RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

better served . This, one coulđ argue , should remain the đomain of the ABC . But the government is convinced that the funding of the ABC will have to change . Either the ABC will be shrunk to some core functions still paid for by the taxpayers whilst most other activities are sold off , or the ABC will have to attract sponsorship or even advertising to survive . (At present, no advertiser would even be remotely interested . Тће ABC ratings are too low, not because the programs are bad but because they reach very selective audiences . ) Тће push to commercialize the ABC goes parallel with the push to commercialize SBS which in future would leave only the public broadcasters free from commercial influence. Their reach, however, is limited . This may not be such a bad thing . At a time when Alan Bond's Sky Radio is offering his music and midnight-to-dawn music programs to апу commerciai radio operator in the country via satellite thereby circumventing ownership control problems and blanketting Australia with his programs , public broadcasters, close to their audiences' wishes and desires may yet come to play a much more important part than hitherto . July, 1988. Notes 1 ) In Мау and June, 1988, Sydney's commercial radio stations spent almost $4 mio on advertising in an effort to get extra ratings points or to consolidate their position . The term "gigantic" is no exaggeration . In December , 1986, опе međia tycoon, Кеггу Packer , sold most of his empire for one billion dollar . Changes in ownership take place regularly whereby hundreds of millions of đollars change hands . See Gerdes , 1988. Australian Broadcasting Tnbunal, 1987; 56. 4 ) Wheelwright, 1987: 78. 5 ) The ABC Staf f Umon has calculated that Radio Nationai in 1986/87 cost app . 10 cent per listener per đay to run and that the range and quantity of information is at least comparable to that carried by the major newspapers in Australia . It is somehow typical that no reliable research figures exist for such statements ,

259