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Thank you for your email. The ABC appreciates you taking the time to write in regard to our decision not to renew The Marngrook Footy Show for 2013.
Marngrook has a long history, commencing on community radio in the 1990s and then moving to community television and NITV, the national Indigenous television channel. The program moved to ABC2 in 2011 and this year we broadcast 28 episodes on Thursday evenings.
I can assure you that the decision to stop production of the program after two seasons was not taken lightly. The ABC takes a number of factors into consideration when producing or acquiring programs - whether the program is distinctive, the level of audience engagement and interest in the program, and the costs involved in producing or acquiring the program.
Regrettably, despite the show's distinctiveness, there was limited audience interest in The Marngrook Footy Show and in spite of moving the timeslot of the show from 7:30pm to 8:30pm in 2012, the program was unable to find a sustainable audience. Considering the high production costs for the program, ABC2's finite resources, and the fact that across pay and free-to-air television there are 18 footy shows in total, the ABC had to make the decision that our audience is better served by us investing elsewhere in other programs.
Nonetheless, the ABC acknowledges that the program had a core of devoted followers who watched the program each week and we regret your disappointment with this decision. I will ensure that your comments are noted and made available to ABC Television management for their information.
Thank you again for taking the time to write.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin McAlinden
ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs