Ten says Newsnight is old news

Only a few days ago Network Ten had all guns blazing about a new-format late night news program to be hosted by journalist Hamish Macdonald (pictured).

The program was to be called Ten Newsnight and debut on Monday, 4 June at 10.30pm.

Now it seems that while the bulletin is still going ahead, the name is not.

Instead, Ten Newsnight will just be the far more traditionally-named Ten Late News, the same title of the late night news bulletin that Ten axed last September.

Ten is reported to have said that the Newsnight name was merely a working title for the purpose of getting news of the show’s launch out to the press, insisting that the last-minute name change was to reflect a simpler, more concise brand for the new program.  One wonders if the network was somehow assuming that the viewing audience would not have the cognitive skills to figure out what a program called Ten Newsnight might specifically entail?

While it is certainly not uncommon for new programs to launch to the public with different titles to those proposed in the development stages, Ten’s media release issued on Monday left no doubt as to what they intended to call this program.

However it has come to light via the online forum Media Spy that Ten’s change of heart may have potentially been prompted in part by the Nine Network trademarking the names “Newsnight” and “9 Newsnight” several years ago – while pay-TV news network Sky News Australia also has an established program called News Night, although such similarities didn’t stop Ten naming its early morning show Breakfast when ABC already had its own ABC News Breakfast.

Despite Ten opting for the pre-loved title for the new program they claim it will be a different news experience compared to its late night predecessor presented for many years by Sandra Sully, with the new program incorporating a mix of news, interviews, entertainment, sport and interaction with social media.

Ten Late News is, at this stage, still set to debut on Monday, 4 June, at 10.30pm and will screen Monday to Thursday nights.

Source: Media Spy, TV Tonight, 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.

ABC to launch news channel

ABC is set to launch Australia’s first 24-hour free-to-air news channel this year.

The new channel, announced today by ABC managing director Mark Scott, will broadcast on the digital platform and will serve as a competitor to Australia’s only other continuous news channel, Sky News Australia, which is available on pay-TV.

The new channel follows the recent launch of ABC’s children’s channel, ABC3.

New studio and newsroom facilities are currently being built at ABC’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney.  The news channel will provide more opportunities to view ABC’s existing news and current affairs programming and will also include new programming and features within its continuous news format – tapping into the resources of ABC’s entire news operation, including regional and international resources, and will support a multiple platform environment in co-ordination with ABC News Online, ABC News Radio and ABC Mobile. 

Programming from the channel will also be made available to other ABC outlets, including its international satellite service, Australia Network, which has coverage into 44 countries.

Mr Scott said that the new channel will launch with no additional funding from the Government and will broadcast on its existing high-definition signal.

The announcement of the new channel has already sparked a defensive attack by Sky News chief Angelos Frangopoulos, claiming that the new channel will end up absorbing funding from other parts of the national operation, would affect the quality of ABC’s existing operations and violates the ABC’s charter.  Mr Frangopoulos also slammed the new operation as being a “needless duplication of services already available to Australians”, as Sky News already provides fourteen, 24-hour channels, including Sky News Business, multiview and local news channels, as well as Australia’s only parliamentary and public affairs channel, A-PAC.

Sky News is a joint venture operation between PBL Media (which owns the Nine Network and regional NBN Television), Seven Media Group and Rupert Murdoch’s British Sky Broadcasting.

The announcement of the new channel comes as ABC and Sky News are also reported to be planning to battle for the right to operate Australia Network on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, after the existing contract expires later this year.

According to ABC’s most recent annual report, ABC’s digital signal, which currently carries ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABCHD and radio stations Dig and DigJAZZ, is currently available to 97.7 per cent of the Australian population, through 324 transmitter sites.

Further details on the new ABC channel, such as programming schedules and launch dates, have yet to be announced.

Source: ABC News, ABC News, ABC News, The Australian, ABC Annual Report