The ABC could face a staff exodus when it relocates 300 employees from its trendy inner-city HQ to western Sydney, a former TV executive has warned.
The public broadcaster last week alerted staff via email to the move from Ultimo to Parramatta, where about 10 staff already work.
Managing director David Anderson said the move was the first step in a plan to have 75 per cent of ABC content makers working away from inner Sydney by 2025, in order to strengthen links ‘to a community which is home to one in 11 Australians’.
But Rob McKnight, a leading TV commentator who has worked for all three commercial networks, said the broadcaster risks a revolt if employees from the news and entertainment departments are made to move out to the ‘Wild West’.
He said that many television industry professionals live in the eastern and inner suburbs and would baulk at the prospect of working – or living – west of Homebush.
Exodus? The ABC could face a staff exodus when it relocates 300 employees from its trendy inner-city HQ to western Sydney, a former TV executive has warned. Pictured: ABC News Breakfast hosts Michael Rowland and Lisa Millar
‘The Sydney TV industry is mostly made up of people who live in the eastern suburbs or inner city. There’s a real disconnect between the way people in the suburbs see life and those in the TV bubble,’ Mr McKnight told Daily Mail Australia.
‘To me, there’s no doubt the ABC will lose a portion of its employees when they move out to Parramatta as some see it as the Wild West and dangerous.’
Mr McKnight, the editor-in-chief of TV Blackbox, added: ‘I applaud the ABC for moving out there – it’s a great way to connect with the audience. But here’s the biggest secret of all: a lot of people in the TV industry don’t want to connect with the audience. In fact, they look down on viewers who “waste their time watching TV”.
Move: The ABC last week alerted staff via email to the move from Ultimo to Parramatta, where about 10 staff already work. The move is the first step in a plan to have 75 per cent of ABC content makers working away from inner Sydney by 2025, in order to strengthen links ‘to a community which is home to one in 11 Australians’. Pictured: the ABC offices in Ultimo, Sydney
Commentary: Rob McKnight, a leading TV commentator who has worked for all three commercial networks, said the broadcaster risks a revolt if employees from the news and entertainment departments are made to move out to the ‘Wild West’
‘A few years back, a network I was working at did a field trip out to Penrith. The idea was for us to stay there a few nights, go the club and get a feel for the region.
‘One marketing girl on the bus started freaking out because she had never been past Balmain. It was embarrassing but made me realise how disconnected a lot of people who work in the industry are from real life.’
Mr McKnight continued: ‘When Channel Seven moved into the city they lost a large portion of their workers who had made lives in the suburbs surrounding Epping.
‘The same will happen on the flip side with the ABC’s move to Parramatta, mark my words.
‘If you’ve ever wanted a job in TV, this is your chance. Keep your eyes on the classifieds as I reckon the ABC is going to have a lot of vacant positions soon.
Disconnect: ‘The Sydney TV industry is mostly made up of people who live on the Eastern Suburbs or inner city. There’s a real disconnect between the way people in the suburbs see life and those in the TV bubble,’ Mr McKnight told Daily Mail Australia. Pictured: two women at western Sydney’s now-defunct Defqon music festival
‘You would be amazed at how many people who work in the TV industry don’t actually watch TV and the idea of having to commute out to the suburbs will just simply be too much for some of the inner-city dwellers at the ABC, that’s for sure.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ABC for comment.
In a statement announcing the move of 300 staff to Parramatta, an ABC spokesperson said: ‘Parramatta is at the geographic heart of Sydney.
‘Increasing the ABC’s workforce based in western Sydney will provide it with greater visibility and connection to a growing community which is home to one in 11 Australians.’
The broadcaster added that staff would be better placed to engage with more areas of the city than is currently the case from their CBD building.
About 200 of the employees being moved will be from content departments with some news and entertainment sections being considered.
The remaining 100 will be made up of support staff.
The teams will be housed in a newly built premises complete with television and radio studios.
The exact location is yet to be determined, with a property advisor currently helping management find suitable sites.
ABC chair Ita Buttrose said in a speech a key focus of the broadcaster’s five-year-plan was to shift to be more strongly represented in suburban, outer-urban and regional areas.
She described the move as the ‘biggest decentralisation in ABC history’.
Relocation: About 200 of the employees being moved to Parramatta will be from content departments with some news and entertainment sections being considered. Pictured: a high-rise building by the Parramatta River
‘The ABC has also been regarded, with fair reason, as too inner-city focused,’ Ms Buttrose said.
She said new technology allowed teams to get out into the community ‘reporting the stories that matter to all Australians, especially those who live beyond the inner ring of the capital cities’.
The ABC is expected to notch up about $70million from the sale of two Melbourne sites which could be used to fund the new Sydney premises.
Space freed up in the Ultimo HQ by the move could also be leased out to tenants, the broadcaster said.
The new western Sydney studios are likely to be complete by 2024.
Move: ABC chair Ita Buttrose (pictured) said in a speech a key focus of the broadcaster’s five-year-plan was to shift to be more strongly represented in suburban, outer-urban and regional areas. She described the move as the ‘biggest decentralisation in ABC history’