Combined reach

The ABC’s combined national audience reach across television, radio and online was estimated to be 68.3% over a period of a week in 2019, a decrease of 1.9 percentage points compared to the ABC’s net reach in 2018 (70.2%).¹ This change reflects the continuing decline in the reach of broadcast television.

Radio

Total ABC Radio

Average weekly reach in the five-city metropolitan markets for ABC Radio (including DAB+) was 4.92 million people aged 10+ in 2018-19, up 128,000 listeners on the 2017-18 result. Audience share was up 0.4 share points on 2017-18 to 23.1%.² 62% of Australians believe the quality of programming on ABC Radio is ‘Very Good’ or ‘Good’.³

DAB+

ABC’s DAB+ stations include Double J, ABC Jazz, triple j Unearthed , ABC Grandstand, ABC Country and ABC KIDS listen. Average weekly reach in the five-city metropolitan markets for ABC DAB+ stations was 764,000 in 201819, up 12% from 2017-18. Audience share of total listening was 1.6%, slightly up from 1.4% in 2017-18.⁴

Local Radio

ABC Local Radio’s five-city metropolitan average weekly reach was 1.92 million, down 1.8% from 1.95 million in 2017-18. Audience share was 8.3%, down 0.4 points on 2017-18 (8.7%).⁵ There were
58 million unique podcast downloads of ABC Local Capital Cities content in 2018-19, up 23% compared to 2017-18.⁶

triple j

ABC’s national youth network triple j recorded increases in broadcast audiences in 2018-19. Five-city metropolitan average weekly reach among people aged 10 and over was 1.9 million in 2018-19, up from 1.82 million in 2017-18. Audience share was 6.3%, up 0.3 points from 6.0% in 2017-18.⁷ triple j recorded a total of 20 million unique podcast downloads in 2018-19, up 23% from 2017-18.⁸

RN

RN’s five-city metropolitan average weekly reach was 645,000 in 2018-19, up 5.6% on the 2017-18 result of 611,000. Audience share increased slightly to 2.6% in 2018-19, compared with 2.4% in 2017-18.⁹ RN recorded a total of 75 million unique podcast downloads in 2018-19, up 11% compared to 2017-18.¹⁰

ABC Classic

ABC Classic’s five-city metropolitan average weekly reach was 744,000 in 2018-19, up from 736,000 in 2017-18. Audience share was steady in 2018-19 at 2.9%, compared with 2.8% in 2017-18.¹¹

ABC NEWS on Radio

ABC NEWS’s five-city metropolitan average weekly reach was 718,000 in 2018-19, up 4.1% from 690,000 in 2017-18. Audience share remained relatively steady at 1.5%.¹² There were 26 million unique downloads of ABC NEWS podcasts in 2018-19, down 7% compared to 2017-18.¹³

News and current affairs on radio

News and current affairs programs on Local Radio and RN reached on average 1.6 million people aged 10 and over in the five-city metropolitan market each week in 2018-19. This was down 3% on 2017-18.¹⁴

ABC Radio: average weekly reach (five-city metropolitan market)

ABC Radio: aggregate audience share (five-city metropolitan market)

ABC Radio websites and apps: unique audience

ABC listen

The ABC listen app launched in September 2017 replacing the existing Radio app. The listen app provides access to both live ABC radio streams and ABC podcasts. There were 456,000 monthly active users of the app in 2018-19.¹⁵

Podcasts

The ABC recorded a total of 201 million unique downloads of podcasts in 2018-19. This was a monthly average of 16.7 million unique downloads, up 15% compared to 2017-18.¹⁶

In 2018-19, ABC Audio Studios (see page 34) recorded a total of 13.6 million unique digitalfirst downloads, or a monthly average of 1.1 million downloads, up 69% on 2017-18 figures. The Audio Studios team produced some of the top ranked podcast programs in Australia, based on average downloads per episode.¹⁷

Top ranked digital-first podcasts in 2018-19 covered a variety of genres and included true crime podcast Unravel, women’s health, sexuality and relationship podcast Ladies, We Need To Talk, consumer finance podcast The Pineapple Project, news and current affairs investigative podcasts Russia If You’re Listening and daily podcast The Signal, ethics podcast for families Short & Curly and political podcast The Party Room.

Conversations with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski consistently records the largest volume of unique downloads across ABC podcasts and was named Australia’s most downloaded podcast by Apple in 2018.

Television

Television methodology

As viewing patterns change, the lifespan of content is now being extended well beyond the initial television broadcast schedule. The way in which content is measured has also evolved. ‘Long Tail’ viewing measurement is now captured by 28-day time-shift TV ratings and Video Player Measurement (VPM) captures on-demand viewing. OzTAM VPM Data captures minute-by-minute viewing of online video across the five free-to-air broadcasters and Foxtel’s online video players. This methodology provides an ‘average audience’ figure for each program or episode, which can then be added to the TV broadcast figure, in order to reflect a more complete audience measure.

Total ABC TV

Total TV reach was slightly down in 2018-19 compared to 2017-18, with free-to-air and subscription television viewing also showing declines in overall reach.¹⁸ The popularity of VOD services continued to contribute to the fragmentation of viewing, as emerging platforms and technologies alter consumer behaviour and offer alternatives to traditional scheduled viewing.

Metropolitan

Total ABC metropolitan average weekly reach in 2018-19 was 8.1 million people or 47.0% of the five-city metropolitan population. This is down compared to 2017-18 (8.5 million, or 49.7%).¹⁹
Total ABC metropolitan Total TV share during daytime increased slightly in 2018-19. Across the four channels, ABC television achieved a metropolitan daytime Total TV share of 18.3%, up from 18.0% in 2017-18.²⁰ Similarly, Total ABC Metropolitan share during prime time was also up: Total TV share for Total ABC across the five metropolitan cities was 13.8% in 2018-19, (13.6% in 2017-18).²¹

Metropolitan daytime share

Total ABC, Total TV share of viewing %, 6am-6pm

Metropolitan prime-time share

Total ABC, Total TV share of viewing %, 6pm-midnight

Average weekly metropolitan reach

Total ABC, 24-hour, five-minute consecutive viewing

Regional

In the combined aggregated regional markets including Tasmania, Total ABC average weekly reach in 2018-19 was 3.7 million people or 51.2% of the regional population. This is down compared to 2017-18 (3.9 million or 54.2%).²²

In 2018-19, Total ABC regional Total TV share during daytime increased to 19.6%, up from 19.0% in 2017-18. Total ABC regional share during prime time was 14.8% in 2018-19 (14.4% in 2017-18).²³

Regional daytime share

Total ABC, Total TV share of viewing %, 6am-6pm

Regional prime-time share

Total ABC, Total TV share of viewing %, 6pm-midnight

Average weekly regional reach

Total ABC, 24-hour, five-minute consecutive viewing

ABC main channel

Metropolitan

ABC’s average weekly metropolitan reach in 2018-19 was 5.6 million people or 32.2% of the five-city metropolitan population. This represents a decrease from 5.8 million people or 33.6% of the five-city metropolitan population, in 2017-18.²⁴

In 2018-19, ABC’s metropolitan daytime Total TV share was at 6.4%, which was an increase on 2017-18 (5.9%). ABC’s metropolitan share during prime time was up slightly at 9.8% in 2018-19 (9.7% in 2017-18).²⁵

Regional

ABC’s average weekly regional reach in 2018-19 was 2.6 million people or 35.7% of the regional population. This is a slight decrease compared to the 2017-18 average weekly regional reach of 2.7 million people or 37.3% of the regional population.²⁶

In 2018-19 ABC’s regional daytime Total TV share was 7.3%, which increased on the 2017-18 result of 6.8%. ABC’s prime-time share in 2018-19 was 10.0% (9.9% in 2017-18).²⁷

ABC main channel highlights

The Spicks and Specks Reunion Special was the top program in 2018-19, with a combined metropolitan, regional and iview VPM average audience of 2.6 million.²⁸ The new Australian drama The Cry had strong cross-platform engagement with a combined average audience of 1.7 million viewers.²⁹

Series 4 of Hard Quiz ranked among the top programs in 2019, with a complete audience of 1.4 million across combined metropolitan, regional and iview.³⁰

In 2018, ABC TV’s coverage of the New Year’s Eve: Midnight Fireworks achieved a combined metropolitan and regional average audience of 1.8 million and was the top peak program based on TV broadcast data only. Across the evening, ABC TV’s coverage reached 3.8 million viewers across ABC, ABC ME and ABC NEWS, up slightly on 2017-18 (3.7 million).³¹

Top programs by peak audience: ABC main channel

17 of the top 20 ABC programs were Australian

ABC COMEDY

Metropolitan

In 2018-19, ABC COMEDY’s average weekly metropolitan reach was 1.7 million people, or 9.7% of the five-city metropolitan population. (1.9 million; 10.8% in 2017-18).³² ABC COMEDY’s 7.30pm-midnight metropolitan Total TV share remained steady at 1.7% in 2018-19.³³

Regional

In 2018-19, ABC COMEDY’s average weekly regional reach was 847,000, or 11.6% of the regional population. This is a decrease compared to the 2017-18 average weekly regional reach of 931,000 people, or 12.9% of the regional population.³⁴ ABC COMEDY’s 7.30pm-midnight regional Total TV share was stable in 2018-19 at 2.1%.³⁵

ABC COMEDY highlights

ABC COMEDY continued to deliver a broad range of domestic and international comedic content to Australian audiences in 2018-19. Highlights on ABC COMEDY included the Melbourne Comedy Festival , the Spicks and Specks Reunion Special , Whovians and live comedy specials.

Top programs by peak audience: ABC COMEDY

8 of the top 15 ABC COMEDY programs were Australian

ABC KIDS

Metropolitan

In 2018-19, ABC KIDS was once again the destination of choice for Australian preschoolers and their parents, and was the highest ranked channel during the day among children aged 0-4. In 2018-19, ABC KIDS’ average weekly metropolitan reach among this group was 676,000 or 60.3% of children aged 0-4, a small decrease on the 2017-18 result of 692,000 (62.0%).³⁶
In 2018-19, ABC KIDS 5am-7.30pm metropolitan Total TV share among 0-4s was 51.0%, up from 49.0% in 2017-18.³⁷

Regional

In 2018-19, ABC KIDS average weekly regional reach among children aged 0-4 was 266,000 or 60.5% of children in that age group (276,000 or 62.4% in 2017-18).³⁸ ABC KIDS regional daytime Total TV share among children 0-4 was 52.6% in 2018-19, up from 46.9% in 2017-18.³⁹

ABC KIDS highlights

The Australian children’s animated series Bluey has been a cross-platform success in 2018-19, breaking records to become the No. 1 program in the history of iview measurement.⁴⁰ Bluey was also the top ranked program on ABC KIDS in 2018-19. Stick Man, Zog and Peppa Pig were among other high-ranking programs on ABC KIDS.⁴¹

ABC ME

Metropolitan

In 2018-19, ABC ME was the second-highest ranked channel during the day among children aged 5–12, behind ABC KIDS.⁴²

ABC ME’s average weekly metropolitan reach among children aged 5–12 was 454,000 or 26.4%. This result is down on 2017-18 (522,000, or 31.0%).⁴³ Among children 5–12, ABC ME achieved a 2018-19 metropolitan Total TV daytime share of 17.1% (17.4% in 2017-18). In the competitive evening prime-time landscape, ABC ME’s metropolitan 6pm-9pm share among this group increased to 7.8% in 2018-19, up from 6.9% in 2017-18.⁴⁴

Regional

In 2018-19, ABC ME’s average weekly regional reach among children aged 5–12 was 231,000 or 31.0%. This is down compared to 2017-18 (274,000 or 37.0%).⁴⁵ ABC ME’s regional daytime Total TV share among this age group was 20.8%, down on 2017-18 (21.9%). ABC ME’s share among children 5–12 during the 6pm-9pm timeslot was 11.1% in 2018-19, up on the 2017-18 result of 9.2%.⁴⁶

ABC ME highlights

Doctor Who was the top program on ABC ME in 2018-19. Top ranked ABC ME programs also included the new Australian series The Little Things and Inbestigators. Other Australian highlights included the New Year’s Eve 2018: Family Fireworks and New Year’s Eve 2018: The Early Night Show Family Spectacular.⁴⁷

Online Viewing

Change in online methodology

In order to better capture audiences in the constantly changing digital landscape, Nielsen transitioned from its panel-based Digital Ratings Monthly (DRM, also known as Nielsen Digital Panel) to the new industry currency measure Digital Content Ratings (DCR) in mid–2018. Using a tagging-based methodology, DCR can provide a view of a brand’s audiences across its own websites and apps as well as off-platform via Facebook Instant Articles and Google Accelerated Mobile Pages. This provides a broader footprint of mobile audiences than was possible with panel-based DRM.

ABC iview

There were 3.2 million Australians using iview each month in 2018-19,⁴⁸ generating an average of 70 million monthly program plays – a 22% increase on the 2017-18 monthly average of 57 million.⁴⁹

ABC ME app and on iview

The ABC ME app was downloaded 312,000 times in 2018-19 ⁵⁰ and ABC ME programs had 6.1 million monthly plays across all platforms.⁵¹ This is a 32% decline in plays compared with 2017-18, although it should be noted that the Summer Best Fest drove a strong spike in plays for ABC ME in January 2018. Newly released series of popular programs The Next Step and Mustangs FC were available exclusively on iview during that time, while perennial favourite Little Lunch also performed strongly. ABC ME activity is also being impacted by increasing competition from subscription VOD providers and the growing popularity of YouTube among younger age groups.

ABC ME activity peaks during school holidays with plays in this reporting period peaking in January 2019 at 9.4 million. The top ABC ME program in 2018-19 was Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir Series 2, which had a VPM average audience of 91,000. Several Australian productions were among the top ABC ME programs, including Little Lunch, Hardball and The Deep.⁵²

ABC iview: Top ABC ME series

Ranked on VPM

ABC KIDS app and on iview

ABC KIDS on iview continues to go from strength to strength, with program plays increasing by 30% year-on-year, from 40 million in 2017-18 to 52 million per month in 2018-19. KIDS iview was used on more than a million unique devices in June 2019 – its highest result on record.⁵³ The ABC KIDS iview app was downloaded 591,000 times in 2018-19.

Queensland-produced animated series Bluey debuted in October 2018 and rapidly became the most popular kids program on iview, ending the 2018-19 year with a VPM average audience of 1.5 million, recording more than 100 million plays. The previous year’s top program Peppa Pig remained popular, while PJ Masks: Songs was also among the top series on ABC KIDS iview.⁵⁴

ABC iview: Top ABC KIDS series

Ranked on VPM

Non-kids iview

Average monthly program plays of non-kids iview content increased 34% in 2018-19, to 11 million.⁵⁵

Drama remains the top non-kids genre on iview with Australian productions featuring among the most popular. Four-part BBC co-production The Cry, available for binge viewing from February 2019, recorded a VPM average audience of 365,000 per episode. The Letdown Series 2 was among the top programs with an average audience of 156,000 for each of the six episodes⁵⁶.

BBC America’s Killing Eve grew in popularity with the release of Series 2 in April 2019. Series 1 was the top non-kids program in 2018-19 with a VPM average audience of 402,000, while Series 2 had a VPM average audience of 337,000. This was well above the average of 161,000 for Series 1 in 2017-18.⁵⁷

In 2018-19 there were 1.3 million monthly live streams of ABC channels in iview, up 85% on 2017-18. ABC NEWS accounted for 53% of live streams, achieving a record high during the 2019 federal election on 18 May, and experiencing strong live stream engagement during other major breaking news events such as the Christchurch mosque attack in March 2019.⁵⁸

ABC iview: Top non-kids series

Ranked on VPM

News and current affairs

News and current affairs on television

ABC news and current affairs programs

In 2018-19, retaining television audiences in a shifting environment remained a challenge. However, several key ABC current affairs programs managed to grow their audience year on year.

News Breakfast and 7.30 both experienced a 3% increase in audience compared to 2017-18, Australian Story had a 2% audience increase and Insiders gained 13%. 7.30 achieved a combined average audience of 831,000 on ABC in 2018-19⁵⁹ with its September 2018 episode detailing investigations into ‘fraud’ honey achieving a combined average audience of 1.1 million, the highest for the program over the period.⁶⁰ Australian Story achieved a combined average audience of 999,000 in 2018-19. Its peak combined average audience was 1.2 million for the episode ‘A World of Their Own’ which profiled Australian music trailblazers, The Seekers.

Insiders achieved a combined average audience of 596,000 in 2018-19 across the ABC and ABC NEWS simulcast, an increase of 13% on 2017-18. The post-election special broadcast on Sunday 19 May 2019 achieved a combined average audience of 868,000, the highest average audience for the program in 2018-19.⁶¹

News Breakfast is simulcast each weekday on ABC and ABC NEWS. In 2018-19 the program achieved a combined average audience of 247,000 across ABC and ABC NEWS, an increase of 3% on 2017-18.⁶²

The year also saw some audience declines. Combined metropolitan and regional average audience for the ABC’s 7pm News weeknight bulletin was 955,000 in 2018-19, down 2% compared to 2017-18, with the Saturday bulletin down 8% at 938,000 and the Sunday bulletin down 4% at 976,000. Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners, and Q&A also experienced audience declines of between 3% and 9% compared to 2017-18 figures.

Foreign Correspondent achieved a combined average audience of 649,000 on ABC in 2018-19, a decline of 9% year on year.⁶³ The episode ‘To Burn or Not to Burn?’, addressing Australia’s waste crisis, achieved the highest combined average audience of the year for the program at 792,000.⁶⁴ Four Corners achieved a combined average audience of 857,000 on ABC in 2018-19, a decrease of 7% on 2017-18.⁶⁵ The episode ‘Guilty: The Conviction of Cardinal Pell’, achieved a combined average audience of 1.2 million, the highest average audience for the program in 2018-19.⁶⁶

Q&A achieved a combined average audience of 581,000 on ABC in 2018-19, a decrease of 3% on 2017-18.⁶⁷ The episode ‘Chaos, Crocs and Coal Mining’ attracted its highest combined average audience for the year, at 786,000.⁶⁸

ABC NEWS channel

Metropolitan audiences

In 2018-19, ABC NEWS channel achieved a metropolitan average weekly reach of 2.2 million, down 1% on 2017-18. This equates to a weekly reach of 12.5% of the 5-city metropolitan population.⁶⁹ The channel achieved a metropolitan daytime Total TV share of 3.2% in 2018-19, up from 2.9% in 2017-18. Its metropolitan prime-time Total TV share was 1.2% in 2018-19, slightly up on 2017-18 (1.1%).⁷⁰

Regional

ABC NEWS channel achieved a regional average weekly reach of 1.1 million in 2018-19, down 2% on 2017-18. This equates to a weekly reach of 15.2% of the regional population.⁷¹ Prime-time regional Total TV share was 1.3% in 2018-19, up from 1.1% in 2017-18. Regional daytime Total TV share was 4% in 2018-19, up compared to 3.6% in 2017-18.⁷²

Online streams

ABC News is streamed live via the ABC NEWS website, ABC iview, the ABC NEWS app
and YouTube. ABC News live stream plays via ABC iview were up 59% to a monthly average of 710,000 in 2018-19.⁷³ Plays of the ABC News live stream via the ABC NEWS website were at a monthly average of 179,000 and on the app at 58,000 over the reporting period.⁷⁴ The ABC News live stream recorded 873,000 monthly live streams on YouTube in 2018-19, up 160% on 2017-18.⁷⁵

Streams of ABC News via iview were at their highest ever on 18 May 2019 with a total of 300,000 plays, driven by the Federal Election. YouTube streams were at their second highest on this day with 441,000 streams.⁷⁶

ABC Online

Methodology

In order to better capture information related to online audiences, digital market currency provider Nielsen transitioned from its panel-based methodology to the current industry measure. For more on this, see ‘Change in online methodology’ on page 79. Due to this change, comparison cannot be made with previous years, as the differences would reflect the change in methodology as well as audience behaviour.

In 2018-19, the average monthly reach of ABC Online in Australia was 11.0 million or 45% of Australians aged 2+.⁷⁷ Smartphone was the dominant device for accessing ABC Online in 2018-19 with 6.9 million Australians using their smartphones to access ABC Online each month, while 3.6 million monthly ABC users were on desktop and 2.4 million were on tablet.⁷⁸ On average, there were 10.5 million domestic and international visitors each week to ABC websites and apps in 2018-19, up 10% from the 2017-18 average of 9.5 million. Visitors made an average of 26 million visits each week in 2018-19, up 10% on 2017-18.⁷⁹

Social media

ABC continued to achieve growth in audiences on social media. In the case of Instagram and YouTube, ABC growth was boosted by an increase in the number of users of these platforms in 2018-19.⁸⁰

ABC News had the largest number of followers of any Australian news organisation on Instagram and Twitter, and second largest on Facebook and YouTube.⁸¹ Instagram followers were up 69% to 282,000, while Twitter followers increased by 3% to 1.5 million. ABC News had 3.9 million Facebook Page Likes (up 5% on 2017-18), while subscribers to the ABC News YouTube channel showed the strongest growth, up 152% between June 2018 and June 2019 to 653,000.⁸² Views of ABC News videos on YouTube were up 130%, from 60 million in 2017-18 to 138 million in 2018-19.⁸³

Australia Plus Learn English has the largest number of Facebook Page Likes among ABC properties with 4.8 million, up 6% on 2017-18. YouTube subscribers to ABC Australia were up 12% to 115,000.⁸⁴

triple j engages large social media audiences with a focus on younger-skewing platforms Instagram and YouTube in 2018-19. Subscribers to the triple j channel on YouTube increased by 40% to 942, 000,⁸⁵ with video views up 31% to 129 million in 2018-19.⁸⁶ triple j’s Facebook Page Likes were up 5% to 1.3 million. Followers of the triple j main account on Instagram were up 27% to 644,000 while triple j’s other Instagram accounts also showed strong growth: Unearthed followers increased by 35% to 124,000 and Hack followers were up 62% to 110,000. There was a 2% decline in triple j’s Twitter followers to 532,000 although this remained the second highest account for the ABC after ABC News.⁸⁷

Top YouTube channels by video views

Top Facebook accounts by page Likes

Top Twitter accounts by followers

Top YouTube channels by subscribers

Top Instagram accounts by followers

ABC Online monthly unique audience by device

ABC Online monthly unique audience (Reach)

ABC Online weekly users and sessions

abc.net.au

There was an average of 425,000 weekly visitors to the ABC homepage in 2018-19, down 14% on the average of 492,000 in 2017-18.⁸⁸ This reflects an ongoing shift in online behaviour towards content discovery through social media and search with a decline in direct access of brand homepages.

Science and Health portals

The ABC Science and ABC Health portals are legacy websites that aggregate content related to these subjects. Both portals are being migrated to CoreMedia, the digital content management system used to create and publish content for many of the ABC’s digital properties, including the ABC News website. For the majority of 2018-19, the two portals remained live at abc.net.au/science and abc.net.au/health while most new stories were published into topical sections of ABC News online at abc.net.au/news/science and abc.net.au/news/health. Some health stories were also published into the new ABC Life site at abc.net.au/life.

ABC Science averaged 265,000 weekly unique users in 2018-19 (this includes the legacy portal and the Science tab on ABC News online). This was up 7% on 2017-18. Stories as diverse as lunar eclipses, vegan diets and psychology were the most popular.⁸⁹ ABC Science Facebook Page Likes were up 6% to 976,000, while Twitter followers were up 7% to 54,000. On YouTube, the ABC Science and ABC Catalyst channels merged in September 2018, ending the 2018-19 period with 70,000 subscribers.⁹⁰

ABC Health reported 166,000 weekly unique users in 2018-19 (including the legacy portal and the Health tab on ABC News online). This was down 27% on 2017-18, which was in part due to some health stories being published in ABC Life. The most popular stories concerned processed foods, blood pressure and what happens if you don’t remove a splinter.⁹¹

ABC Life

The ABC Life website launched in August 2018 as a destination for lifestyle content covering topics including wellbeing, food, money, travel, family and work (for more, see page 45). From launch to the end of June 2019, the website recorded an average of 236,000 weekly visitors and 282,000 weekly visits, with health content proving the most popular.99 On Facebook and Twitter, the ABC Health and Wellbeing accounts were rebranded as ABC Life, while on YouTube, the ABC Australia channel became ABC Life. ABC Life ended the 2018-19 period with 32,000 Facebook Page Likes (up 24% on Health & Wellbeing in June 2018), 26,000 Twitter followers (up 3% on Health & Wellbeing in June 2018), 10,400 YouTube subscribers (up 20% on ABC Australia in June 2018) and 7,900 Instagram followers.⁹²

International audiences

Notes on terminology

The term ‘international’ refers to the proportion of audience members who have accessed ABC services from anywhere in the world, outside Australia. The term ‘global’ refers to the total overall audience who have accessed ABC services from anywhere in the world, inclusive of Australia.

Radio streaming

In 2018-19 there were 8.6 million online streams (plays) of ABC radio services by international audiences. This equates to 6% of global streams.⁹³

Television

In 2018, across nine markets in Asia, there were 422,000 affluent viewers each month of the ABC Australia television service.⁹⁴ The service is available in 40 markets in the Indo-Pacific.

The Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks highlights were distributed to 32 international broadcasters and reached more than 200 million people in China through playback on national television and social media channels. Further, approximately 381,000 viewers in China watched the Australian Ballet on the Shanghai Media Group network and ABC content featured on Guangdong Television’s ‘Window Week on Australia’ special in late 2018.⁹⁵

Websites

In 2018-19, there were 152.6 million international sessions on ABC websites, equating to 17% of global sessions. Of this, 121.3 million sessions were on ABC NEWS websites.⁹⁶ The geoblock on the ABC NEWS live stream was lifted in April 2018 and from January to June 2019 there were 192,000 stream starts of the ABC NEWS live stream on the ABC NEWS website from International audiences (17% of global streams).⁹⁷

Apps

Across ABC apps, there were 18.5 million international sessions on ABC apps in 2018-19, equating to 3% of global sessions.⁹⁸ In 2018-19, there were 50,000 downloads of the ABC NEWS app by international audiences, with 12.5 million sessions on the app over the period,⁹⁹ and 15,000 downloads of the triple j app.

In-language news

The Chinese, Bahasa Indonesian and Tok Pisin news collections have been available on web and app since mid-2018. In 2018-19, there were 2.8 million page-views of all in-language news.¹⁰⁰ The in-language news collection is also syndicated on various Indonesian media partner websites, and in 2018-19 there were 23.5 million page-views of ABC syndicated content on these websites¹⁰¹.

Podcasts

In 2018-19, there were 27.4 million podcast downloads by international audiences; 14% of the global total.¹⁰²

Social media

As of June 2019, there were 14.6 million international followers across ABC Facebook accounts (63% of global total), and 375,000 international followers across ABC Instagram accounts (23% of global total).¹⁰³

Moreover, there were 245.3 million views of ABC YouTube channels from international audiences, equating to 72% of global views,¹⁰⁴ with 108.7 million of those views on the ABC News channel (79% of global views). For the ABC News live stream on YouTube, there were 7.3 million views from International audiences (70% of global views).

In addition to posting on ABC branded social channels, the Audience and Content Experts team was active on expatriate social groups and Chinese platforms such as Weibo and WeChat. This enabled the ABC to communicate directly with key audience segments where they are most active. The ABC currently has 16,000 followers on WeChat and 166,000 on Weibo.¹⁰⁵