The ABC has celebrated humour at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, promising an unrivalled commitment to comedy content across television, online, radio and podcasting.
This multiplatform approach will deliver content across TV, iview, ABC listen and the ABC’s social media.
David Anderson, ABC director entertainment & specialist, said: “The ABC has a long history of investing in world class Australian comedy for our audiences. Our audiences’ behaviours continue to change, and as content makers our job is to deliver them experiences when and where they want them.
“The ABC Comedy launch was a great opportunity for the ABC to reinvent the way we traditionally think about our ABC audiences. This rebrand saw our iview numbers jump 70%, in no small part due to our ABC iview summer comedy binge, with over two million plays for that content alone. So we know that there is an appetite for on-demand comedy viewing.
Santo, Sam and Ed’s Total Football podcast is returning
“The ABC is a place where content makers and comedians can take more risks. We continue to look for exciting ways to work with our existing, highly talented comedians, continuing the ABC’s long tradition of fostering new talent. Programs like Tonightly with Tom Ballard are a great example of this. We sometimes take significant risks, but we reach more people by creating shareable social media content and influencing conversations.
“The ABC will continue our push into these areas of growth, by experimenting with short-form video content like Fresh Blood, rolling out further offerings across our audio platforms and continuing to invest in ABC fans’ favourites, such as Rosehaven.”
ABC’s head of comedy, Rick Kalowski, discussed highlights from the upcoming year:
“It’s an exciting time for the ABC as we continue to lead the way with world class comedy programming. From new series of ABC favourites to kick-starting the careers of up-and-coming talent, our commitment to comedy in all its forms is stronger than ever.”
Corey White’s Roadmap to Paradise
From Wednesday May 2 three series return one after the other – Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery, Gruen and The Weekly with Charlie Pickering get together from 8pm.
New to the channel is Corey White’s Roadmap to Paradise which will see comedian Corey White try to solve the biggest problems facing everyday Australians. Premiering at 9.40pm also on May 2, the series will set White on a collision course with conventional wisdom as he takes on not one but two urgent issues in each of the series’ 10 episodes.
Further announcements included the Santo, Sam and Ed’s Total Football podcast is returning as Santo Cilauro, Sam Pang and Ed Kavalee tackle the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia – plus on iview, filmed episodes of the podcast will also be available.
Alice Fraser, Cal Wilson and Sami Shah debate online trolling during the Troll Play podcast.
Nazeem Hussain returns with season three of the hit anti-travel podcast, Burn Your Passport.
Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola are back in production on series three of one of the ABC’s Rosehaven.
Aaron Fa’Aoso, Nakkiah Lui and Wayne Blair are back with more of Black Comedy plus the long-awaited reboot sees Wayne Hope reprise his role as trumped-up businessman Don Angell in Back In Very Small Business (from Hope and Robyn Butler, makers of Upper Middle Bogan).