ABC axes programs, cuts staff

The Director of Television at the ABC, Kim Dalton has blamed “financial pressures” for the axing of more in-house production and staff redundancies that were announced yesterday.

ABC has issued redundancy notices to staff around the country as it winds down production facilities in Perth and Adelaide and axes long-running shows The New Inventors and Collectors, weekly series Art Nation (presented by Fenella Kernebone, pictured) and the production of documentaries under the Artscape banner.

In an email sent to staff yesterday, Mr Dalton said

"ABC TV management recognises that this can be a very difficult time for some staff and will ensure all the appropriate support is offered.  However in the face of an increasingly competitive broadcasting environment and increasing financial pressures, ABC TV must ensure it uses its Government funding as efficiently and effectively as possible to deliver maximum value to its audiences and the Australian taxpayer."

Mr Dalton has said that arts programs will now mostly be sourced from independent producers, or from overseas, rather than in-house – while prime-time programs At The Movies and First Tuesday Book Club will continue.

The Australian reports that production staff for the Sydney-based The New Inventors will be redeployed or may be made redundant, while staff behind the Tasmanian-based Collectors will be shifted to a new series, Auctions.  The Age reports that Mr Dalton has denied suggestions that as many as 100 staff will be made redundant but would not offer a more precise figure.

The Age also reports that Mr Dalton has said that the announced changes will have no impact on the construction of new studio facilities at Southbank in Melbourne.

The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents ABC staff, has branded the axing of Art Nation as “cultural vandalism” and has warned that the wider cutbacks will lead to a breach of the ABC’s Charter, while the Friends Of The ABC has claimed that the broadcaster "is being transformed into a platform for carrying commercial content. This is privatisation by stealth."

In recent times the broadcaster has also cancelled Talking Heads, Can We Help? and The Einstein Factor.

The New Inventors will make its final appearance with its series Grand Final on 17 August, while the Sunday afternoon Art Nation will continue until late November.

This round of cutbacks at ABC comes after recent changes at the Ten Network, where 60 positions were being targeted for redundancies and the axe was put to the long-running Video Hits.

Source: The Australian, The Age, CPSU

Obituary: Googie Withers

Actress Googie Withers has died in Sydney at the age of 94.

Born in India to a British father and Dutch mother, she was christened Georgette Lizette but as a child didn’t like the name so she adopted the nickname Googie which became her name for life.

She went on to become a star of stage and screen in Britain and it was working on The Loves of Joanna Godden that she met her future husband, Australian actor John McCallum.

They were married in 1948 and moved to Australia in 1959 when McCallum was offered the job of joint managing director of the JC Williamson theatre company.

But while Withers is best known for her work in British films and television, she has a unique place in Australia’s television history.

She was the first presenter for what are now known as the TV Week Logie Awards.  But the awards, then known just as the TV Week Awards and presented only to Melbourne-based stars and programs, were not presented in the lavish ceremonies that are known today.

Television in Australia was little over two years old and it was early in 1959 when Withers was on the set of GTV9’s In Melbourne Tonight to hand out the awards for “Stars Of The Year” – the precursor to the Gold Logie – to Graham Kennedy and Panda Lisner and to award In Melbourne Tonight for Best Live Show.

“It was very interesting coming over to Australia from England, where we had had television for many years,” she later told TV Week.  “We were awfully interested in Graham Kennedy because he was so young then.”

Her career continued in film, stage and television between the United Kingdom, the US and Australia, including the early 1970s Australian TV series Boney and the mid-1970s British prison drama Within These Walls, until her last credited screen role in the 1996 film Shine.

She was the first non-Australian to be awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia Award in 1980.

Both Withers and McCallum, prior to celebrating 60 years of marriage, were interviewed on ABC’s Talking Heads in 2007. 

Googie Withers is survived by three children and six grandchildren.  John McCallum died in 2010.

Source: ABC, ABC, IMDB, 21 Years Of Logies (TV Week, 1979).

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!

TV Week Logie Awards voting opens

It’s a new era for the TV Week Logie Awards as TV Week has today opened the voting for the 2011 awards presentation.

Traditionally, voting for the popularity-based categories starts in the new year and is conducted through both the TV Week website and in the printed publication. 

This year the public voting is being conducted entirely online via the TV Week website.

But despite obvious efforts to improve the online voting process compared to previous years – at least now we can see who we are being asked to choose from – there still appears to be some discrepancy or omissions from the nominations list.

A glance at the nominees list noted a few missing names, though this a far from being an extensive list:

Most Popular Actress: Janet Andrewartha (pictured. Neighbours) – who was also missing from last year’s list, Heidi Arena (The Librarians), Jane Badler (Neighbours), Rachael Blake (Hawke), Kate Box (Offspring), Danielle Cormack (Rake), Victoria Eagger (The Librarians), Kaarin Fairfax (Bed Of Roses), Alicia Gardiner (Offspring), Caroline Gillmer (Bed Of Roses), Rachel Griffiths (Rake), Jane Harber (Offspring), Sasha Horler (Rake, Hawke, Offspring), Kaiya Jones (Neighbours), Jordy Lucas (Neighbours), Heather Mitchell (Rake), Eve Morey (Neighbours), Nicole Nabout (The Librarians), Valentina Novakovic (Neighbours), Adrienne Pickering (Rake).

Most Popular Actor: Lliam Amor (Hawke), Stephen Ballantyne (The Librarians), Morgan Baker (Neighbours), Keith Brockett (The Librarians), Vince Colosimo (pictured. Wicked Love), Richard Davies (Offspring), Firass Dirani (Underbelly 3: The Golden Mile), Bob Franklin (The Librarians), Kim Gyngell (The Librarians), Kevin Hofbauer (Rush), Lachy Hulme (Offspring, The Librarians), Josh Lawson (Hawke), Geoff Morrell (Rake),  Erin Mullally (Neighbours), Eddie Perfect (Offspring), Jordan Smith (Neighbours), Matthew Werkmeister (Neighbours), Sandy Winton (Neighbours), Felix Williamson (Hawke).

Most Popular Presenter: Paul Barry (Media Watch), Peter Evans (My Kitchen Rules), Peter Everett (Ready Steady Cook), Manu Feildel (My Kitchen Rules), Julie Goodwin (Home Cooked), Andrew Hansen (Strictly Speaking). Peter Helliar (The Bounce), Jonathan Holmes (Media Watch), Amanda Keller (Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation), James O’Loghlin (The New Inventors), Sandra Sully (pictured. Ten News), Peter Thompson (Talking Heads), Josh Thomas (Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation), Bill Woods (Thursday Night Live).

Some of the names listed above do appear, however, in the Most Popular New Talent category – seemingly implying that any new talent nominee is ineligible for any of the above categories.  A curious, and possibly new, condition given some have been in very prominent roles or have given exceptional performances.

Some inconsistencies also appear – Poh Ling Yeow (Poh’s Kitchen)qualifies for the Most Popular Presenter vote as well as Most Popular New Talent, although Julie Goodwin (Home Cooked) only qualifies for the latter.  Spicks And Specks team captains Adam Brough and Myf Warhurst qualify for Most Popular Presenter votes, but their equivalents at Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Josh Thomas and Amanda Keller, do not.  Generation’s Charlie Pickering qualifies for a vote based on his role as co-host on The 7PM Project.  The X Factor judges Guy Sebastian, Ronan Keating, Natalie Imbruglia and Kyle Sandilands all qualify for a vote, but their So You Think You Can Dance counterparts – Jason Coleman, Matt Lee and Bonnie Lythgoe – miss out.

While TV Week is possibly only listing names provided by the publicity agents of the networks (and looking at the lists above, it seems that ABC and Network Ten are being the most remiss), it is unfortunate that such omissions do occur or that some quality control over the list of names doesn’t seem to happen, even after such inconsistencies with the nominees list have been occurring for some years.  And while column space might have been limiting in the print edition, causing some names to not be included, now with online voting there is more space allowed to include a more comprehensive list of names.

On a more positive note, the award nominations this year do take into account community television for the first time.  While it is unlikely that these programs or presenters will walk away with a popular-voted award, the acknowledgement that they even exist is a positive one.

An industry-based panel will again judge contenders for the Most Outstanding award categories – including the Hall of Fame and the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent.

Online voting for the popularity-based categories closes 20 February 2011 and the 53rd annual TV Week Logie Awards will take place on 1 May 2011.

Final episode for Talking Heads

ABC’s weekly interview program Talking Heads with Peter Thompson (pictured) signs off next week for the last time.

The half-hour program, based in South Australia, started in March 2005 and since then has featured almost 250 guests from all walks of life. The program has delivered a startling insight into its guests’ backgrounds and personal and professional histories as well as highlighting some of the significant moments and people in their lives.

Some of the TV names to have featured in the program over the last six years have included Paul Mercurio (the show’s first interviewee), Max Gillies, Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, Lorraine Bayly, Paul Cronin, Simon Townsend, Clive Robertson, Toni Lamond, Jeff McMullen, Jeanne Little, Stuart Wagstaff, Noeline Brown, Graeme Blundell, Shane Bourne, Bill Collins, Denise Drysdale, Patricia Lovell, Barry Crocker, John Blackman, Hazel Phillips, Wendy Hughes, Todd McKenney, Googie Withers, John McCallum, John Clarke, Lorrae Desmond, Rex Hunt, Posie Graeme-Evans, Tina Arena, John Wood, Anne Deveson, Garry McDonald, Richard Roxburgh, Mark Holden, Ray Martin and Kerry Armstrong.

The final Talking Heads features environmentalist David Suzuki.

Talking Heads – final episode. Monday 29 November, 6.30pm. ABC1

Kerry Armstrong on Talking Heads

Coming up next month in ABC’s weekly interview series Talking Heads, host Peter Thompson talks to one of Australia’s most well known actresses, Kerry Armstrong.

Armstrong was still a schoolgirl when she got her first break in TV in an ABC series, Marion, in 1974, followed by a stint as a weather presenter for GTV9, Melbourne.  Her acting career then took off in 1979 with the key role of wrongfully-jailed inmate Lynn Warner (pictured) in the popular series Prisoner.

Her early acting career also included roles in The Sullivans and Skyways followed by another stint as a TV presenter, co-hosting a magazine program, Together Tonight, with Greg Evans for Melbourne’s ATV10 in 1981.  Armstrong then went to the US, where she made a guest appearance in Murder She Wrote and landed a role in the mega-soap Dynasty.

Returning to Australia in the late 1980s after the death of her grandmother, Armstrong featured in the telemovie A Long Way From Home and ABC dramas Police Rescue and Come In Spinner, and joined the cast of comedy series All Together Now.

For three years she played the role of Heather Jelly in ABC’s top-rating Seachange and is currently working on a third series of Bed Of Roses.

After thirty years in a career that has also included movie roles and winning AFI and TV Week Logie awards, Armstrong concedes that she is re-thinking her future as an actor.  “It feels like I’m almost all done,” she says.

Talking Heads with guest Kerry Armstrong.  Monday 15 November, 6.30pm. ABC1

Source: IMDB, Wikipedia

Ray Martin on Talking Heads

Ray Martin makes a return to the 6.30pm timeslot in a couple of weeks – but it’s not on A Current Affair, the show that he hosted for many years, but rather as a guest on ABC’s Talking Heads.

Martin talks candidly to host Peter Thompson about his early childhood life – a life of poverty and upheaval as he and his mother were on the run from a drunken, violent father.

Although the teenage Martin had dreams of playing cricket for Australia or becoming a history teacher, his life took a different turn when he got a job at the ABC in Western Australia in 1968 and became its New York correspondent in 1969:

“I love history and I devour it now. I just can’t get enough of it but I also want to see history being made rather than report on the way it used to be 200 years ago...  I think journalism allowed me to go to places and see history being made.”

For ten years Martin had a life of relative anonymity as the New York foreign correspondent for the ABC but his profile suddenly became a lot more public when he became one of the founding members of the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes (pictured) when it launched in 1979. 

Six years of travelling the world for 60 Minutes then led to a more stable life when he took over from Mike Walsh as host of Nine’s midday timeslot in 1985.  Midday With Ray Martin was a ratings hit for the normally-quiet lunchtime slot and scored Martin his first TV Week Gold Logie in 1987.  He would go on to win another four Gold Logies during the ‘90s.

In 1994, Martin made the move back to prime-time as host of A Current Affair, a position that he held for five years and then returned in 2003 for a few more.

In almost thirty years of service to the Nine Network, Martin also became the network’s special events host – including Carols By Candlelight, federal and state elections, prime-time interview specials, including the last public interview with legendary cricketer Don Bradman, TV Week Logie Awards presentations and the Australian bi-centennial special, Australia Live.

Martin has been married to wife Dianne for over 40 years and they have two children.

“I can’t believe this fortunate life I’ve had,” he says. 

Talking Heads with guest Ray Martin. Monday 16 August, 6.30pm. ABC1

ABC News 24 programming unveiled

The initial program schedule for ABC’s news channel, ABC News 24, has been unveiled just a few days before the channel’s launch.

The new channel, broadcasting on high-definition channel 24, kicks off at 7.30pm AEST this Thursday. The launch special will air in simulcast with ABC1 at 7.30pm (local time).

The prime-time schedule for the first five days of ABC News 24 looks like this (all times in AEST):

Thursday 22:
7.30pm ABC News 24 Launch: ABC News Special (repeated 12.05am Friday 23 June on ABC24), 8.30 The Drum. A spin-off from ABC’s news opinion website The Drum, 9pm The World. International news, 10pm ABC News, 10.30 Newsline With Jim Middleton (from the Australia Network), 11pm ABC News, 11.28 One Plus One

Friday 23:
6pm ABC News, 6.05 The Drum, 6.45 The Quarters, 7pm ABC News, 7.32 One Plus One (rpt), 8pm ABC News, 8.32 Australian Story (rpt), 9pm The World, 10pm Four Corners (rpt), 10.46 Media Watch (rpt), 11pm ABC News, 11.30 Foreign Correspondent (rpt)

Saturday 24:
6pm ABC News, 6.32 Australian Story (rpt), 7pm ABC News, 7.32 7.30 Select (rpt), 8pm Documentary: Terror In The Skies, 8.54 The 7.30 Report (rpt), 9pm The World,
9.32 Foreign Correspondent (rpt), 10pm ABC News, 10.32 Dynasties (rpt), 11pm ABC News, 11.32 Message Stick (rpt)

Sunday 25:
6pm ABC News, 6.32 Foreign Correspondent (rpt), 7pm ABC News, 7.32 One Plus One (rpt), 8.02 Insiders (rpt), 9.02 The World, 9.33 Asia Pacific Focus (rpt), 10pm ABC News, 10.32 7.30 Select (rpt), 11pm ABC News, 11.32 Family Fortunes (rpt). (Note: The Sunday schedule is now likely to be affected by live coverage of the federal election debate, scheduled for 6.30pm)

Monday 26:
6pm ABC News, 6.05 The Drum, 6.45 The Quarters, 7pm ABC News, 7.32 Catalyst (rpt), 8pm ABC News, 8.32 Lateline Business, 9pm The World, 10pm ABC News, 10.30 Newsline, 11pm ABC News, 11.28 The 7.30 Report (rpt)

Two-minute news updates either on the hour or on the half-hour feature throughout the day and evening.

Mornings will include ABC News Breakfast (simulcast with ABC2 in EST states) and overnights will include news and current affairs programming from BBC.

ABC News 24 will also include time-shifted schedules for regular ABC programs including Midday Report, Landline, Stateline, At The Movies, Talking Heads, Message Stick, Compass and Q&A.

More detailed program listings are online at Yahoo7 and YourTV, while complete guides for the first week of ABC News 24 can be downloaded from TV Tonight and What’s On The Tube.

Mark Holden on Talking Heads

Mark Holden bailed out of his university studies in the 1970s to become a pop star and soapie star – collecting three TV Week Logie awards on the way, including Best New Talent in 1977.  Then he was a 1980s songwriter and record producer – with a brief TV hosting gig on the ill-fated The Love Game (an attempt to rip-off the success of Perfect Match) – before being reinvented as a judge on Network Ten’s Australian Idol and The X Factor and occasional radio presenter.

Since being told his services were no longer required on Australian Idol, Mark Holden has reinvented himself again – this time as a barrister 38 years after starting his law degree – and is an upcoming guest on ABC’s weekly interview program, Talking Heads with Peter Thompson.

Talking Heads with guest Mark Holden.  Monday 3 May, 6.30pm.  ABC1 (and later available on ABC iView)

Talking Alvin

In over 30 years in showbusiness, Graeme Blundell has authored books (including biographies of Graham Kennedy and artist Brett Whiteley) and worked on both sides of the camera and the stage – and despite appearing in countless television and film productions, he is most likely to be best remembered for his role as the ‘70s reluctant sex symbol Alvin Purple.

Alvin Purple, made in 1973, was Australia’s first R-rated movie production after the adults-only classification was first allowed in 1971.  A sequel, Alvin Purple Rides Again, followed in 1974.

In 1976, Alvin Purple returned with a 13-part TV series spin-off on ABC, and later re-run on the Seven Network.  The series featured a supporting cast including Judy Lynne, Jacki Weaver, Liz Harris, Noeline Brown, Chris Haywood, Syd Heylen, Dawn Lake, Chantal Contouri, John Ewart, Belinda Giblin and Judy Morris.

Later this month, Blundell is Peter Thompson’s guest on ABC’s weekly interview program Talking Heads where he discusses just how it feels to not be able to shake off the Alvin Purple persona.

Talking Heads.  Monday 29 June 6.30pm.  ABC1.  Repeated Tuesday 30 June 5.00pm, ABC2.