{"id":109855,"date":"2025-09-01T02:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T02:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/109855\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T02:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T02:04:10","slug":"abc-family-chasing-new-commissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/109855\/","title":{"rendered":"ABC Family chasing new commissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\tABC is looking beyond Bluey to other content commissions for younger audiences, finding big success and new opportunities for local producers.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

ABC is head and shoulders the most successful broadcaster in the Kids space in Australia -but it is keen for more commissions for ABC Family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Family area is where we\u2019re looking actively for commissions,\u201d ABC Director of Screen Jennifer Collins told delegates last week at the Australian Children\u2019s Content Summit in Coffs Harbour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you haven\u2019t spoken to one of the commissioning team about the opportunities there to sit along our great catalogue, please do. Because this is where we really need more content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins was joined by Catherine Collins -no relation-, Senior Manager Programming & Streaming who has oversight of ABC Kids, ABC Family, Big Kids and Screen Education.<\/p>\n

Together they outlined ABC strategy to a room of writers, producers and content makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love Children\u2019s programming,\u201d said Jennifer Collins. \u201cWe see it as a real privilege to make Children\u2019s and Family programming for our audiences. Every commission is a treasure. Every commission is a jewel in the crown and we want to do the most that we can do with it, to bring it to as many audiences as we can. And we think we do a very good job of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cABC Kids and Family is the number one channel for Australian kids. It reaches more than two thirds of Australian children. A mind blowing stat for you, every day ABC Children\u2019s and Family content accounts for more than 500,000 hours viewed on ABC iview. That\u2019s just iview alone, let alone our content add-on third party platforms, our ABC branded YouTube and our linear channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ABC is here. We\u2019re always going to be here. We\u2019ll always want to commission you. The door is open. Our team have got two briefs at this market that they\u2019ve been talking to people about. There\u2019s opportunities. We want to do more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The past year has seen the return of popular kids titles, including Hard Quiz Kids, Teenage Boss Next Level, Fizzy and Suds, Ginger and the Vegesaurs, Space Nova, Kangaroo Beach, Gardening Australia Junior, Good Game Spawn Point and First Nations Lullabies. Four shows are currently in production right now, being Knee High Spies, It\u2019s Andrew (previously titled Andrew and the Big Big Unicorn), Flower & Flour and Tales from Outer Suburbia (pictured top).<\/p>\n

While Bluey remains massive, ABC is looking to other sucesses. Episode One of Do Not Watch This Show, by Andy Lee is now at almost 2.5 million in Total Audience.<\/p>\n

ABC last week announced new live-action comedy\u00a0Caper Crew\u00a0and animated sitcom Happy House.<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/a><\/p>\n

Catherine Collins also outlined some of the programming strategy for child audiences, including how they transition in ages.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreschoolers don\u2019t stay preschoolers forever. So as Aussie kids get older, we want to stay with them. We still want to recognise their life stage. We still want to understand their viewing patterns and the other things going on in their lives. We still want to reflect those things that they\u2019re passionate about, and we still want to give them choices in terms of how they watch,\u201d said Catherine Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the more things change, the more they stay the same. This audience, just like preschoolers, falls in love with shows deeply and passionately. They watch and they re-watch, and that is something kids do a lot more than adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great because they come to us and spend a lot of time with us. And I think all of you who talk to this audience knows that love of a show being re-watched, or if you have kids in your family, that particular episode that they just want to watch over and over and over again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first step into big kids is our transition viewers, and this is where life gets really difficult for kids. Suddenly they\u2019re off to school. Their routine has changed. There are more demands on their time. So suddenly they don\u2019t just have preschool, they have school, they have homework, they have activities like music or sport. They have friends and friendship groups. They have birthday parties in pretty high numbers. So we have to consider the fact that their viewing patterns are very, very different. As we ease them out of preschool and into big kids, it\u2019s not a linear journey that they go on. Kids will still go back and watch their favourite shows from the kids experience. They might have younger siblings, so they have to find a compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adventure and comedy work well for older kids, with Collins noting, \u201cToilet humour absolutely rules for this group.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs they get into big kids, we have to change our approach, because it\u2019s no longer about a daily routine and habit. It\u2019s about everything being structured around the school year. So that\u2019s how we put our content in front of our kids. So if you\u2019ve worked with us, you\u2019ll notice that if we are releasing your show for a big kids audience it goes out on a Friday on ABC iview. Regardless of what day of the week it is playing, before it launches on broadcast, it goes out on a Friday. The reason is really simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis audience watches more minutes of content over the weekend than they do during the week. I suspect they have more free time. I also think screen time rules maybe get a little bit looser in families over the weekends, and I\u2019m seeing lots of nods, so I\u2019m going to take that as a yes. Kids are allowed to watch more content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Jennifer Collins, Catherine Collins. Photo: Jay Black<\/p>\n

ABC is also open to Family films..<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been talking to a few producers about that. It\u2019s always about the price point for film. But film is the perfect vehicle for parents to sit down with their kids on the couch. So we\u2019d be mad not to be looking at that space right now,\u201d said Jennifer Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolume is also really important for this age. That\u2019s the thing we\u2019re always saying: \u2018How many can we get of this, and how quickly would the second series come? If this is a success, what\u2019s the rhythm of actually creating a second series to delivery?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine Collins outlined how volume is crucial in programming for kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019m going to the team all the time and saying, \u2018Give me more, give me more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I play a show at 3:00 in the afternoon and I play it five days a week, how many times can I play the show before I have to move it? Because it\u2019s way easier for me to leave a show in a spot where it\u2019s popular. The audience can find it and they love it than for me to be moving it around the schedule. I do move shows around the schedule because we want to reach as many people as possible. So that is obviously part of the strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a regular slot at least for 6 to 12 months is really important to get a show going, if possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always that creative tension,\u201d added Jennifer Collins,\u201d between what Catherine wants and the commissioners saying, \u2018We really need to make the best possible series of series one\u2019. And the funders are then saying, \u2018We can put in this amount, so we can only make this amount.\u2019 So it\u2019s just all of that tension that you\u2019re bringing together.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in broad terms, we do need volume with this audience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABC is looking beyond Bluey to other content commissions for younger audiences, finding big success and new opportunities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-109855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}