As I mentioned earlier, that
is one of the reasons why previous services
failed. And it is also the reason that this service
won’t fail. But we would like additional revenue
simply to be able to put more money back into
the service, to improve our product. And we are
confident that over time we will do that. I don’t
think there is any international channel making
any money in the Asia Pacific region, and we
understand that you’ll never survive if you just
rely on advertising revenue.
KS: How are you finding advertising sales
at the moment?
JD: It is a tough market. But we haven’t gone
into this with unreal expectations and we
understand that to get revenue of any substantive
nature is going to take time. We have got the
time and patience to ensure that happens.
KS: John Doherty, thanks for talking with
The Channel
.
A taste of Oz -
Gondola on the Murray
cookery on ABC AsiaPacific
Gritty Australian drama - Hugh
Jackman in
Corelli
