Unchartered territory

First up the declaration of interest: I have a weekly gig on 612ABC in Brisbane, so it's possible that what you are about to read comes from a biased perspective. However, I really am confused about some of the recent criticism of the national broadcaster. I received a direct message on Twtter from a person who works in commercial radio, saying that I should "do an investigative piece about how off charter ABC radio has gone". The tweet said I'd be "across it". Well, yes, I've read the public banter between, among others, News Ltd's Mark Day and ABC MD Mark Scott, and I'm reasonably familiar with the charter itself. And, yet, I still don't quite get what it is that the critics are complaining about, especially when it comes to the local radio service. So, I tweeted back to my contact saying that, in my experience, the criticism I hear often applies to material the commercial stations are unable or unwilling to broadcast, but that I was happy to look at any new information. So far, after more than a week, there's been no response to that request but there has been some more sniping at the ABC. I can only guess that the issue here is how remarkably well 612 ABC is doing in the Brisbane radio survey, especially in the important breakfast shift, compared to its AM rivals. In other markets, commercial AM talk blitzes it in. Here in Brisbane, the single commercial talk station and the two AM music stations don't do so well overall or in breakfast (although some of them do well in certain demographics, enabling them to sell advertising and make a profit). The fact, however, is that the ABC was truly to abandon its charter, it could do much, much better in the ratings. For example, the breakfast show wouldn't stop at 7.45am to give way to 45 minutes of sober news and current affairs (which is, of course, unlike anything you'd ever get on commercial radio). And there'd be no such thing as the Conversation Hour, where a whole 60 minutes is given over to a wide-ranging interview with a single subject. And there'd be no discussion of the arts or extensive and expensive coverage of emergencies such as the recent Queensland floods. Commercial stations (possibly to their disadvantage) wouldn't touch any of that with the proverbial bargepole. Having spent a lot of time in ABC studios and talking to ABC employees - and I was one myself once, back in the late '90s - I can guarantee that everybody who works there understands the charter and thinks long and hard about whether every segment they put to air complies with it. In the absence of any specific examples of breaches - and, Twitterer and others out there who may feel the same way, please send them to me - I can only conclude that the green-eyed monster of envy has raised its head here. After all, commercial radio is in the business of winning ratings points, and my complainant and his/her closest colleagues simply aren't doing it.
Update: I've just discovered a Tweet questioning ABC Radio's policy of buying (or otherwise obtaining) tickets to theatre and music events and giving them to listeners. This is in keeping with the charter's requirement that the ABC "encourage and promote the musical, dramatic and other performing arts in Australia". It's also worth noting that listeners who accept "free" tickets are usually asked to file a review of the event for use on air or on the ABC website.