ABC political editor Andrew Probyn made redundant

Popular ABC News star is made redundant as the public broadcaster swings the axe on more than 100 staff in jobs bloodbath

Popular ABC News star Andrew Probyn has been made redundant.

The political editor joined the ABC in 2016 was told his position is no longer required by the national broadcaster. 

The ABC will reportedly announce that as many as 100 jobs will soon be axed, before the restructure of the national broadcaster begins on July 1.

Managing director David Anderson is expected to make an announcement about the job cuts before the end of the financial year on June 30, Guardian Australia reported.

Mr Anderson released the ABC’s new five-year plan last Friday, which detailed the major shake-up flagged earlier in the year to focus on a digital-first operation.

‘Over the next five years, the ABC will undergo a significant transition from maintaining both traditional broadcast and digital processes, towards becoming an integrated digital operation,’ he said. 

‘While broadcast will remain important, this five-year plan is a first step to build an ABC that is prepared for a digital-majority audience.

‘The ABC will enhance its primary digital products, ABC News, ABC iview and ABC listen, to provide a seamless, personalised service that enables audiences to more easily discover content that is relevant to them.’

Under the changes, the current separate regional and radio divisions will be abolished.

Regional journalists will be transferred to the news division, while radio networks will join television in the content division.

Former Netflix executive Chris Oliver-Taylor was recently appointed to head content and will be responsible for all screen, audio and digital content.

News programming will be managed by the news director, Justin Stevens.

Mr Anderson had forecast job cuts across the board, but said it would not impact the quality of the ABC product.

‘This in no ways diminishes the importance of what we do, as many of Australia’s favourite podcasts and radio programs today are presented by the ABC,’ Mr Anderson told employees when announcing the changes in May.

The federal government announced $6billion funding for the ABC in the May budget, spread over five years.

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