As Hugh Marks told the National Press Club on 19 November, more people are accessing the ABC than ever before. But they’re watching, listening and reading it in many different ways.
"Overnight ratings matter, but they are absolutely not even close to the correct measure of performance for the ABC today. Performance must be measured on total audience engagement across all platforms. Over time."
- Hugh Marks, ABC Managing Director
News
Consumption of ABC News is growing as audiences of all ages access it in many different ways.
In the early 2000s, the 7pm news had 1.1 million metro viewers. Today the number is more like 550,000 at 7pm.
But that's only part of the story.
There's another 10% on the News Channel at 7pm.
PLUS another 10% on iView
PLUS 2 million daily users of ABC News Digital and 1.3 million people tuning into ABC News Channel daily
PLUS 8.1 million minutes viewed on YouTube per day, and 400,000 daily engagements with ABC News via social media.
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Kids
Each week the ABC reaches 3.7 million Australians across broadcast and live streaming for its kids and family content.
PLUS another 400,000 viewers who access that content on iview and 250,000 via the ABC Kids app.
PLUS around 6 million views each week on the ABC's YouTube channels
In addition there's the audiences for the Behind the News programs for primary and high school students.
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Radio
On live radio ABC broadcasters connect with nearly 5.5 million listeners across the metro and major regional markets and more than 2.1 million regional listeners every week.
Nearly 1.4 million metro listeners consume ABC Radio via streaming each week. And the network contributes significantly to the ABC's on-demand audio offering with many programs gaining more audience on-demand than they do on radio.
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Podcasts
Three of Australia's top ten podcasts are made by the ABC, and 50 of the top 300.
ABC podcasts reached more than 2.8 million listeners in September alone.
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Adult drama
In the past the ABC's Australian dramas regularly achieved audiences in the millions.
But Fisk, starring Kitty Flanagan, has attracted, an average audience of more than 3 million viewers per episode, sustained over three seasons. Over time it will likely end up over 4 million. A number equivalent to the respective football grand finals.
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These statistics were included in Hugh Marks' address to the National Press Club on 19 November. He went on to say:
"Premium story telling, in all its forms, is growing in its engagement. It's more relevant today than it's ever been. It can be more impactful in informing national discussions than ever before. Our programs do better than any major streamer. Under-investing in it is at the nation's peril. We risk losing our sense of self as Australians and would fail to invest in national cohesion."