Photos of The 50s
After the War the ABC revised its programming strategy, giving the national and interstate networks a distinctive character and appeal. The more serious programs would be broadcast on the national network, and lighter entertainment programming with more local content would be reserved for the metropolitan stations.
The variety of programming increased dramatically. A Light Entertainment Department was formed and programs such as ABC Hit Parade, Bob Dyer's Dude Ranch, The Wilfrid Thomas Show (which ran for almost 40 years), and The Village Glee Club began.
Special programming was developed to meet the needs of rural areas. The Country Hour was inaugurated in December, 1945. It included a serial called The Lawsons which was replaced in 1949 by the serial Blue Hills (which ran until September 1976). In 1951, rural 'extension' officers had been appointed to a few rural areas to do local interviews and reports. The officers were so popular in the country areas that rural extension officers were appointed to major country areas throughout Australia.
Sporting sessions were re-introduced and many sporting events were covered.
Talks sessions included programs such as Nation's Forum of the Air, Women's Magazine, and Guest of Honour, which featured such speakers as Lady Baden-Powell, Professor Marcus Oliphant, Cardinal Spellman and Flynn of the Inland.
In the fifties a new type of radio program - the feature - was also developed, of which the aim was 'to provide information in an interesting and listenable form.'
In 1946, the ABC was required by legislation to broadcast Parliament when it was in session. The Parliamentary broadcasts were put onto the interstate network, and, in subsequent Annual Reports, the Commission commented on the disruption caused to its programming by those broadcasts.
Amendments to the Broadcasting Act in 1948 meant that the ABC would no longer be financed out of the licence fees, but directly by a Government lump-sum appropriation. (In 1970, the Postmaster-General wrote to the Chairman saying he was advising Treasury that half of the proposed $500 000 cut in the ABC's annual appropriation should come from the TV Current Affairs Department. The threat was not carried out, and it is the only recorded instance when the Government attempted to direct the ABC on how the annual appropriation should be spent on program matters.)
Television
As early as 1946, the ABC 'watched with close interest the development overseas of new techniques' in television.
In June 1949, six months before the Labour government lost office, Prime Minister Chifley pledged his Government to introducing television as soon as possible. The new Menzies Government allowed the ABC to plan experimentally for one television station, in Sydney. Under a Bill introduced by the Government, the Postmaster General was also given the power to grant licences for commercial television stations.
A Television Act was passed in 1953, providing for a national network of television channels and the issuing of licences to commercial television stations.The ABC was appointed the national television authority on the recommendation of a Royal Commission set up to implement the 1953 Act. The Commission's recommendation that Sydney and Melbourne, as the first two cities to receive television should have two commercial licences as well, was also adopted.
From 1954 the ABC began planning for the introduction of the national television service. Land was acquired, accommodation built, and studios set up. Staff training courses were conducted in both Sydney and Melbourne, and tutors were brought from overseas to assist in the training.
The first television broadcast in Australia was by the commercial station TCN-9, in September, 1956. Just over a month later, on November 5 in Sydney, the Prime Minister, R G Menzies, inaugurated the ABC's first television broadcast. The first broadcast from Melbourne's television studios took place two weeks later, on 19 November, just in time for ABC-TV's coverage of the 1956 Olympic Games.
ABC television service was introduced to the other States by the end of June, 1960. (Brisbane on 2 November, 1959, and in 1960, Adelaide on 11 March, Perth on 7 May and Hobart on 4 June.) As in the early days of radio, television broadcasts did not yet extend from early morning until late at night.
In the early days of television, there were no relay facilities for programs to the various States. In radio, through landlines, news bulletins could be broadcast nationally 13 times a day. In television, all news had to be sent to the capital cities by teleprinter, so that news bulletins could be prepared and presented separately in each capital city. Copies had to be made of filmed material which was then sent individually to each State. In 1960, videotape, where both vision and sound are recorded on magnetic tape, was still in the experimental stage. It was not until 1962, that videotape recording equipment had been installed in all capitals.
A range of television programs was developed. The popular Six O'Clock Rock with rock star Johnny O'Keefe was started in 1959, lasting almost three years. The highly popular children's program Mr Squiggle began in 1959. The education program University of the Air was started in 1961. By June 1964, less than eight years since the beginnings of television in Australia, of the 212 plays produced live in Australia for television, 185 had been produced by the ABC (48 of which were by Australian authors). All 31 operas produced live in that period were produced by the ABC, and of the 95 ballets shown, 90 were produced by the ABC.
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