Despite Melbourne's long standing position as Australia's `rock music capital', the majority of ABC's youth music programming is centralised in Sydney. This includes:-
· the headquarters and vast majority of Triple J resources; and
· the ABC TV program Rage.
Melbourne is currently the production base for the Saturday morning television program Recovery.
The Committee received a volume of evidence which highlighted concerns over the centralisation of national radio network, Triple J. It is worth repeating resource statistics referred to earlier in this Report.
· 18 out of 20 Triple J programs are produced in Sydney, with one each in Melbourne and Brisbane; and
· Sydney has an estimated 90% of Triple J staff compared to the rest of Australia.
The ABC describes Triple J as follows:-
"Triple J - a national youth network broadcasting music, information and news to young Australians. The network has a particular emphasis on Australian music and the recording of new artists; it aims to reflect and contribute in innovative and accessible ways to a sense of national identity."124
The Committee acknowledges evidence from the ABC which indicates Melbourne is well served by Triple J in terms of live music output and music recordings. The Committee also notes that two out of three Triple J music producers are based in Melbourne.
However, while the ABC concedes Melbourne's status as the leading Australian City for popular music venues and performers, Triple J's management is 100% Sydney based. And with the resignation in late 1998 of popular Melbourne-based broadcaster Jane Gazzo, all weekday programs are now Sydney based.
In its submission to the Inquiry, the ABC noted:
"Programs originating in Melbourne include Super Request with Jane Gazzo and Creatures of the Spotlight with Francis Leach."125
Since the ABC submission, Ms Gazzo has resigned, and her replacement (Caroline Tran) is hosting a program from the ABC's Sydney radio studios. With other line-up changes, Triple J has signed Melbourne-based comedy duo Merrick and Rosso to host the new drive time program to be presented from Sydney. At this point in time, there are no daily programs on Triple J that are based outside of Sydney.
Presenters Merrick and Rosso were quoted in the press as suggesting they were required to move to Sydney:
"Because we're doing the drive shift it's easier and better resourced for us to do it out of Sydney for this year"126
- FINDING
The Committee finds that ABC management should be actively pursuing de-centralisation of Triple J rather than centralise programming in Sydney.
The Committee is at a loss to understand why the afternoon program could not be broadcast from the Southbank studios and why the Super Request program could not continue in Melbourne.
Triple J has been gradually establishing an audience in Melbourne, but it is noticeable that with the relocation of the only daily Melbourne-based program, Super Request, to Sydney, the ratings for this program have fallen from 10.8% to 4.8% in just one survey, reducing the station's overall Melbourne ratings.
The latest figures graphically confirm what music journalist and historian Ed Nimmervoll told the Committee:
Mr Nimmervoll - We are getting the bad end of things. ... We are hearing Sydney culture with a national soundtrack. They are talking to us from Sydney; they are trying not to, but we know.127
Victorians know when a program is local and when it is from Sydney. The same survey result showed an increase in 3LO's night time audience, coincidentally at the same time the station reintroduced a local program.
The founder of Australia's most successful and famous record label, Melbourne-based Mushroom Records, Mr Michael Gudinski, felt it was illogical for Triple J to remain so obviously Sydney-based:-
Mr Gudinski - Radio-wise, there is such a fantastic set-up down here for the ABC, there is no reason why Triple J has not done more down here, if it is a true national broadcaster. I suppose it just stems back to the fact that it started in Sydney as Double J. It was always just Sydney, and it is still very Sydney.128
Mr Chris Thompson, who represented Triple J as a witness before the Committee, conceded Melbourne would be a more logical place for Triple J to be headquartered.
Mr Thompson - There are plenty of people at the station who would agree, but again it is a resources issue. We have a very small operating budget and we do an amazing number of things with that budget. Just the thought of trying to move the operation down here - it was way too expensive.129
In the face of the ABC's purported move to decentralise activity from Sydney, the Committee cannot understand why programs and presenters have recently moved from Melbourne to Sydney. Rather than have Melbourne presenters move to Sydney and appoint Sydney presenters to replace vacant positions previously occupied by Melbourne staff, the ABC should make a concerted effort to ensure that future appointments are made outside of Sydney.
- FINDING
The Committee finds that there is an overwhelming concentration of Triple J resources in Sydney. The trend of centralisation has accelerated at Triple J over the past six months with Melbourne-based presenters and programs shifting to Sydney. This centralisation of activity is despite Victoria's significant output of Australian bands and recordings.
RECOMMENDATION 27
The Committee recommends that the ABC should ensure that Triple J's programs and staff be more evenly distributed throughout Australia. In view of Melbourne's status as the centre for local bands and recordings, the Committee recommends that additional Triple J resources be relocated to Melbourne.
124 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Submission No.60 to EDC, p.20
125 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Submission No. 60 to EDC, p.38
126 Brookfield, Joanne, "The likely lads", The Age Green Guide, 7/1/99, p.11
127 Minutes of Evidence, 9/10/98, p.297
128 Minutes of Evidence, 9/10/98, p.285
129 Minutes of Evidence, 9/10/98, p.274
