The ABC is one of Australia’s oldest and most venerable media outlets. At 70 odd years old the ABC (or Aunty as she is colloquially known) is more than entitled to a relaxing retirement. If you follow the news however, you’ll have seen the rumours that Tony Abbott is planning to privatise the ABC and send her to work.
As awful as it is to imagine a world with ads during Bananas in Pyjamas, it does raise an interesting question;
Could the ABC survive as a commercial outlet? 
In my mind there are two likely scenarios:
Scenario One: Nobody would watch the ABC because of the ads and old Aunty would slowly waste away like an elderly relative in a retirement home; getting thinner and more inane by the day, with everyone who visits her saying how sad it is because she used to be so full of life.
Scenario Two: The old girl goes back to work. Like Edina Monsoon, fag in hand, she’ll show the young darlings how to make money while still remaining absolutely fabulous. 
In order to live in the manner to which she has become accustomed she would need to replace her current $1.2 billion budget with the same in ad revenue. For comparison, Seven West Media’s total revenue in 2013 was $1.8 billion.
One of the arguments for privatising the ABC is that its high quality product makes it difficult for commercial outlets to compete. Ironically, were the ABC privatised, there would be a beast of an outlet competing for audience and advertising dollars.
It does make me feel ill thinking about the awful things the ABC might have to do to pay the rent, like running ads for baldness cures or erectile dysfunction nasal sprays, but I don’t believe it would ever come to this. Though the ABC is old, she still has assets to work.
Looking at the ABC as just a TV network, she has an attractive share figure of 16% share against total audiences. This is 2 percentage points ahead of the Ten Network and only 6 points behind the Seven Network. She is hugely popular with people her own age (ABC News), is great with the grandkids (ABC3 & ABC4), while also staying hip to trends in music (Triple J).
And this is without even trying to be popular.
Just by doing her own thing the ABC is able to attract audiences. People watch programs like Gruen Nation (average audience 1.2 million), Grand Designs (932,000), Ja’mie (840,000), and the ABC News (880,000) because they are interesting, intelligent programs.
It’s this kind of quality programming that would provide an excellent environment for the highest calibre of advertisers. This makes me feel better about the ABC opening up and courting advertisers.
There are many prestigious brands that would make a nice partner for the ABC. Sam Kekovich from Meat and Livestock Australia would not look out of place on her arm, nor would other government departments like Health, Defence or Transport. Even other ex-national companies like QANTAS, Telstra or Commonwealth Bank would barely raise an eyebrow.
There isn’t much question that the ABC is capable of making money if she had to. She has the numbers to command the dollars, and has the glamour and prestige to attract the kind of advertisers that would feel at home.
While it still makes me feel uneasy as a consumer, as an advertiser, an ABC open to advertising is an exciting prospect. I believe good old Aunty ABC could make money, without sacrificing too much dignity.
What do you think?
Nelson Demartini
Trader
UM
The AdNews NGen Blog: If the ABC were privatised
13 March 2014