ABC2

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ABC2
Launched	March 7, 2005
Network	ABC Television
Owned by	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Slogan	More Choice, More Often
Replaced	ABC Kids Channel Fly TV
Website	abc.net.au/abc2
Availability
Terrestrial
SD Digital	Channel 21
Satellite
Foxtel Digital	Channel 126
Austar Digital	Channel 126
Cable
Foxtel Digital	Channel 126
Optus Digital	Channel 126

ABC2 is an ABC television channel available to digital television viewers in Australia. Launched on March 7, 2005, with the first program beginning at 6:35am, the channel broadcasts time-shifted repeats from ABC TV and new content, notably children's programs, magazine shows, and local sport. Its motto is "More choice, more often."

Contents 1 History 2 Programming 2.1 News & Current Affairs 2.2 Sport 2.3 Children 2.4 Current schedule 3 Availability 4 Identity 5 Logos 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] History

Further information: History of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

ABC2 began broadcasts on March 7, 2005, with the first program Landline delayed ten minutes from the scheduled broadcast time of 6:25am. The channel was officially inaugurated by Minister for Communications, Senator Helen Coonan, at the Australian parliament in Canberra on March 10, 2005. ^[1]

Genre restrictions imposed by the Australian government on digital multichanneling were lifted along with the media ownership laws passed through the Australian parliament on October 18, 2006. ^[2] The channel was previously limited in the subjects it could cover, and was prohibited from broadcasting comedy, drama, national news/sport or entertainment.

[edit] Programming

Further information: List of programs broadcast by ABC Television

ABC2 runs many exclusive, archival, and time-shifted programming - most notably, Good Game, dig tv, and jtv XL. The bulk of programming on ABC2 consists of time-shifted and archival television shows that originally air on ABC TV. ABC TV programs including At The Movies, The Chaser's War on Everything, The New Inventors, Gardening Australia, Catalyst, Spicks and Specks, Message Stick, The Cook And The Chef, Collectors, and Difference Of Opinion, are timeshifted onto ABC2 allowing for increased viewership. In early 2007, ABC2 debuted new programs with genres that were previously restricted, as well as television programs from the ABC archives and ABC TV. ^[3]

ABC2 also airs many exclusive Entertainment, Music, Comedy and Documentary series including Good Game, Short & Curly, dig tv, jtv XL, Cowboy Bebop, London Live, Late Night Legends, and Talking Science. Many exclusive programs that air on ABC2 are produced inexpensively, and are targeted at a young adult audience.

Late Night programming on ABC2 consists mainly of timeshifted ABC2 programming, and archival programming such as Studio 22, Race Around the World and Late Night Legends.

[edit] News & Current Affairs

Further information: ABC News and Current Affairs, ABC News

ABC2 features an updated news bulletin on the hour, adopted to allow automated operation of the channel without the complications of variable length live news broadcasts. In addition news programmes and updates from ABC Online such as ABC Business, ABC Sport, and Rural Watch are shown throughout the day.

ABC2 also airs exclusive news broadcasts that are targeted at specific genres - for instance, ABC Sports News, ABC Business News, and Rural Watch. On December 12, 2006, ABC2 began showing a 30 minute bulletin of ABC News from the Australia Network.

Australia Wide is ABC2's public and current affairs program, with a strong focus on regional Australia. It airs at 4.00pm and 7.00pm weekdays. Each day of the week features a certain focus, with different segments including Earth Works on Mondays, Gen Next on Tuesdays, on Wednesday Video Lives, Thursdays Arts About, and on Fridays Outta Here.

Flagship ABC News & Current Affair programs such as Lateline, Lateline Business, Australian Story, Four Corners, Foreign Correspondent, and Behind The News are also timeshifted on ABC2 throughout the week.

All eight editions of Stateline (one for every every state and territory of Australia) are shown throughout the week following their original Friday night broadcast, allowing national access to state-level current affairs.

[edit] Sport

ABC2 broadcasts coverage of many sporting competitions - including the NSWRU, QRL, VFL, SANFL, WAFL, NTAFL, Netball Live and WNBL. State sport is mainly shown on ABC2, due to the previous genre restrictions, which disallowed ABC2 from showing mainstream sport.

Late Night Legends, an exclusive program on ABC2, also shows major sporting events from the ABC archives. The program is hosted by Lex Marinos.

Australian women's netball and basketball is shown live on ABC2 every week in primetime. This is the first time that domestic netball has been shown live on Australian television.

[edit] Children

Further information: ABC Kids

Between 10am - 3pm weekdays, 9am - midday Saturday and 2.30pm - 5.00pm Sundays, ABC2 broadcasts ABC Kids and Rollercoaster. This allows for viewers to view uninterrupted children's programming for 13 hours each day, as ABC TV airs children's programming from 6am-10am, and 3pm-6pm each day. Most children's programming is time-shifted and archival programming, however exclusive children's programming such as 6Teen, Kaput and Zosky, and P.E.T detectives, are also broadcasted.

[edit] Current schedule

	6:00 PM	6:30 PM	7:00 PM	7:30 PM	8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM
SUN	Strictly Dancing	Body Hits	Sunday Night Documentary		Sylvania Waters	The Chaser's War	Race Around the World		Documentaries
MON	Rollercoaster	Degrassi Junior High	Australia Wide	At The Movies	London Live	Spicks & Specks	dig tv
TUE				Classic Albums		Good Game	Cowboy Bebop	jtv
WED				Talking Heads	Difference Of Opinion		Catalyst	Four Corners	Media Watch
THU				Cook & The Chef	Collectors	The New Inventors	Australian Story	Foreign Correspondent
FRI				Einstein Factor	Nurses	Friday Night Movies
SAT	The New Inventors	Message Stick	Can We Help?	Flight For Life	Australian Story	Saturday Night Documentary		At The Movies	Sylvania Waters

Note: News & Current Affairs are in Grey; Drama is in Blue; Sitcoms, Animation and Comedy are in Purple; Lifestyle programs are in Green; Factual programs and Documentaries are Yellow; Reality, Game shows and Talk shows are in Red; Sport is in Orange; Movies are in Pink. The above represents ABC2's usual primetime schedule. It does not reflect one-off events, and program starting times may vary from those shown. For up-to-date information, see the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's online television guide. (link)

[edit] Availability

Further information: ABC Television

ABC2 is available on all of ABC Television's digital television transmitters in 576i SD Digital, as well on satellite and cable services. The channel is broadcast nationally using a automated system.

[edit] Identity

The channel's current idents were produced by Amanda Dennis and have been used since July 2006. Amanda Dennis is best known for her work on designing Australia Wide, and Good Game. ABC2's identity is based on the "Big 2", which has gone through many transformations over the years.

On July 29 2006 ABC2 relaunched it's identity package. This was shortly followed by ABC2's official website relaunching as well. Although the "Big 2" remains, the designs now follow a Green and Blue theme.

All promos feature the "Big 2" placed in famous, and iconic Australian landscapes. These include the Sydney Harbour, and the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. The "Big 2" is somewhat similar to BBC2's onair mascot, in design.

ABC2's logo was modified for the promotion of the channels launch, and for various sporting events. One of the most noticeable versions of the ABC2 logo was when the channel launched, where the logo appeared under-construction. Also during the promotion of Australians Women's Netball the ABC2 logo is modified featuring the sport's colours.

ABC Kids, on ABC2, also carries a unique brand. The identity features the "Big 2" as a green flexible object. The logo is featured on all promos and idents duruing the day when ABC2 airs children programming.

[edit] Logos

ABC2 has only used one main logo throughout its history.

2005 - present

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• ABC Television (Australia)
• ABC TV
• ABC Kids Channel
• Fly TV

[edit] External links

• Official Site
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation

v • d • e ABC Television (Australia)
Television Channels: ABC TV | ABC2 International Channels: Australia Network Defunct channels: ABC Kids Channel | Fly TV

v • d • e Free-To-Air Television Channels in Australia
ABC TV | ABC2 | Channel Seven | Channel Nine | Channel Ten | SBS TV
Regional Affiliate Networks: Prime (GWN) | Southern Cross | Imparja | NBN | WIN | Southern Cross Ten