ABC Television in Queensland comprises national programming on the

ABC television network The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. ABC is headquartered on Riverside ...

in or from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

which broadcasts on a number of channels under the ABC

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

. There is some local programming from the Brisbane studio. ABQ or ABQ-2 was the historic

of the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

's television station in Brisbane, which began broadcasting on 2 November 1959 as the third television station in Queensland and Brisbane. with the "Q" in the call sign standing for Queensland. ABC Television in Brisbane is based at a purpose-built headquarters on the

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...

. The station is received throughout the state through a number of relay transmitters.

History

ABC Television started broadcasting from Brisbane on 2 November 1959, with the "Q" in the call sign standing for Queensland. Available by satellite transmission on the now defunct

Optus Aurora Optus Aurora was a free-to-view satellite television platform in Australia, which aimed at providing television and radio services to remote and black spot areas using the Optus C1 and B3 satellites. The service was available in all areas, using ...

free-to-view platform during the 2000s, ABC's digital channels have been available via the

Viewer Access Satellite Television The Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, is a satellite television platform in Australia, providing digital television and radio services to remote and rural areas, as well as viewers in terrestrial black spots. The service uses ...

(VAST) network since 2010. For many years, the station was based at studios in the inner-western suburb of

Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...

, with a transmitter at

Mount Coot-tha Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mount Coot-tha Lookout, Brisbane Botanic Garden ...

. In December 2006, the Toowong studios were closed after an unacceptably high rate of

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has been observed at the facility. An independent study examined 10 cases of breast cancer reported at the studios, and found the incidence rate was 11 times higher than the general working community. led to the closure of the site in December 2006, TV and radio operations were moved to alternative locations around the city. Staff worked from several sites around Brisbane, with ABC Radio based in nearby Lissner Street in Toowong, ABC News staff working from

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

's Mount Coot-tha studios, ABC Innovation and Online staff working at

QUT The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point and a historical campus in Kelvin Grove. ...

Kelvin Grove, and other staff based in other locations, including Coronation Drive and West End. On 10 January 2012, ABC Brisbane moved into new purpose-built accommodation in South Bank. The analogue signal for Brisbane/Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast was shut off on May 28, 2013.

ABC Television in Brisbane today

All ABC operations are located in the South Bank building. there is a large number of transmitters broadcasting a number of ABC channels throughout Queensland.

Programming

ABC Television in Brisbane schedule largely consists of national programming with opt-outs for news and current affairs,

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and state election coverage.

Local programming

''ABC News Queensland'' is presented by Jessica van Vonderen (Monday – Thursday) and Lexy Hamilton-Smith (Friday – Sunday). Weather is presented by Jenny Woodward (Sunday – Thursday). Finance is presented by

Alan Kohler Alan Robert Kohler is an Australian financial journalist, television personality, and former newspaper editor. He is known for presenting the finance segment on the news on ABC Television, and as the founder of ''The Constant Investor'', a fo ...

in Melbourne. Past presenters of the bulletin have included Matt Wordsworth, Rod Young and

Andrew Lofthouse Andrew Lofthouse (born 2 June 1962) is a former television and radio newsreader based in Brisbane, Australia. The former teacher was formerly the weeknight presenter of ''Nine News Queensland'' with Melissa Downes between 2009 and 2024. Prior t ...

. The latter two subsequently went on to read the flagship 6:00 pm bulletins on Seven and

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

respectively; the pair opposed each other in this timeslot between mid-2009 and late-2012, during which the Seven bulletin co-read by Young and

Kay McGrath Kay McGrath is an Australian former journalist, most notably being the former weekend presenter on ''Seven News Brisbane''. She formerly presented the bulletin with Rod Young on weekends between 2013 and 2016, and on weeknights between 2002 and ...

consistently rated higher than the Nine bulletin co-read by Lofthouse and

Melissa Downes Melissa Downes (born 17 September 1973) is an Australian broadcast journalist. She is currently a presenter of ''Nine News Queensland.'' Career Downes began her career at the Seven Network in Brisbane as an intern during her final year of un ...

(as of 2017, however, Nine has regained the lead in the south-east Queensland ratings).

Relay stations

The following stations currently or formerly relay ABQ throughout Queensland: Notes: *1.

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estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT. *2. ABDQ was on VHF channel 3 from its 1963 sign-on until 1993, moving to its current channel in order to accommodate FM radio. *3. ABMQ was on VHF channel 4 from its 1967 sign-on until 1988, moving to its current channel in order to accommodate FM radio. *4. ABRQ was on VHF channel 3 from its 1963 sign-on until 1988, moving to its current channel in order to accommodate FM radio. *5. ABSEQ was on VHF channel 9 from its 1975 sign-on until 1989. *6. ABMKQ was on VHF channel 9 from its 1971 sign-on until its closure on 30 April 198

References