Video Interview: ABC Australia’s Tim Brooke-Hunt

NEW YORK: Tim Brooke-Hunt, the executive head of children’s at ABC, talks about his programming strategy for commissions and acquisitions, along with discussing the ways the Internet has given the linear services a boost.

As the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) prepares to shift its children’s programming schedule this May, with ABC1 replacing its morning kids’ block with a breakfast news program and ABC2 extending its preschool schedule to 13 hours daily, the channel is refining its approach to commissioning and acquisitions. Brooke-Hunt is responsible for kids’ programming across ABC1 and the digital channels ABC2 and ABC3. He explains that the strategy for commissioned content centers predominantly on Australian producers to give the channels an "Australian voice." This effort is supported by the use of local hosts for the various blocks on the channels throughout the day. ABC tends to commission more for its school-age viewers, Brooke-Hunt explains, covering everything from drama to comedy to documentary series. Commissioning is used much less often, he says, for preschool content. For preschool, acquisitions are mostly animated series, says Brooke-Hunt. ABC also extends viewer engagement with the channels to online, where kids log on to play games or use the sites as a catch-up service.