The Encore Interview: Mark Scott

After establishing a career in newspapers, including a 12-year stint at Fairfax, Mark Scott has been the managing director of the ABC since 2006. In 2011, he was appointed for a second five-year term. He speaks to Encore’s managing editor Brooke Hemphill about his plans for the public broadcaster, the changing role of the ABC in a multi-platform world and the ramifications of launching ABC3 and News 24 in the same year.

THE MULTIPLATFORM ABC

Mark Scott on how the ABC is leading the charge with fast-tracking TV content, the soon-to-be launched ABC television companion app, and how the broadcaster has embraced opportunities in the multiplatform space.

NEWS IN AN ELECTION YEAR

Scott talks about the challenges the ABC faces in an election year, how ABC News 24 is faring in its battle against Sky News, the broadcasters’ review of its news gathering process and its 2013 funding application.

COMEDY, DRAMA AND THE 2013 TV LINEUP

Scott discusses the ABC TV lineup for the year ahead, the return of Chris Lilley and the flagging ratings of ABC1’s Wednesday night comedy lineup. He discusses the ABC’s position on creating content in-house as opposed to co-productions and partnerships and how Randling would have benefitted from a shorter lead time.

RADIO, PODCASTING AND MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES

Scott talks about the future of radio, the proliferation of podcasting and the challenge and benefits of music streaming services.

GREAT SCOTT

Scott talks about his own goals for the coming year, what comes next after his tenure at the ABC and his thoughts on the future of the newspaper business.

This feature first appeared in the tablet edition of Encore. To download click on the links below.

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topics ABC ABC3 Mark Scott multi-platform News 24

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Comments: 1

Harry 6 Feb 13

Mark Scott can certainly walk the talk but the reality is that the ABC has become increasingly middle of the road and risk averse. Cutting edge Australian documentaries have disappeared and replaced by lame doco series, the drama is middle of the road, backward looking and often very poorly written. And what can one say about News24? It has almost no audience and is so repetitive it is hard to watch. It is a 25 million a year vanity project and waste of money and should be closed down with the money put into some serious journalism on ABC1 and ABC2 with lots of feeder news into its digital platforms.

I hope if the Coalition wins the election it is not vindictive and doesn’t slash and burn but instead holds an independent inquiry into the current operation of the ABC, its management but most importantly a really intelligent analysis of its content. It is fine to want all the toys as Mark Scott desires but the real issue is about the quality of the content. And here the ABC even with more money has struggled under Mark Scott.

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