Eye-watering cost behind ABC shake-up after The Drum axed

The ABC has forked out millions to pay for redundancies as high-profile programs continue to be axed.

The cancellation of a popular ABC panel show marks the latest costly move by the public broadcaster as redundancies top $20m.

The ABC announced on Tuesday that it would be axing The Drum after almost 15 years on the air, with the last show on Friday.

ABC News director Justin Stevens made the announcement in an email to staff and said the cancellation was a “difficult decision”.

The move is expected to result in job loses at a time when the public broadcaster’s redundancies have skyrocketed.

ABC’s annual report reveals it spent a whopping $21.3m on the separation and redundancy of staff during the 2023 financial year.

Comparatively, the embattled public broadcaster spent only $6.9mn on redundancies during the 2022 financial year.

While employee expenses, excluding superannuation benefits, rose generally from 2022 to 2023, redundancies grew significantly.

Salaries increased to $423m in 2023 compared with the $397m reported by the ABC five years prior.

The ABC spent $21.3m on the separation and redundancy of staff during the 2023 financial year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The broadcaster in June announced it was axing up to 120 jobs and abolishing all state-based Sunday night bulletins.

The cancellation of The Drum also represents a wider pivot to digital content, where Mr Stevens said The Drum funding would go.

Last month, the ABC drew controversy after advertising a six-moth Sydney-based contract for a new digital content creator.

With a salary ranging from $93-114,000 a year, the role did not require media experience. Instead, applicants needed a social following.

Eligible applicants for the Creator Program were expected to have at least 10,000 followers on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube.

Alternatively, eligible candidates could have had a vertical video with more than 100,000 views to be considered “competitive”.

“We are after exciting content makers who have a passion for storytelling, arts, culture, music, science, sports and more,” the ABC said.

A clip posted to the ABC TikTok stated: “You’ll even have the chance to pitch to our TV and audio commissioning teams.”

The loss of the The Drum nonetheless represents an end of era for the broadcasters and the veteran staff who had been at the helm.

The Drum co-host Julia Baird will remain with the ABC in a new role. Picture: Supplied

In the email, Mr Stevens said The Drum, which first aired in 2010, had been groundbreaking in its “championing diversity on air”

“(The Drum) lead the way in finding new voices and inspiring other ABC teams to follow suit,” Mr Stevens said.

“It did this at a time when it was relatively uncommon to see diverse talent in our news programming.

“So much of the program’s pioneering work has now become an expectation for all our teams.”

Co-hosts Julia Baird and Ellen Fanning will remain with the ABC in new roles, along with Dan Bourchier, who will join News Channel.

Baird, whose new role will include news writing as well as podcasting and video, said it had been an “honour” hosting the program.

“The Drum has been an incredibly rewarding opportunity,” Baird said.

“It’s allowed me to do what I love most – talking to fascinating, smart people about what’s going on in the world.”