National Studies

Abstract

Radio broadcasting in Australia began in 1923 when the government approved a scheme for the sale of ‘sealed sets’, receivers capable of picking up only one station. Enthusiasm for the new medium was mutedand the scheme was abandoned in favour of one involving alternative systems: ‘A’ licences funded by government-imposed licence-fees for receivers and ‘B’ licences dependent on advertising revenue. This time the public response was more vigorous and audience figures rose rapidly. In 1929, a new Australian Broadcasting Company, formed by a consortium of ‘A’ licence-holders, assumed responsibility for programming, attracting a share of licence revenues and accountable to the Postmaster-General’s Department. Three years later the company was brought into public ownership as the Australian Broadcasting Commission, a title it retained for over half a century when it was given its new name, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), under the 1983 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act.