ABC Australia (Southeast Asian TV channel)

Australia Television International was launched on 17 February 1993. It was originally a part of the so-called "Gang of Five", which was a consortium that was set up to compete against Star TV in the region. (The others in the group were CNN International, HBO, ESPN International [with its Asian operations] and TVB [with TVB Superchannel]) The consortium's channels were initially transmitted via Palapa satellite, but were later also added to Apstar satellite.

Radio Australia had been operating as part of the ABC since 1939 while the passing of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act in 1983 allowed the Corporation to operate an additional international television service. The channel was originally proposed by directors Mark Armstrong (television executive) and David Hill, who felt that a television channel would further heighten Australia's presence in the Asia-Pacific region and demonstrate the ABC's technical abilities.[3]

The new channel was to be funded by a combination of government subsidies and commercial sponsorship.[3] The presence of commercials, not previously seen or heard on the ABC, resulted in the creation of an updated edition of the ABC Editorial and Programme Practices stipulating that the 'Australia Television service will retain editorial control and independence in all programming'.[3] Paul Keating launched Australia Television International on 17 February 1993 – televised live to 50 countries in the southeast Asian region, from the ABC's television studios in Gore Hill.[4] The actual broadcast was from the Darwin uplink where Dominic Stone, the service's Program Director and David Hill, Managing Director of the ABC commissioned the first transmission.

Funding cuts made in the 1997–1998 federal budget, and recommendations made in the Mansfield Report, meant that control of Australia Television was handed over to the Seven Network in 1998.[5] Under Seven's direction the channel continued to receive federal funding, and carry some ABC News.[5]

Despite efforts made by Seven to expand into Asia using the service, it continued to lose money. In 2002, the government announced a five-year, $50 million tender for the service[5] – at the time watched primarily by Australian expats for its news programmes, football coverage, and children's programming.[5] Seven chose not to bid, while Imparja Television's application was unsuccessful. The ABC won the contract and Australia Television was rebranded as ABC Asia Pacific on 1 January 2002, with content from the Seven Network, Nine Network, Network Ten, and the ABC's own original content, as well as news bulletins produced by Sky News Australia.[6][7]

The tender was renewed in 2005 however the ABC was re-awarded control of the service, over other applicants including Sky News Australia.[8][9] Soon after, the network stopped showing content from Sky News Australia, replaced with bulletins produced by the ABC's own news and current affairs division from its Southbank studios in Melbourne.

ABC Asia Pacific changed its name to Australia Network on 7 August 2006,[10] at the same time introducing a number of new programs, as well as the expansion of its existing news programs and English-language learning programs.[10] Following a restructure of the ABC in early 2007, Australia Network became a part of the Corporation's International, Corporate Strategy and Governance division.[2]

The channel was not available in Australia or New Zealand, owing to rights restrictions, although ABC News for Australia Network bulletins were carried overnight on ABC News 24 and Al Jazeera English in Australia and on Face TV in New Zealand. Several Australia Network programmes are also available online in Australia on the ABC's iview platform. Australia Network became available in Malaysia on Astro (Channel 514) in December 2008.

In 2010 the Australian Government invited media organisations to submit tenders to deliver the Australia Network for 10 years, despite the tender evaluation board repeatedly selecting Sky News Australia as having a superior offering of better value than the ABC, the government awarded the contract to the ABC.[11] The awarding of the Australia Network to the ABC was subsequently heavily criticised by the Auditor General for Australia and the government was forced pay millions in compensation to Sky News.[11]

In the 2014 Australian federal budget, all funding to the Australia Network was cut and its closure was announced, days before it was about to sign a contract with Shanghai Media Holdings to begin broadcasting in China (making it only the third foreign broadcaster with access to the country).[12] 80 jobs, mostly in Melbourne, were lost and the government was forced to compensate the Australian Broadcasting Corporation 10 million dollars for breaking its contract.[13][14]

Following the closure of Australian Network, Australia Plus, a new multi-platform international service was launched on 29 September 2014 as a replacement. The channel continued to broadcast entertainment, sports, education and English learning shows from ABC through Asia and Pacific partners. Big events from Australia, such as Melbourne Cup, Sydney's New Year's Eve Fireworks and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race were also featured on the channel.[15]

Australia Plus was rebranded as ABC Australia on 1 July 2018.[16] ABC Head of International Strategy David Hua said, “The rebranding of the international television service makes sense to our audiences overseas, who want distinctive Australian content from a highly-respected media organisation.” The rebranding came just weeks after the lifting of the geo-blocking of the ABC News live stream on the ABC website and YouTube channels.