This article is about the ABC TV channel. For the ABC's Canberra TV station (which was on channel 3 until the early 1990s), see ABC (TV station).

ABC3 is an Australian children's public television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It launched on 4 December 2009 at 6pm,^[1] with the Countdown to 3 airing beforehand at 5pm.

History[link]

In September 2007, the Australian government announced a proposal to launch a new digital-only children's channel, ABC3.^[2] An ABC3 channel appeared on television receivers in 2008, as a placeholder for the future ABC3 channel.^[3] ABC3 was considered by the Australia 2020 Summit and given as one of the recommendations to the Government. In April 2009, the Government's official response to the Summit approved the idea,^[4] and in the 2009–10 Commonwealth Budget $67 million was allocated towards ABC3 as part of the Government's $167 million funding increase to the ABC.

On 18 June 2009, the Corporation began its first public ABC3 campaign – called "MeOn3" – to scout for new hosting talent. On 22 October 2009, 8 presenters were announced. Amberley Lobo and Kayne Tremills would host Studio 3, with Ben Crawley as a roving reporter. Scott Tweedie would host Prank Patrol, while Hannah Wang and Mitch Tomlinson were named as co-hosts of Rush TV and Stephanie Bendixsen and Steven O'Donnell were hosts of Good Game: Spawn Point a spin-off of the Good Game TV series, for younger gamers, which shows every Tuesday on ABC2.

In 2011, James Elmer joined as co-host of Studio 3 along with Kayne and Amberley. On December 4th 2011, the winners from the MeOn3 contest were revealed as Alfie Gledhill and Olivia Phyland.

Programming[link]

The channel's programming runs from 6:00am to 9:00pm daily, and targets the 6 – 15 year old age group. At 9:00pm, the station closes and displays "we're back from 6:00am" with ABC background music until the station reopens again at 6:00am.^[5] It broadcasts a range of genres, including comedy, drama, music, animation, extreme sports, wildlife and news-based programmes. The channel aims to feature at least 50% Australian produced content.^[6] Studio 3 is a show that is hosted by the ABC 3 presenters and link various other programs. It began on Monday 7 December 2009 at 7:00 am.

New programs which air on the channel include the historical drama My Place, sitcom West Coast Kids, supernatural drama series Dead Gorgeous, animation series CJ the DJ, and a news and current affairs show produced by the team from Behind the News.^[7]

Program playout for ABC3 is controlled from ABN, the ABC's Sydney station. on delayed to technical at ABC's new playout facility, MediaHub. Programmes such as Studio 3 and Prank Patrol (Australia) are filmed and produced at ABV2, the ABC's Melbourne Station.

Unlike commercial channels, ABC3 is not constrained by a local content quota^[8] and portions of its programming are sourced from overseas broadcasters such as CBBC, Teletoon and Family.

Current shows[link]

Programmes currently broadcast on the channel include:

Future shows[link]

Programming confirmed for future broadcast will include:

• After School Care (New series)^[7]
• Bindi's Boot Camp (New series)^[9]
• Bushwacked! (New series)^[9]
• Escape from Scorpion Island (Series 5)^[10]
• The Gees (New series)^[11]
• Jolly Rabbit (New series)^[10]
• The Little Prince (New series)^[10]
• Rated A for Awesome (Season 2)

Past shows[link]

These shows have previously been broadcast on ABC3:

References[link]

External links[link]

Television in Australia portal

• Official website
• TV shows A to Z

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