Sell triple j “immediately”

Staff Writer

Queensland Liberal National Party Senator James McGrath, has called for the privatisation of triple j: “the station is popular enough to stand on its own two feet.”

It was a big day for James, as it was his maiden speech to parliament.

 

“triple j should be privatised immediately”.

“Triple j, because of its demographic dominance and clear ability to stand on its own, should be immediately sold.”

He went on further to say:

“As someone who grew up in regional Queensland, I grew up with the ABC. But the ABC has left people like me and my constituents behind. I want to support the ABC.

I like the ABC. But while it continues to represent only inner-city leftist views, funded by our taxes, it is in danger of losing its social licence to operate.

I am calling for a review of the ABC's charter. And if they fail to make inroads to restore balance, then the ABC should be sold and replaced by a regional and rural broadcasting service”

While we have cherry picked some key quotes here, you can view Senator McGrath’s full speech  from parliament here. While long, it will give you some insight further into his thinking.

So what would a privatised triple J look like?

Back in 2013, prior to the federal election, Darren Levin from FasterLouder.com.au created a piece on “What a privatised triple j might look like” – it’s worth a read.

You can’t dispute that triple j delivers great content and Darren’s article back then identified some areas that could hit the J’s if it was to be privatised. Not surprisingly there would be commercials on-air, but some key triple j  brands that maybe impacted –  like “One Night Stand” or “Unearthed”

Here’s a kicker from Darren's article as well:

“triple j is the only national youth broadcaster – and that’s what’s so great about it". 

"Kids in isolated communities can tune in and discover new music and, more importantly, feel connected to their urban peers. triple j broadcasts with a singular voice. They don’t cater to discreet audiences like community radio and they don’t tailor their content to urban centres like commercial networks.”
 

What do you think. Should triple j be privatised?

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