ABC News 24, Australia’s first free-to-air 24 hour dedicated news channel, turns five years old today.
The channel, based at ABC‘s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney, launched on 22 July 2010 at 7.30pm (AEST) during the Federal Election campaign
Although ABC News 24’s daily ratings share rarely lifts above a single per cent, the broadcaster claims that the channel has an audience reach (metropolitan and regional) of four million viewers each week.
The channel has recorded ratings peaks at times of major or breaking news, such as a 7.5% daytime share (OzTAM, 5 cities) earlier this year when covering the South Australian bushfires, and 6.4% prime-time share (OzTAM, 5 cities) on the evening of the 2013 Federal Election.
ABC has put together a package of highlights of ABC News 24’s first five years on air:
Source: ABC
