ABC Australia Introducing Two New Channels

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is introducing two new channels in June: ABC Family and ABC Entertains.

Replacing ABC TV Plus, ABC Family will focus on family-friendly and co-viewing content and will broadcast from 7:30 p.m. after ABC Kids finishes each day. Titles include Style It Out, Deadly Mission Shark and Expedition with Steve Backshall, Fresh Off the Boat, Little Lunch and Hard Quiz Kids.

ABC Entertains, which replaces ABC ME, will build on the ABC’s catalog of comedy and entertainment. It will be the home of the Australian TV premiere of season two of the hit supernatural series Interview with a Vampire, plus new seasons of the comedy horror Wreck and Louis Theroux Interviews.

Friday movie nights are also back with Focus, How to be Single, Gravity, Must Love Dogs and Beowulf, as well as Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans and the classic Superman film series. In the mornings, it will feature programs for primary school kids and school-age educational programming such as Behind the News.

ABC’s chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor, said the changes are designed to enhance audience experience and boost discoverability. “The multichannel changes are designed to simplify and modernize the ABC channels and form part of the ABC’s overall content strategy to adapt and evolve in line with changing audience trends and behaviors,’’ he said.

“The ABC is uniquely placed to offer audiences the best range of entertainment and family viewing and having two clearly defined channels plus new digital streams that will make it even easier for Australians of all ages to discover and enjoy their favourite ABC content.”

ABC’s head of programming, acquisitions and streaming, Roberta Allan, said: “We are excited to be making these changes to the broadcast channels. We will be adding more family-friendly shows, long-running entertainment titles and comedies, plus movies and much more, further establishing the ABC as a premier destination for family and entertainment viewing.”

The live experience on ABC iview will become more dynamic, with four digital streams to launch in June. The streams will focus on four dedicated genres, children’s live action, animation, education and family viewing, meaning content is available as live streams as well as on-demand.

ABC iview has become a primary destination for young ABC audiences aged 7 to 12 years. Oliver-Taylor added: “Primary school children are digital natives and want their content on demand and nearly always through a digital platform. The changes announced today mean that content for school-age children will be delivered via ABC iview and an altered channel configuration to maximize audience reach.

“The ABC plays a fundamental role in telling Australian stories for children, reaching more Australians than any network with its children’s focussed content and investing more financially than any other network or streamer and that commitment will be maintained into the future.”