ABC considers charging for the web

THE ABC is preparing to embrace a more commercial future under managing director Mark Scott, with the potential for ABC-owned, commercially funded websites being investigated.

THE ABC is preparing to embrace a more commercial future under managing director Mark Scott, with the potential for ABC-owned, commercially funded websites being investigated.

New revenue-raising plans may also include charging people a fee to download popular programs from ABC websites.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian Magazine, to be published tomorrow, Mr Scott said the ABC had to seek new sources of revenue. More than 95 per cent of the ABC's funds are currently provided by the taxpayer.

"The ABC is certainly pursuing new sources of revenue," he said. "We are going to have to make changes and make choices. We are going to have to be bold."

In his first magazine interview since being appointed last May, Mr Scott resisted entreaties from some staff to rule out website advertising.

"I won't make any blanket statements about what we will rule in and what we will rule out," he said. "We are looking at ways of maximising revenue and, of course, of protecting our reputation."

The ABC already allows advertising in its range of magazines including Delicious and Gardening Australia.

He said the ABC would "look at the potential for wholly owned ABC websites, such as the Countdown site, which take advertising".

The ABC would also consider charging people to download programs from its sites, just as it charges people to buy copies of its programs on DVD.

"People already pay for the ABC's archive," Mr Scott said. "If people decided they would rather download the program from the website and pay for that download, would that be appropriate? Perhaps."

Mr Scott said the ABC would benefit greatly from increased revenue, which could be put towards program-making.

There was no reason to believe the federal Government would cut funding if the broadcaster started raising more of its own revenue, he said.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan said in a statement last night that there were no plans to cut ABC funding, regardless of whether it raised more funds of itsown. "In terms of funding, the Government supports the ABC and current level of funding provided to them, regardless of any commercial opportunities that the ABC may or may not propose," Senator Coonan said.

She said the ABC charter would protect ABC-TV and radio from commercialisation.

The secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union's ABC section, Graeme Thomson, said: "I'm surprised by the approach Mr Scott is taking. If you are genuinely trying to protect the ABC, you must prevent advertising on all the platforms.

"The minute you've got ads stuck around ABC sites, or sites that the public know are ABC-owned sites, you may as well then start putting them on the TV screens as well."

Friends of the ABC campaign manager Glenys Stradijot said Mr Scott's statements were "very worrying".

"The fact is that news and programs made for the ABC end up on the website. He seems to believe that you can firewall between editorial and commercial, and you can't, and the SBS is a living example of the pressures that are brought to bear once the commercial foot is in the door."

Broadcaster Quentin Dempster, who has served on the ABC board, said the ABC's enabling act "should immediately be amended to extend the current prohibition on advertising from TV and radio to ABC Online".