ABC budget cut by $120m over next 4 years

In tonight's Federal budget it was announced that the ABC would be having their government funding cut by $120m over the next 4 years.

The total includes operational funding cuts of close to $40m over four years along with the termination of the $220m contract to deliver the international broadcasting service, Australia Network.

ABC Managing Director Mark Scott says: “The funding cuts will be disappointing for audiences. The government gave repeated commitments before and after the election that funding for the Corporation would be maintained."

After the release of the budget Scott also said while the ABC would review its operations to make them more efficient, it was inevitable that redundancies and a reduction of services would occur.

“The ABC is very tightly geared. We have been diligent in reducing backroom costs over recent years to ensure the ABC can deliver better and more varied content to our audiences. That strategy has enabled the ABC to self-fund important new initiatives like iview, ABC News24, triple j Unearthed online and a range of other new digital services.”

“The task ahead will be extremely challenging for ABC management and staff,” Scott said.

“We will need to make funding cuts, while trying to also save money to invest in new priorities to ensure the ABC remains a compelling feature of the Australian media landscape – a public broadcaster in the digital era.”

Read more from the ABC about the budget here.