Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) managing director has foreshadowed a major change to its lineup – with one TV blog predicting which popular TV staple could be the first to be axed.
Gardening Australia, hosted by Costa Georgiadis is “under internal scrutiny” according to the website, citing the cost of having “crews around the country” in order to produce the content.
“A trim to its running time would effectively equate to a cost saving for ABC, but likely lead to roles lost and a reaction from its rusted-on audience,” they added.
It comes after Hugh Marks lifted the lid on his plans for the taxpayer-funded media organisation last week, revealing that at least one legacy show “of 40 years’ standing” could be getting the axe to make way for more modern formats.
“I think the biggest challenge is the ABC has trouble stopping things,” the national broadcaster’s managing director told ABC’s That’s Business podcast.
“Why? Because generally when we stop things, there are some people still rusted on to that particular program or format.”
While he did not specify which programs were at risk, he did give some major hints, adding that “a legacy television show that has been around for 40 years” was being eyed up.
“There’s still a lot of work that goes into it,” he said of the program.
“All that work is valid and there’s a lot of people working hard to do it, but that particular show may not be the sort of content that we want for the future.”
He further emphasised that ABC’s priority when it came to its offerings was producing content that was “talking to all Australians”.
It is not known whether Marks is referring to a TV show or radio program. However, there are quite a few long-running shows that fit the criteria.
Shows that have been on Aussies’ radars for 40 years and more include ABC News, Four Corners, Play School, Behind The News (BTN) and The 7:30 Report.
As for programs just under the 40 year mark that could be on the chopping block, Rage, Compass, Media Watch, Gardening Australia, Landline, Foreign Correspondent and Australian Story have all been rolling around for at least 30 years.
Aussie television aficionados have weighed in on Marks’ comments, with TV historian Andrew Mercado predicting that Behind The News could be the next to go.
“BTN seems like an obvious choice especially since they’ve axed it before,” he shared.
Mumbrella’s James Manning shared: “Play School, BTN, rage and Foreign Correspondent are shows arguably ready for an overhaul or replacement. They probably would not make a huge budget saving, but they might offer the least public push back.”
He added: “Meddling with some of the mainstream long running offerings like Four Corners, Gardening Australia or Australian Story might see street marches against ABC management!”