ABC Television is the national television network of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the country's public broadcaster. It is one of the five main free-to-air networks in Australia, and holds the third-highest viewership as of 2025.
The ABC provides five non-commercial channels within Australia, headed by its flagship ABC TV channel. The local ABC stations in capital cities carry opt-outs for local programming, used mainly for nightly news broadcasts. Some radio channels are also broadcast via the television network. For the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia region, the network carries a satellite channel, ABC Australia. Programming can be streamed online via ABC iview, its video on demand service.
The broadcaster's television service was launched in November 1956 from its first television station in Australia, ABN Sydney. This was the second one in the country, with the commercial channel TCN having launched two months earlier. An ABC television network covering every state and territory was completed by 1971, and in 2000 the television operations joined the ABC radio and online divisions at the corporation's Ultimo headquarters in Sydney in 2000.
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History
1950s to 2000
The history of the ABC's television operations can be traced back to 1953, when the federal Television Act was passed, providing the initial regulatory framework for both the ABC and commercial television networks. Over the next three years, planning for the introduction of a national television service was put in place, land for studios and transmitters in Sydney and Melbourne was acquired, and overseas tutors were brought to Australia to assist with training. The ABC's 1956 Annual Report stated that it aimed to create a “television service as truly national in character as its resources will permit”.
Commercial station TCN-9 Sydney was the first to broadcast in Australia, in September 1956. The ABC's Sydney station, ABN, started transmission on 5 November 1956. Its first television broadcast was inaugurated by Prime Minister Robert Menzies at the Gore Hill studios in Sydney, and a couple of weeks later, ABV transmission began in Melbourne on 19 November 1956, in time to cover the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Outside broadcasting was also initiated on 5 November, from the ABC's first outside broadcast van. The van, now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, was instrumental in the production of thousands of outside broadcasts. It was restored in time to be displayed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and was used to film the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the site of the National Museum in 2000.
ABQ in Brisbane was the third ABC TV station to launch, in November 1959; it was followed in 1960 by counterparts in Perth (ABW), Hobart (ABT), and Adelaide (ABS). ABC (also known as ABC3) opened in Canberra in 1962, with (ABD) in Darwin (13 August 1971) finally completing the ABC's television coverage of every state in 1971.
Although radio programs could be broadcast nationally by landline, television relay facilities were not put in place until the early 1960s. This meant that news bulletins had to be sent to each capital city by teleprinter, to be prepared and presented separately in each city, with filmed materials copied manually and sent to each state. A purpose-built television studio was built in Sydney, and opened on 29 January 1958, replacing temporary sound studios used since the ABC's television services launched in 1956. In the same year, technical equipment was also moved to permanent locations, while main transmitters were introduced to Melbourne and Sydney in 1957 and 1958, respectively.
2000 to present
The ABC's television operations joined its radio and online divisions at the corporation's Ultimo headquarters in 2000.
In 2001 a new logo was launched, featuring a modification to a three-dimensional metallic design, to celebrate the introduction of digital terrestrial television in Australia, when digital television was introduced to most of the network's coverage area on 1 January 2001, soon followed by the gradual introduction of widescreen and high definition programming. Between 2001 and 2003, the ABC operated two separate digital channels, ABC Kids and Fly TV, which opened soon after the launch of DTV.
In 2002, the ABC launched ABC Asia Pacific (now ABC Australia), the replacement for the defunct Australia Television channel operated previously by the Seven Network. Much like its predecessor, and companion radio network Radio Australia, the service provided a mix of programming targeted at audiences throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Funding cuts in 2003, meanwhile, led to the closure of Fly and the ABC Kid's Channel.
Also in 2002, to celebrate 70 years of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC TV's logo reverted to the "over and under" design seen in the previous decades; however it retained the three-dimensional metallic design. The channel's idents featured elements – fire, leaf and ice, and the slogan was updated to Everyone's ABC. The idents also featured the silver ring that morphs into the ABC logo. This however did not last, as later in 2003, the channel's idents were modified to feature everyday Australians.
In February 2005, the ABC switched from the Supertext logo to their own closed captioning logo. On 19 December that year, the channel's idents were revamped featuring a modified ABC logo transforming to a television.
ABC Family, a second attempt at a digital-only television channel, was launched on 7 March 2005, running on a budget of $3 million per year. Minister for Communications Helen Coonan inaugurated the channel at Parliament House three days later. Genre restrictions limiting the types of programming the channel could carry were lifted in October 2006; ABC2 (now ABC Family) was henceforth able to carry programming classified as comedy, drama, national news, sport and entertainment.
Services
Australia
As of 2026, the ABC operates five television stations within four channels, all of them non-commercial. These services are available nationally through digital terrestrial television, and all the digital TV services are also available through the VAST free-to-air satellite service.
The ABC also broadcasts several of its radio channels on their television service.
Although the ABC's headquarters in Sydney serve as a base for program distribution nationally, ABC Television network is composed of eight state- and territory-based centres, once separate stations with their own branding, until 5 December 2014. In addition to the nightly 7 pm news, ABC broadcast 7.30 on Friday evenings, state election coverage and in some states and territories carried live local sport on weekends.
ABC Local includes more than 50 newsrooms across regions within each state. They are responsible for broadcasting local news and radio broadcasting for the region.
ABC iview
ABC iview is a video on demand and catch up TV service, which became available on 24 July 2008. This was the next step after the podcasting of radio programmes from July 2006. Iview can only be viewed by users in Australia. The iview website streams video at 650 kbit/s in the H.264 format, and uses the RTMP protocol, which makes it accessible to web browsers installed with Adobe Flash. Iview is also available through native apps for iOS and Android smartphones, tablets, and HDMI devices, as well as on some brands of internet-connected TVs. These use a HTTP stream to deliver video to the client.
Overseas
ABC Australia is an international satellite television service operated by the ABC, funded by advertising and grants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The service is available via subscription to viewers across East Asia, South Asia, South-East Asia and Pacific Islands, including India, Japan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, and broadcasts a mixture of English-language programming, including general entertainment, sport, and current affairs.
Ratings
As of 2025, the ABC is the third-highest rating network in Australia, behind the Seven Network and Nine Network, but ahead of Network 10 and the secondary public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service.
Funding
ABC television services within Australia carry no advertising by external sources; it is banned under the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, which also ensures its editorial independence. The ABC receives most of its funding from the Australian Government (some revenue is earned by ABC Commercial), but has suffered progressive funding cuts under Liberal governments since the 1996 Howard government, with particularly deep cuts in 2014 under the Abbott government, and an ongoing indexation freeze as of 2021. In spite of these cuts, in April 2023 social media platform X (formerly Twitter) tagged ABC as "government-funded media"; in August 2023, ABC announced the closure of all but four of its X accounts.
ABC Australia, which broadcasts throughout the Asia-Pacific region, receives additional funds through DFAT and some advertising on the channel.