Prisoner re-make to focus on Bea Smith

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Foxtel has signed a deal with FremantleMedia to re-tell the tale of life inside the fictional Wentworth Detention Centre.

The deal, which comes after months of negotiations, is to lead to Wentworth, a modern take on the TV classic Prisoner.  To be produced in Melbourne, the new show’s premise is based around the entrance of inmate Bea Smith to the prison – reprising the character originally played by Val Lehman (pictured) – and her rise to the position of ‘top dog’.

Lehman won three TV Week Logies for her performance as murderer Smith, a role she portrayed for around 400 episodes.

Foxtel’s modern-day take on the prison theme comes after Network Ten’s plan to revisit the genre in the 1990s fell through, as did a similar proposal announced in 2010. 

The original Prisoner, developed by Reg Watson, was produced by Grundy Television (a predecessor to FremantleMedia Australia) for Ten between 1979 and 1986.  More than 25 years after its demise the show continues to maintain a loyal fan base both in Australia and overseas.

All 692 episodes have been re-released as a 174-disc DVD box set, and although the series hasn’t been broadcast on Australian free-to-air television since the mid 1990s it continues to be shown each weeknight on pay TV channel 111 Hits.

Prisoner’s original cast also included Sheila Florance, Colette Mann, Elspeth Ballantyne, Patsy King, Peta Toppano, Kerry Armstrong, Fiona Spence, Carol Burns, Don Barker, Barry Quin, Amanda Muggleton and Mary Ward. 

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

The last bounce for Ten’s AFL

Network Ten has announced that it will walk away from AFL coverage at the end of this year’s season as it will not seek to enter into an agreement to take over any of the Seven Network’s commitment to the game from next year.

Network sports director David Barham told The Age:

"It is a bit of a shame. It's the choice of the network. It's purely a business decision.  Everyone is disappointed but understands the decision.

"We are really, really proud of what we achieved. I am proud of the people that I have worked with over the years. I think Ten should be recognised for the contribution it made to the game because no-one has done more for broadcasting the game than the Ten Network in NSW and Queensland.

"We put more game into NSW and Queensland in prime time than any other broadcaster in the history of the game. That was one of the reasons they (AFL) are expanding into these northern markets because of the real back-breaking work the Ten Network did over the last 10 years."

Ten’s commitment to AFL started with the 2002 season when they teamed up with Nine and Foxtel in a landmark five-year deal that saw the game’s television broadcast rights taken off Seven, which had broadcast the AFL and its predecessor – the VFL – for all but one season since 1957.

For the 2007-2011 rights deal, Ten partnered with Seven in a deal worth $780 million – at the time the largest sports broadcasting rights deal ever in Australia – with some games sold off to Foxtel.

Ten’s commitment to AFL was strengthened in 2009 with the launch of high-definition sports channel One, where AFL was the flagship of the schedule.  The channel enhanced its AFL coverage with programs including One Week At A Time.

Ten had been a bidding partner with Seven for the 2012-2016 contract but withdrew from the process at the last minute following the arrival of interim CEO Lachlan Murdoch. 

Under Murdoch, Ten has also wound back some sports programming from One in favour of special interest and general entertainment programming.  The removal of AFL from the schedule may see more changes to the channel’s schedule.

The Ten decision is expected to see its commentary team moved on, although Stephen Quartermain is expected to stay on as the network’s main sports anchor for Ten News in Melbourne. 

The future of One’s One Week At A Time and Ten’s long-running Before The Game beyond the end of this year is uncertain though there is some speculation that the latter may go across to Seven, a network whose track record with AFL-themed entertainment programming has been rather patchy.

In securing the free-to-air rights to the 2012-2016 seasons, Seven had the option of on-selling some of its weekly commitment of four free-to-air games to another network.  Up until now Ten was believed to be considering taking on two weekly games.  Nine is not believed to have been interested.

Now from 2012, Seven will broadcast four weekly games plus the Brownlow Medal, all finals and the Grand Final.  The network is also expected to utilise its high-definition channel 7mate for selected coverage outside of Victoria.

General manager for Seven Melbourne, Lewis Martin paid tribute to Ten’s commitment to broadcasting AFL:

“We are excited about the prospect of carrying all the AFL games for which we bid.  But we wish to acknowledge that Channel Ten has been a terrific AFL broadcast partner for the past five years, and their commitment to the game over the past decade. We understand and empathise with how difficult these decisions can be.”

Foxtel will broadcast all nine weekly games, including re-broadcasting Seven’s coverage, and finals excluding the Grand Final.

Source: The Age, Herald Sun

Seven, Foxtel kick AFL goal

It’s been months in the making but now, finally, the deal has been done to secure the rights to the AFL for the next five seasons.

In a record-breaking $1.25 billion deal, the Seven Network has emerged as the major free-to-air broadcast partner for the 2012-2016 seasons – with Foxtel holding pay-TV rights and Telstra securing online and mobile coverage.  The deal far exceeds the $780 million paid by broadcasters for the current 2007-2011 rights agreement.

Under the new deal, Seven will broadcast four of the nine weekly games – utilising both its primary channel as well as its digital multi-channel 7mate – while Foxtel will present live coverage of all nine weekly games and Telstra will broadcast all games via its Next G mobile telephone and T-Box platforms.

For Victorian viewers Seven’s telecasts will include live Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon coverage.  NSW, Canberra and Queensland viewers will also get more live coverage via 7mate.

Seven will also broadcast the Brownlow Medal and all finals including the Grand Final.  Foxtel and Telstra will also have rights to the finals, excluding the Grand Final, and the Brownlow Medal presentation.

Foxtel’s coverage will also be ad-free ‘siren to siren’, unlike Seven’s, and will include the re-launch of its dedicated AFL channel expected to be offered to subscribers of their current sports package.

Seven also has the option to on-sell any of its four weekly games to either the Nine or Ten networks.  The current AFL free-to-air broadcast rights are shared between Seven and Ten, and the two networks had been joint bidders for the 2012-2016 deal until Ten’s last-minute withdrawal from the partnership just weeks ago.

Source: AFL, The Age

Take 2 for Prisoner airdate

Late last year it was reported that pay-TV channel 111Hits was planning to start a late-night re-run of classic Aussie soap Prisoner from Australia Day this year.

The channel seemingly had a change of heart, withdrawing the announcement soon after it was made, but have now set a new date and timeslot for screening the series that originally ran from 1979 to 1986 and to this day continues to command a popular following both in Australia and overseas.

Prisoner is now set to appear on 111Hits weeknights from Monday 7 March – starting at episode one – at the earlier timeslot of 6.30pm, putting it up against free-to-air contemporary dramas Neighbours and Home And Away.

The gritty backdrop of Wentworth Detention Centre will obviously present viewers with a more grown-up drama alternative in the early evening as opposed to the goings on around Summer Bay or Ramsay Street.  Pay-TV channels are not bound by the same classification restrictions that free-to-air channels are subjected to.

111Hits also has a “+2” channel, so Prisoner will therefore get another run each weeknight at 8.30pm.

111Hits is available on Foxtel and Austar.

Source: TV Tonight

Farewell 2010… and “hello” to ‘11

It’s New Year’s Eve and another year comes to a close.  We saw the launch of more digital channels – 7mate, GEM, ABC News 24.  There was another hit season of MasterChef Australia, joined this year by Junior MasterChef.  Hey Hey It’s Saturday was back for a longer run but failed to match the ratings high of its reunion shows of 2009.

Neighbours celebrated 25 years and SBS turned 30.

Bert Newton was back as host of the TV Week Logie Awards.  Home And Away’s Ray Meagher won the Gold Logie and the late Brian Naylor was posthumously inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.  A Current Affair celebrated Reg Grundy.

GTV9 said farewell to 22 Bendigo Street and ATN7 moved out of Epping.

Television turned 50 in Tasmania.  ABC celebrated 50 years in Adelaide, Perth and Hobart – and analogue television was switched off in Mildura, regional South Australia and Broken Hill.

Kerry O’Brien signed off from The 7.30 Report.  Talking Heads wound up after six years. 

The Winter Olympics were on Nine, and the Commonwealth Games were on Ten.  Nine said farewell to Wimbledon after more than thirty years.  Sport was given the 3D treatment on free-to-air and Foxtel.

Right here we documented the year 1990 as reported in the pages of TV Week – and will continue the theme into 2011 as we follow the corresponding period in 1991.

2011 brings with it the long-awaited launch of Network Ten’s new digital channel, Eleven, across most of Australia – and the launch of Ten’s expanded news portfolio with a new 6.00pm program with George Negus and city-based 6.30pm news bulletins.

There will be more MasterChef, but will Hey Hey It’s Saturday be back?  Will Neighbours survive the transition to Eleven?  Will the revamped The 7.30 Report make up for the loss of Kerry O’Brien?   

Will Hamish and Andy, having walked away from most of their radio commitments, make a determined shift into TV?

There will be more drama from Underbelly on Nine, East West 101 on SBS and a new series, Winners And Losers, on Seven. Packed To The Rafters will try to move on from the death of character Melissa (Zoe Ventoura) – and what will become of the bubbling sexual tension between Nina Proudman (Asher Keddie) and Chris Havel (Don Hany) in Offspring?  Will Ten’s planned prison drama come to fruition?

ABC’s Four Corners will celebrate its 50th anniversary, while ABC News Breakfast plans to move from ABC2 to ABC1.  Regional television in Victoria will turn 50 and will farewell analogue transmission. Television in Darwin will turn 40.  And it will be 20 years since aggregation came to Northern NSW and the Gold Coast.

US show Sesame Street will reach 40 years on Australian television – and The Simpsons turns 20.

Digital television turns ten years old on 1 January – while certain areas of Australia are still yet to see the benefits of the new technology.

And one blogger will – shudder – turn 40 years old!

May you all have a happy new year and a great 2011!

Will Ten’s axe swing again?

It is almost twenty years ago – 26 November 1990 – since the Ten Network made headlines (pictured) as new chief executive Gary Rice announced some dramatic cost-cutting measures to save the ailing network.

Mr Rice, a former Nine Network executive called in to rescue Ten from a lengthy period of poor ratings and financial instability, had sacked 300 staff from across Ten’s Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane stations – but it was the network’s news and current affairs portfolio that suffered the most severe cutbacks with the axing of the 10.30am bulletin, the axing of weekly program The Walsh Report, the reduction of the Melbourne-based Ten Evening News from one-hour to 30 minutes and the axing of local current affairs programs Sydney With Mike Gibson and Brisbane With Anna McMahon.  Almost half of the 300 sacked workers were from the news and current affairs department alone.

The morning program Good Morning Australia was left hanging by a thread – with hosts Kerri-Anne Kennerley and Terry Willesee greeting viewers at the start of the two-hour program, not knowing if they would still have a job at the end of the show.  The show was ultimately maintained, though with a tighter budget.

Other savings were anticipated to come from the sale of Ten’s Nunawading studios and the relocation to smaller facilities. 

The radical cutbacks, expected to save Ten from losing $2 million a week, came a year after Ten sacked 350 staff and two months after the network was placed in receivership and 15 executives were sacked.

"This action gives us no pleasure,” Mr Rice said.  “But it is one of several responsible decisions… to revive the network and to provide the basis for its financial recovery and future growth.  The network will be slimmer… but its quality will be maintained and ultimately enhanced.”

There were also suggestions of trimming back the network’s schedule to cease broadcasting during off-peak periods such as mornings and overnights, and replacing each state’s 6.00pm news bulletin with a single national bulletin based in Melbourne.  Another radical proposal was for Ten to merge with the Seven Network, also in receivership, thus reducing the number of commercial networks from three to two.  Thankfully, none of these extreme measures were implemented.

Local dramas Neighbours and E Street were left relatively unscathed in the 1990 cutbacks and would form the basis for Ten’s new focus on the advertiser-friendly youth market which was to start in 1991 – heralded by the launch of a new logo (pictured) and a new tagline – “The Entertainment Network”.

Twenty years on, Ten is in a much better financial position.  The network has just announced a full-year profit of $150 million, up from a $89.4 million loss in the previous year.  Not a bad turnaround for an entertainment medium that is often thought to be in decline.

But while Ten’s balance sheet is a lot healthier, there is suddenly a large unknown on the network’s horizon. 

James Packer.

James, the youngest generation of Packer moguls after his father Kerry and grandfather Sir Frank, has stunned the industry by making a bold investment in the Ten Network – around $288 million worth, representing around 18 per cent of the company.   And there is a chance he could still buy up more.

It is a surprising move given that only two years ago, Packer sold most of his family’s long-held interest in the Nine Network, apparently to focus on more lucrative foreign and gambling ventures.  He does, however, maintain a financial interest in Foxtel.

The motives for Packer’s move into Ten are unknown, and although he will only have a minority interest in the network, he is set to gain a place on the Ten board – something which has led to a lot of speculation in the media about Ten’s future.

Some have suggested that Packer simply wants to cash in on a slice of Ten’s profit – helped along by the success of Masterchef Australia – while others have suggested that Packer is hoping to get a piece of the AFL and NRL broadcast rights which are up for renewal.  And if Ten is a successful bidder for the rights then its digital sports channel One HD could be well positioned to take advantage, depending on the government review of the anti-siphoning legislation.  Packer could also use his ties to Foxtel to form an alliance with Ten and One HD in securing future rights to AFL or NRL.

At the other end of the spectrum, some are speculating that Packer’s motives are a little more sinister.  Some have suggested that he will use his influence on the Ten board to tear down the One HD channel, a natural rival to his interests in pay-TV channel Fox Sports, or even jeopardise the network’s proposed and costly expansion of its news department.

Ten announced back in August that it is set to expand its news coverage in 2011 with the launch of a national 6.00pm news program, hosted by George Negus, followed by local news bulletins in each capital city at 6.30pm.  The expanded news coverage is expected to cost an expected $20 million a year, including the hiring of additional staff.  It is a strategy that James’ father Kerry might have approved of, but it is not known what the younger Packer thinks of the plan.

Meanwhile, Ten maintains it is business as usual for its plans moving forward – with the launch of youth-focused entertainment channel 11 in the new year coinciding with the launch of the expanded news portfolio and a broader demographic focus for the main Ten channel.  And the network insists that One HD continues to have a valued place in the company’s multi-channel strategy.

Whatever happens, it could be interesting times ahead.

Source: Herald Sun, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Herald Sun 27 November 1990.

The Games were run… but, for Ten, not won!

The XIX Commonwealth Games have come to a close – and while India will be congratulating itself for a successful 11 days of competition, back in Australia the Ten Network might be quietly licking a few wounds.

Not that Ten’s effort in broadcasting the Games was of any inferior nature – in fact, the network has avoided receiving scorn like that encountered by the Seven Network with its heavily-delayed coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing – but rather that the network was rewarded with fairly lack lustre ratings figures for a competition that usually commands much greater figures.

In some instances, Ten was struggling to stay above ABC in the popularity stakes whereas, at the very least, they might have expected some gold medal ratings figures over the two weeks. Essentially, Ten only won victory on one night of Games competition:

	ABC	Seven	Nine	Ten	SBS
Mon 4	19.4	27.6	25.6	20.8	6.5
Tue 5	15.8	31.6	27.4	21.0	4.3
Wed 6	16.4	29.9	26.0	23.9	3.8
Thu 7	12.9	26.2	27.4	27.1	6.6
Fri 8	16.2	28.5	23.5	27.0	4.8
Sat 9	18.7	24.0	24.2	26.7	6.4
Sun 10	18.8	28.7	25.1	21.3	6.0
Mon 11	18.0	29.1	26.0	20.1	6.8
Tue 12	15.6	35.6	27.6	16.4	4.8
Wed 13	16.3	31.2	29.2	19.1	4.2
Thu 14	14.3	28.6	29.3	21.5*	6.2

* Includes premiere episode of Keeping Up With The Joneses.
Source: OZTAM: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth. 6pm-12am. Network shares include multi-channels.

But in Ten’s defence, their coverage has been up against some significant odds. This year’s Commonwealth Games appear to have been met with varying levels of indifference by Australians, possibly not helped by the negative publicity surrounding the final lead-up to the competition.

The free-to-air TV environment has also changed dramatically since the last Commonwealth Games (Melbourne, 2006) and even Olympic Games (Beijing, 2008) in that then there were only five free-to-air networks – presenting only limited alternative viewing options. This time around, there are up to a dozen other free-to-air channels on offer – with two channels, GEM and 7mate, launched only weeks ago.

Also impacting Ten’s performance is the somewhat limiting anti-siphoning legislation – meaning that even though Ten has a secondary channel with One HD, combined they could only really offer a single-channel approach to coverage – something which is often at odds with such a large competition where there are multiple events occurring at the same time – while up against rival networks offering 2, 3 or 4 viewing alternatives. Ten might have helped stop the flow of viewers to other networks if it had launched its new entertainment channel, 11, with its own alternative to Games coverage, but instead the channel is scheduled to launch early in 2011.

And adding to Ten’s competition was Foxtel – with its six channels of Commonwealth Games coverage which, in itself, is nothing new (they had a similar multi-channel offering in 2006) but the difference this time is that Foxtel was offering these channels to existing subscribers at no extra charge.

Despite the challenges, Ten will be pleased with the increase in viewing on One HD where it received some of its best ever ratings.

With the obvious pre-Games expectation of the saturation coverage delivering a ratings dividend leading into the last six weeks of ratings competition for the year, it now appears that Ten will be needing to offer some promises to make good to advertisers wanting more bang for their sponsorship dollars and, with shows like The 7PM Project, Neighbours, Undercover Boss, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Junior Masterchef, Modern Family, The Simpsons, Rush and Offspring having been out of circulation for two weeks, now has to work hard to drag viewers back to the network as it heads into the home straight of the ratings survey year. And with daylight saving now part of the equation, that makes the task of attracting viewers’ attention in the early evening even more of a struggle.

Network Ten have the rights to televise the Commonwealth Games when they head to Glasgow, Scotland, in 2014.

GEM’s last minute scratching

Viewers expecting to see the debut of the Nine Network’s new digital channel GEM at midday yesterday (Friday) were left underwhelmed when the channel failed to appear.

When Nine originally announced GEM almost two weeks ago, it was always clear that the channel was to officially launch this Sunday but, in a move designed to take some of gloss away from new rival 7mate which launches today, the channel was to start screening programs from midday yesterday.

Instead, digital channel 90 (and channel 80 in regionals) continued as the high-definition simulcast of the main Nine Network channel.

The failure of GEM’s appearance is apparently due to “technical issues” although Nine’s lack of pre-launch promotion for the channel probably ensured that not many viewers were aware of its pending debut anyway.  This lack of any pre-launch promotion, or any advice to viewers that GEM is replacing Nine’s HD simulcast, plus yesterday’s non-appearance all add fuel to speculation that the channel appears to be little more than a rushed-to-air effort to catch up to Seven’s 7mate and following Ten’s announcement of its new entertainment channel, 11.

Nine has now re-scheduled GEM to debut at 6.00am Sunday – meaning that their attempt to spoil Seven’s launch of 7mate has failed.  Although whether viewers actually care who was first by the sake of a day or two is largely irrelevant as this attempted one-upmanship is really just about network egos and is just another chapter in the unending battle between Seven and Nine.

But assuming there are no further delays, GEM’s schedule for Sunday is as follows:

6am Movie: Kim
8.30 Movie: Spring And Port Wine
10.30 Movie: Thousands Cheer
1.05pm Movie: Life With Father
3.35 Movie: The Jazz Singer
6pm The New Adventures Of Old Christine
6.30 Wife Swap USA
7.30 Random Acts Of Kindness (new episode)
8.30 Movie: The Bodyguard
11.10 The New Adventures Of Old Christine (rpt from 6pm)
11.40pm Wife Swap USA (rpt from 6.30pm)

GEM will be available via the Nine Network (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth) on digital channel 90 and via regional networks WIN (Queensland, Southern NSW, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania) and NBN (Northern NSW, Gold Coast) on digital channel 80, and from next month GEM and its counterpart GO! will be available on the Nine Network’s Darwin station.  A high-definition tuner, PVR or set-top-box will be required to view GEM.

GEM will also be available to Foxtel cable subscribers.

GEM: Friday and Saturday

Nine’s new digital channel, GEM, is to be officially launched next Sunday, 26 September, but just to get the edge over the launch of 7mate the channel starts programming this Friday, 24 September from 12.00pm:

Friday 24:
12pm Movie: Singin’ In The Rain
2pm Movie: Gypsy
5pm The Ellen DeGeneres Show (rpt from Nine)
6pm The New Adventures Of Old Christine
6.30 Friends
7pm The Zoo
7.30 Getaway (rpt from Nine)
8.30 Movie: Jindabyne
11pm Movie: Critic’s Choice

Saturday 25:
1am Friends (rpt from 6.30pm)
1.30 Getaway (rpt from 7.30pm)
2.30 Movie: Jindabyne (rpt from 8.30pm)
4.50 Dangerman
5.50 GEM Presents
6am Movie: The Bridal Path
8am Movie: Critic’s Choice (rpt from 11pm)
10am Movie: The Yearling
12.45pm Movie: Northwest Passage
3.20pm Movie: The Madwoman Of Chaillot
6pm The New Adventures Of Old Christine
6.30 Deadly Surf
7pm Animal Emergency
7.30 Special: Every Heart Beats True – The Jim Stynes Story (rpt from Nine)
8.30 Movie: Evil Angels
11pm Movie: Gypsy (rpt from Friday)

(Programs and times are for the Melbourne market, other areas or time-zones check local guides)

GEM – replacing the existing 9HD channel – will be available via the Nine Network (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth) on digital channel 90 and via NBN (Northern NSW, Gold Coast) and WIN (Southern NSW, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland) on digital channel 80.  GEM will be available on the Nine Network’s Darwin channel from next month.  Viewers will need a high-definition tuner or set top box to be able to access the channel.

GEM is also available on Foxtel for cable subscribers only on Channel 209 from 24 September.

State Of Origin to kickstart 3D TV

The Nine Network has boasted that its upcoming telecasts of the Harvey Norman State Of Origin will be the world’s first live sporting event on free-to-air television to be broadcast in 3D.

It had previously been tipped that the FIFA World Cup would be the first free-to-air sporting event to employ 3D technology, but the State Of Origin starts on 26 May – two weeks before the World Cup kicks off in Africa.

At this stage the 3D telecasts will be restricted to Sydney viewers only, using broadcast spectrum temporarily allocated by the Government, but Nine is working with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and broadcasters to be able to extend the technology to other capital cities at least.

Samsung was first in the Australian market to sell 3D-compatible sets, currently retailing for around $2500.  The sets come with active shutter style 3D glasses which are being encouraged by the industry as the optimum standard for viewing 3D TV broadcasts.

Of course, 3D is nothing entirely new – dating back to films back in the 1950s and ‘60s.  And some viewers may recall that this is not the first time that 3D technology has been trialled by television.  In the early 1980s it first became possible to transmit 3D images through television, with a US-based experiment in February 1982.  In October 1983, the Seven Network embarked on a two-hour experiment in 3D television broadcasting, featuring two vintage titles – The Three Stooges’ Pardon My Backfire and the western Fort Ti – that  could be viewed in 3D by watching through the traditional-style 3D glasses.

Seven’s experiment came as there was a renewed interest in 3D films, with upcoming releases of Jaws III, Amityville Horror III and Space Hunter expected to be available in 3D.

There was also a much more recent venture into 3D television with a segment on Network Ten’s Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation being broadcast in 3D earlier this year.

Foxtel is expected to offer 3D programming in 2011.

Source: TV Week 29 October 1983, Nine Network press release, CRN, The Australian

SBS starts up STVDIO

SBS has announced the launch of its new pay-TV channel, STVDIO, dedicated to entertainment and the arts.

The new channel will debut on 1 April as a replacement for the Ovation Channel which is to close after not being renewed by Foxtel and Austar in favour of the new channel to be run by PAN TV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBS.

PAN TV also operates the World Movies Channel on Foxtel and Austar.

SBS’ director of marketing, Jacqui Riddell, explains the identity of the new channel:

“The name STVDIO represents the new channel perfectly.  Every art form – be it dance, fine art, music, theatre, film or writing – is created in a studio.  In addition to performance, our new channel will take audiences into how art is made and what makes artists tick.  Both the channel name and logo have been stylised to include the letters “TV”.”

STVDIO (pronounced “Studio”) will present arts and entertainment genres, including opera, music, film, ballet, art and design, from Australia and overseas.

SBS’ investment in PAN TV is one of a few pay-TV ventures to be owned by free-to-air interests.  The Seven and Nine networks are joint venture partners (with Rupert Murdoch) in the pay-TV channel, Sky News Australia, while regional network WIN owns alternative pay-TV provider SelecTV.

STVDIO will broadcast on Channel 132 on Foxtel and Austar from 1 April.

Going to party like it’s 1990…

Each week for the past two years we’ve been documenting the events of Australian TV during the corresponding week of thirty years ago – 1978 and 1979 – as reported in TV Times magazine.

Now, sadly, we have to bring that sequence of posts to an end as we do not have a weekly archive of TV Times beyond the close of 1979 – and, indeed, the magazine title itself became obsolete in August 1980 when it was merged with rival magazine TV Week.

However, we are able to ‘skip’ a decade and can bring you TV as it was in the corresponding week of 1990 – twenty years ago – as reported in TV Week.  This will start in the new year.

As we move into a new decade in the present day TV continues to come to terms with the new era of digital multi-channelling.  The year will see the continued presence, and possibly even the addition, of new channels under the Freeview banner.  2009 saw the introduction of One HD, SBS2, GO!, 7TWO and ABC3, and there could be more to follow.  Freeview will also continue to be challenged by Foxtel’s “next generation” offering.  The year will also see community TV allowed its first steps in digital broadcasting, having waited and campaigned for many years for access to digital broadcasting spectrum, and Mildura will witness Australia’s first phase-out of analogue television signals.

The year will see the return of Masterchef Australia – will it maintain the public’s attention in 2010 as it did in 2009? – and more of Hey Hey It’s Saturday after its two reunion specials garnered massive support in 2009.  There will be no more Rove but we may see a greater presence from Shaun Micallef, following the popularity of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation.  The 7PM Project will continue to hope to gain stronger support – but how long will Ten pursue it?  There will be a third series in the Underbelly franchise, and Neighbours will celebrate its 25th anniversary. 

The TV Week Logie Awards could break with tradition and be held in Queensland, and the year will also include the Commonwealth Games, from Delhi, India, and the Winter Olympics, from Vancouver, Canada.

The new year also marks a new era in the reporting of ratings data as, for the first time, viewing by time-shifted means (e.g. viewing of programs recorded by devices such as VCRs, PVRs, etc.) will be tallied along with programs that are viewed ‘live’ to air.

The year 2010 will also mark the 50th anniversary of ABC channels ABS2 Adelaide, ABT2 Hobart and ABW2 Perth, as well as commercial station TVT6 Hobart (now a branch of WIN Television).  SBS will celebrate its 30th anniversary later in the year and aggregation of Regional Queensland television will be 20 years old from the end of 2010.

And 2010 will mark ten years since the website Television.AU was established.

Foxtel makes move against Freeview

Foxtel, in one of its biggest ever launches, is firing its next shot in the battle for Australia’s TV viewers.

Foxtel CEO Kim Williams yesterday announced a significant milestone for the company with the launch of 30 additional channels (including 12 specific-themed channels, 10 high-definition channels and 8 timeshift channels) to come this year.  The new channels will bring Foxtel’s total offering to almost 200 channels.

Foxtel will also launch an online service, allowing catch-up downloading of program content, and significant upgrades to its television guide and new customer packages.

The Next Generation package will also provide viewers with a free IQ recorder, enabling multiple viewing options for Foxtel programs – live, On Demand or recorded via IQ.

News channel Sky News Australia will also increase its coverage of local news for the five major capital cities and offer improved weather reporting.

These new additions to the Foxtel platform come as the free-to-air networks (Freeview) have almost exhausted their current bandwidth for additional channels, with ABC3 and Seven’s second channel expected to launch later this year adding to digital channels ABC2, SBS2, GO! and ONEHD and high-definition simulcasts of ABC, SBS, Seven and Nine.

Foxtel Next Generation launches 15 November this year, and the Foxtel Download service launches tomorrow, Thursday 1 October.

Source: Foxtel

TV Week Logie Awards 2009

Packed To The Rafters star Rebecca Gibney has won the TV Week Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV.

The hit Seven Network series won a total of six awards in tonight’s presentation, including two for new talent Jessica Marais and Gibney also winning the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actress.

The Nine Network’s Underbelly won three awards, including Outstanding Drama Series.  Series stars Gyton Grantley and Kat Stewart won Outstanding Actor and Actress awards.

Network Ten’s Rove McManus won the Logie for Most Popular TV Presenter and Rove won Most Popular Light Entertainment program.

ABC1’s The Hollowmen won for Most Outstanding Comedy Program and current affairs program Foreign Correspondent won for Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report.

SBS’ First Australians won the Logie for Outstanding Documentary.

FOX Classics host Bill Collins was inducted into the TV Week Logies’ Hall of Fame.

The awards presentation was hosted by former Big Brother host Gretel Killeen and also featured performances by Annie Lennox, Jessica Mauboy and Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

List of all winners:

Silver Logie — Most Popular Actress
Rebecca Gibney (Packed To The Rafters)

Silver Logie — Most Popular Actor
Todd Lasance (Home And Away)

Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Actor
Gyton Grantley (Underbelly)

Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Actress
Kat Stewart (Underbelly)

Most Popular Reality Program
So You Think You Can Dance Australia (Network Ten)

Most Outstanding Comedy Program
The Hollowmen (ABC1)

Most Outstanding News Coverage
"China Earthquake" (ABC News)

Most Popular Lifestyle Program
Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)

Silver Logie — Most Popular TV Presenter
Rove McManus (Rove/Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?)

Most Outstanding Sports Coverage
Beijing Olympics (Channel Seven)

Most Popular Sports Program
The Footy Show NRL (Nine Network)

Most Popular New Male Talent
Hugh Sheridan (Packed To The Rafters)

Most Popular New Female Talent
Jessica Marais (Packed To The Rafters)

Most Popular Factual Program
Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)

Graham Kennedy Award For Most Outstanding New Talent
Jessica Marais (Packed To The Rafters)

Silver Logie — Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie
Underbelly (Nine Network)

Most Outstanding Children's Program
H20: Just Add Water (Network Ten)

# Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report
"Afghanistan: A Survivor's Tale" (Foreign Correspondent, ABC1)

Most Outstanding Documentary
First Australians (SBS)

Most Outstanding Factual Program
Border Security (Channel Seven)

Most Popular Light Entertainment Program
Rove (Network Ten)

Most Popular Drama
Packed To The Rafters (Channel Seven)

TV Week Logie Awards' Hall Of Fame
Bill Collins

TV Week Gold Logie — Most Popular Personality
Rebecca Gibney

Source: TV Week

Ten and Foxtel off to the Commonwealth Games

The Ten Network and pay-TV operator Foxtel have announced that they have secured the exclusive Australian rights to televise the 2010 Commonwealth Games from Delhi, India.

The deal gives both Ten and Foxtel access to live coverage of all events. Both Ten and Foxtel will have rights to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies - but only Ten will televise these live.

It is only the second time ever that Ten has televised the Commonwealth Games, with the first being the 1994 Commonwealth Games from Victoria, Canada. In 2006, Foxtel provided a multi-channel coverage of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games - supplementing the Nine Network's free-to-air coverage.

The 2010 Games will be the first to be host-broadcast produced in high definition.

Foxtel also holds exclusive new media rights which includes mobile and internet coverage. Ten and Foxtel will also on sell the radio coverage rights.

The announcement of the 2010 Commonwealth Games telecast partners comes after the Nine Network and Foxtel announced a joint venture to televise the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

The Seven Network and SBS will televise this year's Olympic Games from Beijing, China.

Source: Ten, Foxtel

Clinton Grybas

Television and radio presenter Clinton Grybas has died today. He was 32.

A well-regarded sporting commentator, Grybas started in radio as a sports commentator for ABC radio in the mid-1990s - covering sports such as NBL, AFL and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

He later moved to commercial radio, as a member of Melbourne 3AW's sporting line-up, covering a range of sports but particularly AFL and also co-hosted Sports Today, and also appeared on Foxtel as an AFL commentator and presenter of the interview program White Line Fever.

The cause of his death is not yet known. He would have turned 33 next month.

Source: Herald Sun
Picture: MyTalk.com.au

The Year That Was... #6: Drama makes a comeback

The year 2006 brought on all sorts of doom and gloom about TV drama production; ABC didn't have money to make any, Seven had axed Blue Heelers after 12 years of loyal service, Ten had some luck with telemovies but Tripping Over didn't fare so well, and their only ongoing production was the veteran soap Neighbours, and Nine had only McLeod's Daughters as the main project on its drama slate.

However, the corner was turned this year as a number of new projects came to fruition and one old-timer got a new coat of paint.

The big newcomers this year were City Homicide (pictured, above) and Sea Patrol - with these shows headlining the crucial battle between arch rivals Seven and Nine, both shows were given huge budgets, lots of live action, and both also promised familiar faces - Shane Bourne, Noni Hazelhurst, Nadine Garner, Aaron Pedersen and Damien Richardson on City Homicide, and Lisa McCune, Ian Stenlake, Josh Lawson, Kristian Schmid and Jay Ryan on Sea Patrol.

Both programs earned strong ratings figures, though City Homicide was perhaps more consistent than its Nine rival however both series have been renewed for 2008.

ABC did manage to get some dramas to air during this year; the rural/farming drama Rain Shadow, the 1998 waterfront crisis in Bastard Boys and the historical Curtin starring William McInnes.

The year also saw an increased drama presence on SBS with a number of productions aired this year - all of which put new emphasis onto familiar themes. The Circuit put an outback and indigenous perspective onto legal drama but its 9.30 Sunday timeslot probably meant most viewers stayed oblivious to it.

Saturday evenings saw the much lighter drama of Kick (pictured, left) an eight-part series based in Melbourne's multicultural suburb of Brunswick and featuring a diverse range of characters and cultures, though little is made of either. Hard to believe that Kick came from the same city that gives us the mono-cultural and sanitised Neighbours.

A late entry to SBS' schedule this year was the Sydney-based East West 101, from the producers of ABC's former series Wildside. Like with Kick, East West 101 was based in an area with a strong multicultural mix and covers the tensions that can come with that sort of diversity whether it be in the community or in the police force that is entrusted to protect it.

While all these new projects were seeing the light of day, one old-stager Neighbours was also in the spotlight. Ratings for the suburban soap have dropped in recent years in the wake of the high-profile battle between current affairs shows Today Tonight and A Current Affair in the same timeslot. With a healthy injection of funds to flow on from the show's shift in the UK from BBC to Channel 5 - in a deal worth around $A700m over ten years - the show's producers decided this year was the time to give the series a much-needed revamp to boost its profile in its home country.

A two-month teaser campaign on Ten promised 'a change is coming' and when the red-letter day, 23 July, arrived there were certainly changes but probably not as significant as the publicity had perhaps indicated. Sure there was a new family moving into Ramsay Street, there were some new sets and some more location filming, and the signature tune was re-worked, as was the iconic Neighbours logo, but apart from these rather superficial changes, there was little else to notice. Producers have been at pains to point out, however, that the revival of Neighbours is a work in progress and now with a new executive producer (Susan Bower) in charge, the changes are set to continue. Neighbours' ratings did take a spike when 23 July came and went, but soon settled back to familiar territory around the 600-700k mark - not a desirable position for a prime-time Aussie-made production but it still rates well in its desired demographic and gives Ten valuable drama content points.

Ten this year also gave us Murder In The Outback - The Joanne Lees Story which traced the mystery surrounding the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio, told from the perspective of his partner Joanne Lees.

Meanwhile at Seven, their drama content was well kept up by Home And Away and All Saints. Both series earning great results this year which considering the age of both programs (Home And Away is now up to its twentieth anniversary, and All Saints is up to ten years) is an amazing effort.

The Nine Network's long-running McLeod's Daughters limped through 2007 as producers may have struggled to find a way to keep finding long-lost 'daughters' to replace outgoing cast members. The series suffered a ratings drop this year, and Nine has already announced that the 2008 series will be its last.

The drama on our screens wasn't just on the free-to-air networks either. This year Foxtel came up with more of Love My Way starring Claudia Karvan, new series Dangerous, the adults-only drama Satisfaction and the award winning telemovie The King: The Graham Kennedy Story (pictured) starring Stephen Curry.

Nine and Foxtel score Olympic win

The Nine Network and Foxtel have announced that they have secured the exclusive Australian broadcast rights to the 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Olympics from London.

It is the first time Nine has televised the Summer Olympics since it shared coverage rights with ABC and Seven in 1976. Seven has had exclusive rights to the Summer games in 1980, 1992, 1996 and 2000, and shared coverage with SBS for 2004 and 2008. Network Ten covered the games in 1984 and 1988.

The 2010 and 2012 deal incorporates broadcast, subscription, internet and mobile coverage rights. Mobile carrier Telstra is a part-owner in Foxtel, as is Publishing and Broadcasting Limited which is also a part-owner of Nine. The new deal should see a multi-channel bonanza as Foxtel has demonstrated with previous coverage of the Commonwealth Games, and with Nine's promise of a new digital channel to be launched later this year and under current legislation could have another one on the air in 2009.

The announcement is no doubt a welcome boost to sinking morale at Nine which has suffered all sorts of behind-the-scenes drama and the loss of its long-time ratings crown since the passing of Kerry Packer in 2005.

In the meantime, new Nine CEO David Gyngell is also on the hunt for new game show formats at the international television conference Mipcom to add to Nine's schedule following the recent popularity of game shows such as Deal Or No Deal which is crippling Nine's critical lead-in to the 6.00pm news.

Source: Foxtel, News.com.au