''PM'' is one of the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's flagship current affairs radio programs. It is also one of Australia's longest-running productions, having been first aired on 7 July 1969. It is the sister program to '' AM''. It is as of September 2022 hosted by David Lipson and broadcast on ABC Radio National and ABC Local Radio.

History and timeslots

''PM'' was created in 1969 for what were then ABC Radio 1 and Radio 3 (now ABC Local Radio). Launched on 7 July 1969, two years after its sister programme ''AM'', with both names created by ABC General Manager Talbot Duckmanton. It aired every weekday at 6:10 pm (after the 6:00 pm news bulletin), becoming a popular afternoon radio current affairs programme. ''PM'' was later introduced to ABC Radio 2 (now ABC Radio National) with a new early edition at 5:10 pm after the 5:00 pm news. ''PM'' was originally 25 minutes long before expansion to 50 minutes in 1987. In 2018 it reduced to a half-hour format, which matched ''AM''.

Description

''PM'' complements ''AM'' and other ABC News and Current Affairs radio programs, namely ''The World Today'' and '' Correspondents Report''. the programme is presented by David Lipson. The ABC's streaming links and podcasts have allowed people to access and listen to ''PM'' programmes after their broadcast time.

Past presenters

''PM''s first presenters were Lawrence Bryant and John Highfield, who hosted on alternate nights. Others presenters who have hosted the show include Iain Finlay, Paul Murphy (1983 to 1993), Monica Attard, and Ellen Fanning, and reporters Ray Martin,

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later e ...

, Kate Baillieu, and Maxine McKew. Mark Colvin hosted the program from 1997 until 2017. In December 2017, Linda Mottram was announced as the new host of ''PM''. Some time after July 2019, Mottram was replaced by David Lipson.

Musical signature themes

The original 1967 signature was "Crossbeat", a 30-second electronic music piece sourced from the BBC, composed and realised by David Cain of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. This was replaced by new themes for both ''AM'' and ''PM'', composed by Tony Ansell in the 1980s, both based on a similar theme and performed in a similar manner on a synthesiser using a brass-type patch. The similarity between the themes represented a significant link between the sister programmes. This music was used from the 1980s until January 2017.

References

External links

* {{official, https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm ABC News and Current Affairs Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programmes