19-628: The Boyer Lectures are a series of talks by prominent Australians, presenting ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues, and broadcast on ABC Radio National . The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 as the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Lectures. They were modelled on the BBC's Reith Lectures , and renamed in 1961 after Richard Boyer (later Sir Richard),
38-652: A commission was established, merging the original ABC company and the National Broadcasting Service. It is from this time that Radio National dates as a distinct network within the ABC, in which a system of program relays was developed during the subsequent decades to link stations spread across the nation. The beginnings of Radio National lie with Sydney radio station 2FC, which aired its first test broadcast on 5 December 1923 and officially went to air on 9 January 1924. 2FC stood for Farmer and Company,
57-475: A contract let in 1938 to STC . The transmitters were designed by Charles Strong in London, and were notable in using negative feedback to ensure a high quality flat frequency response. From 1947 until the mid-1980s, "Radio 2" (as it came to be known) was broadcast to the major metropolitan centres, with a large broadcast footprint in adjacent areas due to the powerful AM transmitters in use. It contained most of
76-646: A policy officer in the NSW Cabinet Office (1986–88), he joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1989 as a reporter for ABC Radio Current Affairs. In 1995–96 he was the national arts correspondent for the 7.30 Report, and he later went on to be one of the presenters of Express, a weekly magazine arts program based in Melbourne . In 1999 he was appointed as Executive Producer of ABC Radio's Religion department,
95-592: A post he held until the beginning of 2002 when he returned to a full-time on air role as host of The Religion Report. In October 2008 Crittenden was suspended from the ABC on full pay after he announced at the start of the Religion Report that the ABC had decommissioned The Ark, In Conversation, Media Report, Perspective, Radio Eye, Sports Factor, Short Story, Street Stories and well as the Religion Report, saying, "The decision to axe one of this network's most distinctive and important programs has been approved by
114-504: Is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2 . From 1928, the National Broadcasting Service, as part of the federal Postmaster-General's Department , gradually took over responsibility for all the existing stations that were sponsored by public licence fees ("A" Class licences). The outsourced Australian Broadcasting Company supplied programs from 1929. In 1932
133-613: The ABC board chairman who had first suggested the lectures. The series is broadcast every year in between September and December on ABC Radio National . The lectures are delivered by prominent Australians selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Board, intended to stimulate thought, discussion and debate in Australia on a wide range of subjects, examining key issues and values. Radio National Radio National , known on-air as RN ,
152-549: The ABC's international broadcasting service which was transmitted on shortwave until January 2017, as well as 24-hour FM stations, local relay stations and live satellite. All radio programs are available for live streaming over the Internet, and most (excluding drama, poetry and music) as audio-on-demand, or for download as MP3s for at least four weeks after broadcast. Some programs are available as MP3s going back to 2005, when Radio National commenced podcasting. Some of
171-403: The ABC's national programming. The power level of 2FC and 3AR was upgraded to 50 kW in the early 1950s. The transmitters for these were housed in the same building as the radio 1 network. They were manufactured by STC. The final stage contained three parallel 3J/261E air cooled triodes running in class C amplifier at 90% efficiency. These were driven by a class B push-pull modulator with
190-449: The director of ABC Radio, Sue Howard, and it will condemn Radio National to even greater irrelevance... The ABC's specialist units have been under attack for years, but the decapitation of the flagship program of the religion department effectively spells the death of religion at the ABC." After three months, Crittenden returned to air on the ABC as a reporter on ABC Radio National's current affairs program Background Briefing, and later as
209-407: The following programs, listed in order of start date, are aired on both Radio National and ABC Local Radio networks. Stephen Crittenden Stephen Crittenden is one of Australia's leading religion journalists and a broadcaster for ABC Radio National . Crittenden began his radio career as a schoolboy, broadcasting with Sydney's classical FM community radio station 2MBS-FM. After working as
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#1732793076371228-457: The issue of funding cuts to the public broadcaster. Presenter Stephen Crittenden leaked confidential programming changes in an unscheduled live broadcast before the start of his show, criticising his superiors. He was suspended for his outburst, and his unscripted comments were cut from Radio National's podcast and transcript of the program. Religious commentator Paul Collins on crikey.com subsequently echoed Crittenden's fears. Crittenden
247-485: The new head of the ABC, Michelle Guthrie , defended the removal of staff and programmes from the Radio National 2017 schedule. In January 2017 the schedule was reduced in scope due to loss of staff and programmes. Radio National broadcasts national programming in subjects that include news and current affairs , the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy. Some programs are relayed on Radio Australia ,
266-572: The original owner of the station before the ABC bought the station in 1937. The ABC then rolled out a national network across the country, somewhat similar in nature to the BBC National Programme . The origins of the other stations in the network were: The first transmitters for 2FC, 5CL and 4QG were made by AWA with power of 5 kW (note that until about 1931 in Australia, transmitter powers were defined in terms of DC input to final amplifier, typically about three times that of
285-445: The power into the antenna; thus power today would be stated as about 1.7 kW). They used a MT7A valve for the final high power RF stage and a MT7B for the modulator. The power supply was 12,000 volts from three phase power rectified by MR7 valves. 4QG commenced with a 500 Watt transmitter which continued for about 6 months until the 5 kW unit was commissioned. The radio transmitters for 3AR and 2FC were upgraded to 10 kW in
304-420: The same type of valves. That of 5CL had to wait until late 1961, when a new joint facility with 5AN was opened at Pimpala . In the 1970s, the network's program format began to take on a more serious tone, a style which continues to this day. Art critic Peter Timms later remarked that the network is "virtually the only non-print media forum for art in this country". In the early 1980s the broadcast footprint
323-483: The station's name by many presenters going back several years. RN's tagline, which has changed regularly over the years, was also changed to "Your World Unfolding" to mesh with the station's new logo and visual identity. In 2012 a new Religion and Ethics report was launched, hosted by Andrew West . The Media Report was also relaunched, hosted by broadcaster and former Life Matters host Richard Aedy . The Media Report was, however, cancelled again in 2015. In late 2016,
342-489: Was extended with the construction of the first of over 300 regional FM transmitters (including community re-broadcast sites). In 1985, the ABC renamed "Radio 2" as "Radio National". Since 1990, all Radio National stations have had the same callsign, "RN". As a result of cuts in the 1996–97 budget, Radio National was hit with a reduction of a million dollars in its funding, with a significant impact on programming. In 2008, controversial programming changes once more raised
361-428: Was reinstated in 2009 as a reporter on Background Briefing , after a settlement was reached. However, his program and the other eight programs that had been cancelled or merged were not re-instated that year. The head of ABC Radio, Sue Howard, was dismissed in 2009. In January 2012 Radio National was rebranded as RN, partly in recognition of the station's growing digital audience. RN has also been used as shorthand for
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