Recent ABC programming is causing growing disquiet, that quality is giving way to ratings. There is concern that the national public broadcaster is short-selling the regions and cutting its coverage of the arts in favour of cheap studio game shows. ABC TV no longer has a primetime arts program, the audio program The Listening Room has been abolished, there is little original music and dance programming on ABC television; the online arts portal, The Space, is no longer maintained. Martin Harrison investigates these changes and proposes a radical way forward.