The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) coverage of the recent Federal Election attracted more television viewers and online visitors than any other network in the nation.
Director of News at the ABC, Gaven Morris said that across digital, television and radio, the ABC attracted one of the greatest total audiences for an event in its history.
“After delivering the most comprehensive local and national coverage throughout the Federal election campaign, the ABC was the nation’s leading destination for election news on Saturday,” Mr Morris said.
“ABC television coverage across the main channel and the ABC News channel was the most watched, reaching 5.3 million Australians between 4pm and midnight with a network metro prime-time share of 30.6 per cent.”
He said digital audiences also soared and the ABC’s radio coverage reached listeners across Australia.
He noted other success stories including that the ABC main channel was the top primary channel of the night and ABC News the top multi-channel.
“The ABC News live stream on iView achieved a record 300,000 plays and users of the ABC News website and app were the second highest on record (behind the 2016 United States election) and considerably above the 2016 Federal Election results,” Mr Morris said.
“Vote Compass had 1.6 million completes, ahead of the 2016 Federal election result of 1.2 million and 14,000 questions have been submitted to You Ask, We Answer.”
He said polling night was the culmination of five weeks of on-the-ground coverage, with the ABC’s news, radio and regional teams reporting from across Australia’s 151 electorates.
“During the campaign the ABC did more than 60 election-related outside broadcasts, visiting dozens of communities in every State and Territory,” Mr Morris said.
