The ABC will launch Australia’s first-ever First Nations variety program next month, Rolling Stone AU/NZ can exclusively reveal.
Set to premiere during NAIDOC week on Saturday, July 5th, That Blackfella Show will be filmed live in front of a studio audience and hosted by Australian icon, Ernie Dingo, ABC News Breakfast host Bridget Brennan, and popular personality, Isaac Compton.
Already confirmed to appear on That Blackfella Show includes a stack of First Nation stars and local icons such as music legend Jimmy Barnes, BARKAA, comedians such as Steph Tisdell and Dane Simpson, and Abbie Chatfield.
While Barnes is set to kick off a nationwide tour this weekend in support of his forthcoming album DEFIANT (out on Friday, June 6th), BARKAA just last week dropped new single “Ngamaka” — the Barkindji word for “mother” — a stirring tribute to Country, a deep well of cultural pride, and a blistering call to action for the protection of the Murray-Darling Basin.
The new show will also showcase live performances from acts like award-winning duo Electric Fields, Maningrida all-female rock band The Ripple Effect Band, and ARIA-nominated artist and Rolling Stone AU/NZ‘s Future of Music 2025 entrant, Miss Kaninna.
That Blackfella Show is being helmed by executive producer, Rowdie Walden, and ABC’s Head of Indigenous, Kelrick Martin.
“I haven’t been this excited about making a show since my high school adaptation of ‘Alice in Wonderland’,” Walden told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
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“This show is all about celebrating mob and bringing audiences along with us. It’s very different to a lot of Indigenous content on screens at the moment – it’s a one-of-a-kind Indigenous variety show that aspires to connect all Australians – especially as we gear up for NAIDOC Week.”
The first episode of That Blackfella Show will premiere at 7.30pm on Saturday, July 5th, on ABC TV and ABC iview.
