The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has appointed Jen Oldershaw, a former presenter for ABC-owned radio station Triple J, to lead the broadcaster’s digital content platform ABC Listen.
With over 30 years of experience in public and commercial radio broadcasting, Oldershaw will use her skills to grow the audience of ABC Listen globally. Prior to this role, Oldershaw’s past experience includes service as acting content director for ABC radio station 702 Sydney and managing its content across multiple platforms, as well as identifying, training, and developing new talent for programs across a number of ABC divisions. She was also the founding member of two networks under ABC, Nova 969 and Vega 95.3 which is now called Smooth FM.
Most recently, Oldershaw served as national content editor for Capital City Network and worked on commissioning content for the network as well collaborating with divisions across ABC to help build and drive the network’s strategy for local radio.
“I’m excited to be taking on such an important role with ABC Listen,” said Oldershaw. “It’s already the home to so much great ABC audio and I’m looking forward to finding new ways to get that into the ears of as many people as possible.”
The new role for Oldershaw will officially commence on 31 October, with Oldershaw now reporting to ABC Innovation Lab’s head of digital content and innovation Angela Stengel.
“I am delighted that Jen has chosen ABC Listen for her next career move,” said Stengel. “Jen’s experience has traversed brands, taking her from music to talk, and from young to broad audiences.”
“ABC Listen is a priority product as we transition to become a digital-first media organisation and Jen’s content expertise is driven by a commitment to quality, a deep understanding of the craft, and the ability to draw insights from data. These skills are vital to the next evolution of ABC Listen.”
In June this year, ABC introduced a new five-year plan with a new digital-first focus which includes moving away from traditional broadcasting and into podcasts and on-demand radio programmes. The corporation plans to invest more into its digital products - ABC News, ABC iview, and ABC Listen - in order to adapt to changing audience demographics and technology.
