Scrap ABC3 plans say experts

Play School, Bananas In Pyjamas and overseas childrens programs are exploited by the ABC for merchandise revenue, say industry leaders. Australian children, says Patricia Edgar and Barbara Biggins, deserve a better model than the ABC3 proposal being pushed by the national broadcaster. Writing in today's Sydney Morning Herald, the two women who served on the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal's children's program committee want to see multi-platform media delivered via broadband, that allows children to "access, manipulate, create and share multimedia content." They argue the $82m ABC3 model is an outmoded approach to the needs of children.

"The amount of money suggested over four years - $82 million - won't go far if spent on new quality programs, so the new channel will show many repeats of programs children already see." Edgar and Biggins argue strongly for the Rudd Government to reconsider the ABC3 proposal and incorporate the array of media that comprise the lives of Aussie kids. A model of government subsidy and merchandise to finance a children's TV channel is seen as antiquated and inappropriate. "There will still need to be a subsidised, contestable fund for Australian dramas and programs produced by professionals as part of the mix. Broadcasters that have never accepted responsibility for children's programming could relinquish their programming role, but only if they are levied to support a well-financed development and production fund."

So far the federal government has not thrown its support behind ABC3, and will not comment until the Federal Budget. Both Edgar and Biggins have a long history in children's television. Edgar was the founding director of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. Biggins is a former president of the Australian Council on Children and the Media. Their stance today will certainly ruffle some feathers in the industry. But that's exactly what the piece seems intent on doing. "No education revolution can succeed unless it encompasses all the media that dominate children's lives," they say.