No advertising on ABC, says PM

The Prime Minister appears to have scotched the possibility of advertising on the ABC, even though Senator Coonan in an interview with the Bulletin didn't rule it out.

If the PM is right Paul Daley's article is already out of date, but is worth a read, as is the summary of the current situation regarding the ABC Board.

In last Thursday's Australian Media section David Salter and Mark Day also floated some views about the ABC, its board and how it might tap further into alternative sources of revenue. I don't agree with Day's suggestion of charging for program downloads, but will try to keep an open mind on other suggestions. The pace of technological change in media is now so rapid that today's no may be tomorrow's maybe or yes.

Not surprisingly, as reported in various ways by various sources including The Australian and The Guardian, Mr Murdoch has made some observations and predictions of his own.

I'll have more to say about these issues.