ABC NewsRadio, since 2017 broadcast under the ABC News brand and for a short time known as ABC News on Radio, is a 24-hour news radio service broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ABC NewsRadio is available via a number of platforms around Australia, including AM/FM radio, online via web or the ABC Listen app, DAB+ radio, free-to-air digital TV, and some pay-TV platforms. The origins of the radio station lie in the statutory obligation of the ABC to live-broadcast all Australian Parliamentary sessions, which were originally (from 1946) broadcast on its national radio network. In 1988, the Parliamentary Broadcasting Network (PBN) was established as a dedicated parliamentary radio station; in August 1994 this station's frequencies were used to provide news broadcasting when Parliament was not in session, and Parliamentary and News Network (PNN), the forerunner of ABC NewsRadio, was born. History Background Legislation passed in 1946 (the Parliamentary Proceedings Broadcasting Act 1946) requiring the ABC to broadcast Parliament live when in session. The legislation does not determine the name of the network. Parliamentary broadcasting was commenced under Ben Chifley's government on 10 July 1946, of Question Time. The broadcasts were put onto the single nationally broadcast radio network; however, the Commission frequently commented on the disruption this caused to its programming in its annual reports. 1988: PBN In August 1988, the Parliamentary Broadcast Network (PBN) was established under the National Metropolitan Radio Plan, as a dedicated network to carry the ABC's mandatory Parliamentary broadcasts on AM transmitters in each state capital as well as Newcastle and Canberra. 1994: PNN In May 1994 the Interim Report of the Inquiry into the Radio and Television Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings was published, supporting the ABC's proposal to provide news on the PBN. The expanded service would be called the Parliamentary and News Network (PNN). On 15 August 1994 PNN was launched to provide a continuous news network broadcast on the same frequencies used by the PBN, when Parliament was not sitting, with the service expanding the service to Darwin, Northern Territory in March 1997 to complete its coverage to all capital cities. in the 1996–7 financial year, "ABC NewsRadio on the Parliamentary and News Network" showed the strongest growth of any ABC network, increasing its weekly reach to 397,000 listeners nationally, up 44.9%. (The news service was known for some time as ABC NewsRadio on the Parliamentary