ABC Australia (Asia-Pacific TV channel)
ABC Asia Pacific TV (formerly Australia Television) is an Australian free-to-air international satellite television service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Aimed at the Asia-Pacific and now India regions, the service broadcasts a mixture of programming, with a focus on English learning programs. Its motto is from the region, for the region.
The service, launched in January 2002, is partly funded by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and partly by advertising, unlike the ABC's domestic television service, which carries no advertising. The channel is available free-to-air to East Asia and the Pacific Islands via satellite and local cable systems is also now available in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It is currently available in 9 million homes in more than 39 countries across the region and in more than 200,000 hotel rooms. The service is designed with people from the region, as opposed to expatriates, as its target audience.
ABC Asia Pacific screens a variety of programs, from the ABC itself, including tailor-made news bulletins for the region, from the other Australian terrestrial TV networks, plus Sky News Australia and independents. It also carries the soap opera Home and Away, Australian rules football and Rugby League matches, a selection of documentaries on various subjects, and several Australian and British drama series.
One of its international current affairs programs, "Hemispheres", is co-produced with the CBC of Canada, and presented from both Sydney and Vancouver. This is now shown in Australia on ABC2.
In 2005, the 5 year tender for ABC Asia Pacific was up for renewal, which saw Sky News applying for the contract, but the Australian Government awarded it to the ABC. ABC Asia Pacific's slogan is Everyone's ABC Asia Pacific.
On August 7, 2006, the network will be renamed the Australia Network.
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