1979: November 17-23

Mum’s the word for Skyways’ Kelly
Joanne Samuel caused a stir when, unmarried, she was written out of the ABC series Certain Women to have a baby.  These days, even with movie roles in Mad Max and Alison’s Birthday and an ongoing role in the Seven Network’s Skyways, Samuel never regrets being a single parent to 4-year-old daughter Emma, though she does have the help of a nanny:  “People may have some strange ideas about me not being married, but that is their business.  My friends and the people I work with don’t think it out of the ordinary.  I believe you should have children when you are young and can fully enjoy being with them.”  Samuel (pictured, with co-star Ken James) looks forward to expanding her movie career as well as television, but at the moment is happy as airport kiosk girl Kelly in Skyways:  “She is a nice and nice girls are hard to play unless you have a deeply written character.  Kelly hasn’t, and I just have to play her straight.  She is not my type of girl.  I reckon she is a bit of a dag, but I’m happy playing her.  As for Simon (Ken James), I wouldn’t take all the foolishness from him.  If he was a friend I might try to help him out, but I certainly wouldn’t take all that from a boyfriend.  I’d give him a boot out the door very quickly!”

Blockbuster TV series planned
The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is about to embark on two of the most ambitious and expensive TV series ever to be produced in Australia.  The new series will be based on two Australian novels – Sara Dane, by Catherine Gaskin, and The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony, by Henry Handel Richardson.  Sara Dane, to go into production next year, has a budget of $1.2 million and has received financial assistance from the 0-10 Network and the US-based Metromedia Producers.  The film rights to The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony were bought by MGM as far back as 1946, but with the film never made the SAFC managed to score the rights.  Further production details for The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony have yet to be announced.

Lane man goes
Peter Faiman, director and producer for GTV9 on shows including The Don Lane Show, will move to Sydney next year but remains associated with the Nine Network.  This is despite reports that Faiman had received a generous offer to join Rupert Murdoch’s TEN10 in Sydney.  Faiman’s move to Sydney will allow him to concentrate on production and to give him a new start after 16 years producing variety shows from Melbourne.

George in the jug!
Actor George Mallaby (pictured), formerly of Homicide, The Box and Cop Shop, is joining the cast of Prisoner.  Mallaby will play a social worker, Paul Reid, in the 0-10 Network series and is currently signed on for thirteen weeks.  “After Cop Shop I didn’t intend signing any long-term contracts in series.  I’ve signed to Prisoner for 13 weeks and if the pressures build up like they have in the past, that will be the end of it.  But if the same pressures aren’t there, I could well make the role an ongoing thing.  I shall also be writing for Prisoner, which is good, because I have always enjoyed scriptwriting and it was something I had to curtail while doing Cop Shop,” he told TV Times.

The fall and rise of Johnny Lo Piccolo
In the late 1960s, an 11-year-old piano accordion player called Johnny Lo Piccolo was a hit act on the TV variety shows at the time.  And now, as John St Peeters (pictured), he is still a much sought-after TV performer, though the piano accordion was put away long ago.  Since returning to Australia, after some years in Canada where he launched a pop career with 23 singles released, St Peeters has formed a cabaret act, John St Peeters and the Sharelles, and is a regular performer on shows including Countdown.  His songs are currently on the charts in Spain and South Africa, and his latest song, You, You’re The One, will be Australia’s entry in the upcoming Music Expo in Miami.  Also, as a frequent guest host on Countdown, St Peeters is showing potential that could earn him a TV hosting job.  As well as naming Elvis Presley as an inspiration when he was younger, St Peeters was also inspired by Graham Kennedy, particularly as he appeared many times on Kennedy’s In Melbourne Tonight.  “I still see Graham now and then.  I went to the premiere of his movie The Odd Angry Shot and spoke to him afterwards.  He has given me a lot of encouragement,” he told TV Times.

Briefly…
Frank Wilson (pictured), now back in Melbourne for the stage show Travelling North, has spoken out about his sacking four years ago from hosting GTV9’s New Faces talent show:  “In the last few years I wasn’t doing enough.  I was only doing that show and I was going stale.”

The cast of The Sullivans are expected to tour the United States in the new year in a push to sell the show to the big networks there.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”As a fan of the good, old movies, I would like to say how disappointed I was to have missed The Naked Jungle recently because it was put on so late at night.  On this particular night we had: 7.30 Cop Shop, 8.30 Quincy, 9.30 Police Woman, 10.30 The Naked Jungle.  Three cop shows in a row were completely unnecessary, not to mention boring.  Being a working person, I could not wait up any longer and consequently had to miss a great movie.” A. Ribaudo, WA.

“We have just watched the final episode of Starsky And Hutch and would like to thank QTQ9, Brisbane, for screening it over the past four-and-a-half years.  We would also like to thank them for starting repeats again in November.  We are sure a lot of people will appreciate that.  It’s sad to see the end of a great series, but we hope it means we’ll be seeing a lot more of its stars, David Saul and Paul Michael Glaser, as they are very talented actors.” J & L Clifford, QLD.

What’s On (November 17-23):
ABC’s weekend is dominated by the Dunhill Australian Open Golf Championship with live coverage on Saturday from 11.00am to 5.35pm, and Sunday from 11.00am to 6.00pm.  GTV9 presents cricket with the McDonald’s Cup on Sunday and Wednesday.

HSV7 presents a one-hour special, The Best Of Norman Gunston, on Saturday night.

GTV9 crosses to Lake Karinyup Country Club for live coverage of the WA Open Golf Championship, screening Thursday and Friday from 4.30pm to 6.00pm and then from 7.30pm to 8.30pm.

The Don Lane Show presents its final episode for 1979.

Sunday night movies: Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (HSV7), The Late Show (ATV0).  No movie on GTV9 due to cricket telecasts up to 10.30pm.  ABC presents Banana Bender, the final in its series of Australian plays, starring Maurie Fields, John Hargreaves and Lyndel Rowe. 

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 17 November 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: November 10-16

ABC’s biggest golf coverage
Players from five continents – Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America – will compete in this year’s Dunhill Australian Open, to be telecast on ABC this week in its largest golf coverage ever undertaken.  More than $8 million of outside broadcast equipment will be used at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Course.  ABC’s coverage will add up to 26 hours over four days, including live telecasts and evening highlights packages.  More than 50 technical personnel from interstate will join the 100-strong Melbourne ABC crew for the event.  ABC’s two Melbourne-based outside broadcast vans will be joined by outside broadcast vans brought in from Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart.  There will also be a team based at ABC’s Ripponlea studios in Melbourne responsible for editing the daily coverage into highlights packages for evening screenings.  ABC’s commentary team will be headed by Graham Dawson joined by Peter Thomson (pictured, a five-time winner of the British Open who will be competing in the Australian Open and joining the commentary team when he’s finished his round), Clive Clark and Peter Alliss.

Caroline scores Sullivans role
Stage actress Caroline Gillmer (pictured) has scored a TV break with a role in The Sullivans.  Gillmer, recently a star in John Dietrich and John O’May’s productions of Gershwin and The ‘20s And All That Jazz, will play a Dutch woman in a storyline based in Holland.  However, her scenes will all be taped in the studio in Australia despite series regulars Steven Tandy, Norman Yemm and Olivia Hamnett currently taping scenes on location in Holland.  Gillmer’s character will be first seen on screen in the new year.

Looking for a winner
Judges on ABC’s The Inventors have had a tough time deciding on six finalists from the 64 entries featured on the show this year.  Executive producer Beverley Gledhill said that the standard for this year’s series has been the highest in the show’s ten-year run:  “Normally we are scratching around to get the sixth finalist.  But this year I’m afraid some people will miss out, whereas three years ago they would have definitely made the final.”  Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen will present the Inventor of the Year award, including a cheque for $3500, in the show’s series final this week.  The winner will then go on to compete at the International Exhibition of Inventors in Geneva.

Being bad has been good for Vic Gordon
Many actors might be concerned at being cast as a “drunk” on successive occasions, but Vic Gordon (pictured) is very grateful for the work that it is bringing in.  The veteran actor has been cast twice in recent times as an amusing drunk in the Seven Network drama Cop Shop, but for Gordon it marks a turning point in his career as he tries to shake off the image of Sgt. Kennedy, the role he played for several years in Matlock Police.  “People don’t realise that before I became a TV copper I worked in every series under the sun, playing all sorts of different people.  Now at last some of them are starting to remember, and I’m getting some beautiful little cameo roles.”  On the home front, Gordon, 69, is about to celebrate five years’ marriage to artists’ agent Jean Lochhead.  The marriage, Gordon’s second after his first wife, Josie, died eight years ago, has also made Gordon the stepfather to rising star, Jean’s daughter Jacqui, who has won awards for her role in the ABC play Sally Go Round The Moon.

Briefly…
ABC’s rural affairs program, Countrywide, will present a special report on Japan’s booming farming industry and its influence on the Australian economy.  Host Neil Inall recent spent a month in Japan to research and put together the special report.

Anne Pendlebury, recently the lead actress in the ABC series Twenty Good Years, has been cast for the upcoming mini-series, Water Under The Bridge, being produced for the 0-10 Network.

Actor Ray Barrett has said he would be delighted to play a leading role in the upcoming ABC series Sporting Chance, being written by friend Peter Yeldham.  “I haven’t seen a script – or been made a firm offer – but from what Peter told me it sounds a wonderful idea.  He told me he had written something for me.  I would say yes right away on the strength of Peter’s writing it,” he told TV Times.   Barrett also has a role coming up in another ABC series, The Timeless Land, and presents a weekly documentary series in Brisbane on TVQ0.

ABC Show Band leader Brian May has just returned from Hollywood where he has been writing the music score for the movie The Blue Lagoon.  May is also to soon start work on a new series of The Saturday Show for ABC.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
”Congratulations to TVQ0, Brisbane, for showing some of the Kung Fu series, starring David Carradine.  At last a chance to see that kung fu is more mental mastery than an excuse for multiple mayhem.” R. Brown, QLD.

“I would be very interested to know why it is the exception – rather than the rule – in Queensland for a TV program to start on time.  As most networks have national affiliations, and it is rare for this fault to occur interstate, the reason for it is hard to understand.” L. Mackay, QLD.

“Congratulations to ABC for their coverage of the West End (Gawler) horse trials and also the coverage of the Australian evening championships earlier in the year.” V. Reynolds, VIC.]

“I’m fully aware of the furore about not knocking Australia, but let’s be realistic.  The Australian TV industry has gone backwards in the sense of fine quality.  Not many people know, unfortunately, how to distinguish rubbishy Australian shows from the good ones – which only ABC screens.  In the rubbish category are ostentatious programs such as Skyways, The Restless Years and Prisoner, which are pretty pathetic.  The plots are rhetorical, the stories lack realism, the acting, scripts and dialogue are poor.  What puzzles me is that these programs seem to be picking up good ratings – which is probably the only reason they were created.” P. Masci, QLD.

What’s On (November 10-16):
HSV7 crosses live to Adelaide on Saturday morning for the annual John Martin’s Christmas Pageant, with commentary by Adelaide personalities Pam Tamblyn and Sandy Roberts.

ATV0’s coverage of the Melbourne Cup Carnival concludes on Saturday with George Adams Day, live from Flemington, hosted by Phil Gibbs and Michael Schildberger.

Cricket has started on GTV9 for the summer with South Australia versus Western Australia in the McDonald’s Cup, with all-day coverage on Saturday and Sunday.  Richie Benaud, Fred Trueman and David Colley lead the coverage.

Sunday is Remembrance Day, and ABC and HSV7 both have 2 minutes’ silence scheduled for 11.00am.  ABC also features a one-hour documentary, Armistice And After, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of the Great War.

On Monday night, ATV0 presents a two-hour special, Thanks For The Memory, looking back at the news, people and events that have featured throughout the 1970s.  Hosted by Bruce Mansfield and Peter Hanrahan.

Comedy specials on GTV9 during the week include a repeat of The Paul Hogan Show, featuring the sketch This Is Your Strife with Roger Simpleton, and the second of a series of specials featuring Ronnie Corbett in Australia.

GTV9’s Family Feud (with Tony Barber, pictured), The Young Doctors and The Sullivans all come to a close for the year, with The Sullvans ending the year with a special one-hour episode on Friday night.  GTV9’s daytime US soaps All My Children, Days Of Our Lives, The Young And The Restless, Search For Tomorrow and General Hospital also come to a close for the year on Friday.

Queenslander Jodie Day is representing Australia in Miss World 1979, being telecast on GTV9 in a delayed telecast from Royal Albert Hall, London.

ABC’s telecast of the Dunhill Australian Open Golf Championship starts on Thursday afternoon, with five hours live from the Metropolitan Course, Melbourne, with an hour of highlights at 10.45pm.  Coverage continues on Friday with another five hours in the afternoon, and highlights from 10.50pm.

Sunday night movies: Shout At The Devil (HSV7), Shampoo (GTV9) and Mr Majestyk (ATV0).  ABC presents The Rock Pool, the next in the series of Australian plays, starring Ed Deveraux, Lyn James and Bunney Brooke.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 10 November 1979.  ABC/ACP

Rove calls it a day

In opening last night’s season finale for Rove, host Rove McManus announced that he is winding up the show after ten years on air:

“It was a difficult call to make but after ten years it felt like time to step away from the show and take a break to properly reflect on what I want to do next as a performer.

“The relationship with David Mott (chief programming officer) and the team at Ten has given us the space to make a show that we are extremely proud of over the last ten years. It is more opportunity than most will ever get.  I thank them for their support and hope they have enjoyed the ride as much as I have.”

After hosting a talk show, The Loft, on Melbourne’s Channel 31, McManus made his network television debut in 1999, hosting a late-night comedy show on the Nine Network, Rove, with an ensemble cast of Peter Helliar, Corrine Grant and Dave Callan.  Nine declined to extend the show after its initial ten-week run and almost a year later Network Ten had announced it was taking on the show and moving it into prime time.

The slightly re-titled Rove Live initially appeared on Monday nights before settling into Tuesdays at 9.30pm.  The show filled a void for live light entertainment on TV, a gap noticeable since the demise of Hey Hey It’s Saturday in 1999.

Rove Live continued until late-2006, when McManus’ wife Belinda Emmett passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer.  McManus then took a six-month break from television, even contemplating whether or not to return.  But in April 2007 he did return the show, back to its original title Rove, and moved to the competitive Sunday 8.30pm timeslot.  Although the timeslot change initially saw an improvement in the show’s ratings, Rove did eventually suffer from an ever-changing start time, often due to the varying end times for shows like Big Brother and Australian Idol.

The success of Rove led to McManus’ company Roving Enterprises producing a number of other programs for Network Ten – Skithouse, Before The Game, Hamish And Andy specials, Real Stories, ARIA Awards, The 7PM Project and an Australian adaptation of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Rove has picked up three TV Week Gold Logies and has also co-hosted the Logie Awards.  He also appeared as a commentator on The Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras, guest hosted Good Morning Australia, co-hosted the 2005 telethon for the Asia Tsunami Relief in a unique joint telecast between networks Seven, Nine and Ten, and co-hosted Network Ten’s 40th anniversary special, Seriously 40, with Bert Newton.

McManus has also presented Rove from the US and also appeared as a guest on NBC’s The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

Network Ten has announced that its relationship with Roving Enterprises will continue into 2010 with The 7PM Project and Before The Game.

Source: The Age, Rove Daily

1979: November 3-9

Sammys golden night out
The fourth annual Australian TV and Film Awards, the Sammys, have been presented at Sydney’s Seymour Centre.  Winning the Gold Sammy awards, for excellence in performance during the year, were daytime TV host Mike Walsh and singer and TV presenter Marcia Hines.  For Walsh it is his second Gold Sammy and Hines also won a Sammy for Best Variety Performer.

But the biggest hit of the night was the mini-series Against The Wind, taking out four awards including Best Drama Series, Best Actor in a TV series (Gerard Kennedy) and Best Actress in a TV Series (Kerry McGuire).

1979 Sammy Awards TV category winners Gold (male): Mike Walsh Gold (female): Marcia Hines Chips Rafferty Memorial Award: Stanley Hawes Best Actor in a Single TV Performance: John Hargreaves (A Good Thing Going) Best Actress in a Single TV Performance: Belinda Giblin (Say You Want Me) Best Actor in a TV Series: Gerard Kennedy (Against The Wind) Best Actress in a TV Series: Kerry McGuire (Against The Wind) Best Variety Performer: Marcia Hines Best Drama Series: Against The Wind Best Comedy Program: Neutral Ground (Tickled Pink) Best TV Play: The Plumber Best Variety Program: Hollywood (TV Follies) Best Documentary: The Last Tasmanians Best News Coverage: Pentridge Riot (GTV9 Melbourne) Best Current Affairs Program: 60 Minutes Best Sports Coverage: Australian Open Golf (Nine Network) Best Children’s Series: Top Mates Best Light Entertainment Series: Parkinson In Australia Best Art Direction: Quentin Hole (Ride On Stranger) Best Writer (TV Series): Peter Yeldham (Run From The Morning) Best Writer (TV Play): Peter Weir (The Plumber) Best Editing: Michael Balson (Mutiny On The Western Front) Best Costume Design: Clare Griffin (Against The Wind)

Trapping Lorraine was a piece of cake!
It was Lorraine Bayly’s sweet tooth that led her into being featured on the Seven Network’s This Is Your Life.  TV Times reporter Joanna Parsons and photographer David Murray were asked by the show to invite Bayly (pictured) to an interview while she was in Sydney attending the Sammy Awards.  The interview was to take place in a hotel restaurant where TIYL host Roger Climpson and camera crew would sneak into the restaurant via the kitchen and quietly set up at a table behind Bayly.  The maitre d’hotel would then present Bayly with flowers “sent by the gentleman sitting at the next table.”  Then Bayly would turn around to find Climpson to declare “Lorraine Bayly, This Is Your Life.”  But the plans for the mock interview almost went awry when Bayly suggested the interview be conducted in her hotel room.  It was a quick-thinking Parsons, knowing Bayly’s weakness for chocolate cake, who then responded, “but they have the most wonderful chocolate cake in the restaurant.  Wouldn’t you like to try it?”  Bayly fell for it and the set-up continued as planned.  Bayly then responded, “Do you mean the interview wasn’t really…?”  Parsons assured her that it was still a genuine interview, to be published soon in TV Times.

They’re off!
In the lead-up to the Melbourne Cup, TV Times talks to four of Australia’s top race callers about the ‘race that stops a nation.’  ATV0 race caller Clem Dimsey (pictured) admitted that when he first called the Melbourne Cup for the 0-10 Network last year, he lost a stone in weight due to the tension.  Although Dimsey has called the Melbourne Cup race on a number of prior occasions, last year was the first as part of a nationwide coverage of the race.  Dimsey’s tip for the Melbourne Cup is a New Zealand horse, Kankama.  ABC race caller Joe Brown will notch up a milestone when he calls the Melbourne Cup for the 32nd time, equalling the record set by the late Ken Howard.  “It’s the highlight of the working year,” he says.  Brown has tipped Dulcify for the Melbourne Cup.  Radio 3UZ caller John Russell, who will also call the race for the Macquarie Radio Network and the Nine Network, has called the Melbourne Cup only twice before now but had been the understudy for veteran caller Bert Bryant for 23 years.  Russell is reluctant to give a tip for the big race as he is involved in various phantom race calls involving big prizes, though he does name Dulcify, Kankama and Our Big Gamble as good chances.  The Seven Network and radio 3DB’s Bill Collins will be calling the Melbourne Cup for the 26th time this year, but still admits to getting nerves before the race.  “I still remember the nerves before I called my first cup and the drama still gets to me these days.  The build-up is impossible to resist,” he says.  Collins, nicknamed ‘The Accurate One’, was reluctant to give a cup tip too far in advance but did feel that Dulcify and Double Century should do well.

Briefly…
Many of the staff from Riverside were present for the baptism of Cop Shop’s latest addition, Prudence Jane Marion Benjamin, the daughter of Claire (Louise Philip, pictured) and Tony Benjamin (Greg Ross).  Prudence, played by a baby boy named Zigi Barrett, took to the filming calmly with only a small cry of protest towards the end of filming.  The episode airs this week in Sydney and Melbourne, next week in Brisbane and later in Adelaide.

Three former TV cops, George Mallaby, Leonard Teale and Warwick Randall, have recorded safety messages for Melbourne radio station 3MP.

The Seven Network is negotiating to buy the TV rights to the film Cathy’s Child, the film which won three awards at the recent Sammys.  However, it will be some time before the film appears on TV as it has still yet to be released in cinemas in Perth and many country areas.

ATV0 newsreader Bruce Mansfield likes to dress well.  His current favourite tie is a classy number with a rose motif.  Anyone can buy a similar one, if prepared to pay $75.

Actress Penny Ramsey has made a return to work, after seven years as a full-time housewife and mother of two, as the wife of deputy governor Jim Fletcher (Gerard Maguire) in Prisoner.  The daughter of actress Lois Ramsey has had a varied career, including appearing on The Mavis Bramston Show as a teenager in the ‘60s, hosting a children’s show and appearing in the stage musical Hair.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”After more than 10 years of journalists using the word “charisma” I have a vague notion of what it means.  Could you ask ABC journalists in Canberra if I have to wait as long to crack on to ‘hiatus’?” W. Murphy, NSW.

“I would like to express my extreme disappointment at the way ABC deprived us of the presentation of the awards at both the State of Origin Australian Rules carnival and the 1979 grand final in Western Australia.  On 6 and 8 October, ABC were good enough to televise the State of Origin matches.  This included something like nine hours of top-class football, and surely, if this was possible an extra half-hour at the conclusion was possible.  When they returned to the studio it was only to show an absolutely pathetic cartoon, The White Seal, or, on the weekend of the WA grand final, a repeat of Countdown.  Remember that country viewers are, unfortunately, stuck with only this one annoying channel.” L. Beaton, WA.

“Lately, I don’t think Prisoner has had its usual quick humour and zest.  This seems to have come about only since the character of Noelene Bourke (Jude Kuring) left the series.  Although she was unpopular, I believe she put the finishing touches to the show.  She and her daughter, Leanne (Tracey-Jo Riley), should be reintroduced.  Having a youngster in the program is a good idea, as it keeps us in contact with the difficulties of the young.” D. Harvey, NSW.

What’s On (November 3-9):
Weekend sport includes the NSW Open Championship Golf, from The Lakes in Sydney, live on ABC.  ATV0’s coverage of the Melbourne Cup Carnival kicks off on Saturday with Michael Williamson hosting the Derby Day Sportsman’s Breakfast, followed by Phil Gibbs and Clem Dimsey’s preview of the Derby Day races and then ATV0 crosses to Flemington for five hours of live coverage of all the day’s races.

GTV9 presents the first in a series of Australian-made specials featuring Ronnie Corbett, of The Two Ronnies.  The special features guest stars Pamela Gibbons, Chris Kirby and June Bronhill.

ATV0’s Melbourne Cup coverage starts with a half-hour special on Monday night followed by a 90-minute preview on Tuesday morning.  At midday, ATV0 crosses to Flemington for five hours coverage of all the day’s races for Melbourne Cup Day.  Phil Gibbs and Michael Schilberger head the coverage, with Annette Allison providing interviews with special guests during the day.  Clem Dimsey calls the day’s races.

Motoring expert Peter Wherrett, host of popular shows Torque and Marque, returns to TV to present a 40-minute special, Torque About A Crisis, on ABC.  Wherrett examines the Federal Government’s campaign to educate drivers about improving the efficiency of their vehicles with proper treatment and improved driving style.

ATV0 presents a repeat of the documentary, The Last Tasmanian, a recent winner at the Sammy Awards.

GTV9’s Friday night movies is ABBA The Movie, the 1977 production featuring the story of a radio disc jockey (played by Robert Hughes) following the pop group on their Australian tour in order to get an interview with them.  The movie also features Tom Oliver, formerly of Number 96 fame.

Sunday night movies: The Hindenburg (HSV7), Nightmare In Badham County (GTV9), Holocaust 2000 (ATV0).  ABC presents the latest in its series of Australian plays, Money In The Bank, starring Tom Richards (Matlock Police), Barbara Stephens and Max Meldrum.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 3 November 1979.  ABC/ACP

Community TV gets a ticket to digital!

It has finally happened – the Government has taken some positive action in allowing the Community TV sector a transition to digital!

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy has announced that the Government will make available temporary capacity to allow Community TV channels the chance to broadcast on the digital platform.

The Government will also commit $2.6 million to aid the Community TV broadcasters in the transition. 

This is on the back of various handouts and concessions, including free broadcast spectrum, given to the national and commercial broadcasters since the transition to digital television began almost a decade ago.  It is also following the Government’s promise to assist the community radio sector in its transition to digital broadcasting.

The Senator also took the opportunity to take a political stab at the former Howard Government:

“Unlike the previous government, the Rudd Government greatly values the role of community television. It provides hundreds of hours of truly local content every month, and reaches more than a million viewers each week.”

Despite this it has still taken the Rudd Government two years, a number of promises and a lack of budget and public support for Community TV, coupled with a fairly consistent campaign by the Australian Community Television Alliance (representing TVS Sydney, C31 Melbourne, QCTV Brisbane, C31 Adelaide and a planned channel for Perth), to come to what is really only promised as a temporary solution.

The relevant channels will be assigned broadcast spectrum previously set aside for data-casting services which have, until now, yet to be utilised.

The Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide channels will now be able to simulcast in both analogue and digital in the lead-up to the switch-off of analogue services, scheduled for completion by 31 December 2013.

The new channel in Perth, which will replace the now-defunct Access 31, will operate from 2010 on a digital-only basis.  In the latest government Digital Tracker survey, Perth is the capital city with the second highest rate of conversion to digital TV, with 60 per cent of households now converted to digital.  (Darwin is the highest with 68 per cent)

Source: DBCDE, TVS

ABC3: The first two days

ABC’s new children’s channel ABC3 has issued its first program guide.

The new digital channel starts with a one-hour Countdown To 3 at 5pm on Friday 4 December on ABC1, including performances by Cassie Davis, Short Stack and ABC3’s CJ the DJ and an appearance by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who will launch the new channel.

Then at 6.00pm, ABC3 starts in earnest with a line-up including new Australian-made programs Prank Patrol, CJ The DJ, My Place and Rush TV:

Friday 4: 6pm Prank Patrol, 6.30 CJ The DJ, 6.55 News On 3, 7.05 Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab, 7.35 Jeopardy, 8pm My Place, 8.30 Heartbreak High, 9pm Close.

Saturday 5: 6am Clash of The Titans: Chaos 101, 6.20 Dragon Booster, 6.45 Skyland, 7.10 Wolverine And The X Men, 7.35 Countdown To 3 (Rpt), 8.35 Prank Patrol, 9am Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab, 9.30 Best Of Rollercoaster, 10.30 Spliced, 10.55 Grossology (2 episodes), 11.45 Jeopardy (5 episodes), 1.55pm Old Tom, 2.10 Flipper And Lopaka, 2.35 Yakkity Yak, 3pm Worst Best Friends, 3.30 Countdown To 3 (Rpt), 4.30 Barney’s Barrier Reef, 5pm Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab, 5.30 Super Hero Squad, 5.55 Shaun The Sheep, 6.05 Jibber Jabber, 6.20 CJ The DJ, 6.30 Prank Patrol, 7pm Rush TV, 7.30 Iron Man (4 episodes), 9pm Close.

ABC3 will broadcast each day from 6am to 9pm.

From Monday 7 December, News On 3 will air at 4.25pm and 6.55pm weeknights.

Website: ABC3

The race that stopped the station

Viewers will tomorrow (Tuesday) take for granted that many major sporting events, such as the Melbourne Cup, will be televised in some form. 

However, this wasn’t always the case.  Even though television flickered on for the first time in Australia in 1956, it would be another 22 years before Melbourne television viewers could see live-to-air the “race that stops a nation.”

Flashback to fifty years ago, Melbourne Cup Day, 3 November 1959.  Live outside broadcasts were certainly possible but live coverage of events like the Melbourne Cup were kept off local television, presumably not to affect attendances at the venues.  But Melbourne’s GTV9 did not let that deter them and they were determined to bring the result of the big race to viewers as soon as they could.

TV Times reported that GTV9 used new Polaroid technology to bring viewers a photo of the winning horse crossing the finish line a mere 2 minutes and 54 seconds after it occurred – a far cry from the half-hour it took to achieve the same feat the year before.

GTV9 newsman Peter Maund described the process:

“We filmed the whole race on closed circuit TV, which was being videotaped in the studios, to be shown later.  Cameraman Mike Browning took a picture with the Polaroid camera as the finish appeared on a monitor set.  He mounted it on a card and we interrupted another program to flash it on the screen.”

HSV7 screened film of the Melbourne Cup race at 6.00pm and then, after the news, at 6.45pm screened Melbourne Cup Cavalcade, a documentary showing Cup runners in the mounting enclosure, full running of the race, presentation of the Cup and other highlights.  The 15-minute program was repeated late that night.  ABV2 had a Melbourne Cup special edition of its regular program Sports Page at 8.30pm. 

Later that night a stroke of luck meant that the winning jockey, Pat Glennon, was able to appear in the studio on GTV9’s In Melbourne Tonight to receive the traditional gold-mounted riding whip and then went to the studios of HSV7’s Bandwagon to be presented with a miniature Melbourne Cup.  His original plan was “win or lose” to fly back to Adelaide as soon as the race was over as he’d promised to be home for his son’s eighth birthday.  It was a disappointment for GTV9’s promotions executive Eric Welch who had hoped to have the winning jockey on In Melbourne Tonight that night.

However, against 100-to-1 odds, his horse Macdougal won the race and his wife, thrilled at his second Cup win, had quickly boarded a plan from Adelaide to be with him.  The pilot was able to radio a message to Melbourne to be passed on to Glennon.  “I was just leaving for Essendon (Airport) when the message came through,” he said.  He was then able to do the late-night rounds of the two TV channels.

Melbourne viewers would continue to be denied live coverage of the Melbourne Cup race, although interstate viewers would eventually be allowed to watch it live. Even the advent of ATV0 in 1964, and the channel’s owner Reg Ansett having a love of horse racing, was not able to persuade any change despite the new channel pioneering live coverage of weekly race meetings from around Victoria.  On Melbourne Cup Day, 3 November 1964, ATV0 did devote five hours of programming to previews of the day’s event but was still precluded from covering the race itself.

Then in 1978 Ansett finally managed to score live coverage rights to the Melbourne Cup Carnival, incorporating four days of live coverage including Melbourne Cup Day.

ATV0 and its successor ATV10 maintained the annual coverage of the Carnival until 2001.  The Seven Network had taken over the rights to the Melbourne Cup from 2002.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 30 October 1959, 13 November 1959.

The 2009 Melbourne Cup Carnival: Melbourne Cup Day.  Tuesday 3 November, 10.00am AEDST.  Seven*

* HSV7 Melbourne.  Other areas/timezones, check local guides

Back to the first day at Summer Bay

The Seven Network’s new digital channel 7TWO has a couple of Aussie soap classics from the archives.

Starting tomorrow morning (Tuesday 3 November) at 9.30am, 7TWO presents the two-hour pilot of Home And Away. Produced during 1987, the pilot provides the background on foster family the Fletchers, their move from the city to the coastal town of Summer Bay and the introduction of the newest member of the family, Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson, pictured). The pilot first screened on Seven on Sunday 17 January 1988 and the regular half-hour episodes started the next night.

Then from Wednesday 7TWO kicks off its normal weekday routine with Sons And Daughters (featuring Pat McDonald and Kim Lewis, pictured) at 9.00am and then Home And Away The Early Years at 9.30am.

7TWO is now broadcasting on digital channel 72 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and regional Queensland. The channel will be extended to Darwin and Tasmania via Southern Cross Television from next month. Prime Television, covering regional NSW, Victoria and ACT, has yet to announce a timeframe for launching 7TWO in its coverage areas.

Young Talent Time headed for return?

The wave of nostalgia triggered by the recent return of Hey Hey It’s Saturday and the passing of Don Lane has sparked talk of the return of a family TV favourite.

Johnny Young, the host and producer of Young Talent Time and now back in his former home town of Perth as a breakfast announcer at radio 6IX, is reported to have been in discussion with the Ten Network about reviving YTT, more than two decades after it was taken off our screens.

A pop star and TV presenter in Perth, Young came to Melbourne in the late-‘60s and performed on and hosted local teenage shows such as Go!!  He formed Young Talent Time as a junior talent quest as well as a variety show with an ensemble cast of performers between the ages of 8 and 16.  The format was not entirely dissimilar to an earlier show, Brian And The Juniors, that had finished up in 1970.

Young Talent Time made its debut on 24 April 1971 on ATV0 in Melbourne, featuring Young as host and a cast of performers including Debra Byrne, Phillip Gould, Jane Scali, Jamie Redfern, Vikki Broughton and Rod Kirkham – some of which were already known to viewers of Brian And The Juniors.

Despite its low budget, the show was an immediate hit and gave the channel some relief from the usual Saturday evening battering by football replays on rival channels.  YTT also got an early ratings boost when Graham Kennedy made a guest appearance on the show shortly after its debut.

1972 saw Young Talent Time win a TV Week Logie award for Best Variety/Music Program.  The show won the same award again in 1974, 1975 and 1976. 

In 1982, after celebrating a decade on air, Young Talent Time won a special Logie award for sustained excellence in television.

Young Talent Time came to an end in 1988, having created a number of household names – including Jamie Redfern (who went on to tour the US after being ‘discovered’ by Liberace), Debra Byrne, Phillip Gould, Jane Scali, Sally Boyden, Karen Knowles, Tina Arena and Dannii Minogue.  The show also inspired a US-based spin-off, The New Generation.

Since its demise, there have been on-again off-again talks about reinventing Young Talent Time for a new generation.  A 2001 special, produced and presented by YTT cast member John Bowles, was well received by viewers and sparked more talk of a revival.

Hey Hey It’s Saturday, a long-time timeslot rival of YTT during the ‘80s, this year got a new lease of life after a Facebook-led campaign sparked two reunion specials on the Nine Network.  The ratings success and apparent public support for an ongoing series has seen negotiations for a possible Hey Hey It’s Saturday return again next year. 

With Young now reportedly heading negotiations for a return to YTT, the show is now also the subject of a Facebook campaign for a return.  The nostalgic appeal of the format plus the public’s leaning towards a return to family entertainment on television could see the show returned in some form.

Source: news.com.au
Reference: Australian Television Information Archive

50 years of BTQ7, ABQ2

This weekend marks yet another television station’s 50th anniversary.  Brisbane’s BTQ7 was launched on 1 November 1959.  It was Brisbane’s second TV channel, following QTQ9 that had launched in August of that year. 

Brisbane also didn’t have to wait long to get their third TV channel, as national broadcaster ABC opened its Brisbane channel, ABQ2, on 2 November 1959. 

Like QTQ9, BTQ7 was broadcasting from studios and transmission towers constructed up on Mount Coot-tha in Brisbane.  ABQ2 opted instead to have its studios in the suburb of Toowong but had its transmission towers at Mount Coot-tha.

Early personalities on BTQ7 included Brian Tait, children’s presenters Nancy Knudsen and Lester Foxcroft, women’s presenter Sybil Francis and newsreader Brian Cahill.

One of BTQ7’s earliest variety shows was The Late Show with Tait.  The program won the first TV Week Logie award for most popular program in Queensland.  In the early ‘60s, BTQ7 launched Theatre Royal, a show that took the vaudeville style of comedy onto television, featuring comedian and The Late Show star George Wallace Jnr and a team of performers including Eddie Edwards, Dick McCann, Jackie Ellison and a young actress by the name of Rowena Wallace (no relation to George).  Theatre Royal was immensely popular, screening every Friday night for six years, and was also shown interstate.  It won six TV Week Logie awards as Queensland’s most popular program.  The show ended after George Wallace suffered a stroke and died in 1968 at the age of 50, but his legacy continued as TV Week then initiated the George Wallace Logie for Best New Talent.

Also to come through BTQ7 in the ‘60s and ‘70s was Annette Allison, a performer on early variety and teenage shows before hosting her own daytime show, Annette.  She then went to Melbourne to ATV0 to read the news and co-host the morning show Everyday (later Good Morning Melbourne).  Dina Heslop was a host of the BTQ7’s children’s program Dina And Percy and was also a contributor to the national This Week Has Seven Days before becoming a producer for later shows like the Logie Award-winning Wombat.  Jacki MacDonald also had a stint at BTQ7 in the ‘70s, hosting her own show, Jacki’s People.  After Jacki left BTQ7, they then employed her sister, Fiona, to host a children’s program and was later a presenter on Wombat.

In the mid-‘70s, Reg Grundy produced a soap opera, Until Tomorrow, at the studios of BTQ7.  The series was a rare venture into daytime drama and screened nationally on the Seven Network, featuring Babette Stephens, Ron Cadee, former TV Week Gold Logie winner Hazel Phillips and a young Barry Otto.

Other programs to have come through BTQ7 over the years included  daytime show Bailey And The Birds, teenage shows National Top 40 and Teen Time, children’s shows Boris’ Breakfast Club and Seven’s Super Saturday, game show Family Feud and variety shows Top Of The Bill and Wak’s Works.

Of course, it would be remiss not to mention BTQ7’s landmark promotional jingle, ‘Love You Brisbane’, that was produced for the channel in the early ‘80s and was used by BTQ for several years.  Sung by popular local performer Kim Durant, the song was even released as a single and was a top-seller.  The jingle was later adapted to TVW7, as ‘Love You Perth’, and regional Queensland broadcaster Sunshine Television (now Seven Queensland) before BTQ7 and Seven Queensland reprised it a few years ago:

Newsreader Brian Cahill had two stints at BTQ7, he was the channel’s first newsreader when it launched in 1959 and, after a stint at QTQ9, was there again in the ‘70s.  During the ‘60s, Cahill was joined at the news desk by former ABQ2 newsreader Ron Brady.  Others to have presented news at BTQ have included Mike Higgins, Nev Roberts, Donna Meiklejohn, Janne Rayner, Ken Hose, Garry Wilkinson, Frank Warrick and present-day newsreaders Rod Young, Kay McGrath and Sharyn Ghidella.

As well as news, BTQ7 produced local current affairs with programs including Haydn Sargent’s Brisbane, State Affair, Carroll At Seven and magazine programs PM Magazine and The Great South East.

BTQ7 last week screened a special, Flashback – 50 Years Of Channel Seven, and tonight (Sunday) newsreader Brian Cahill makes a return to the Seven News desk to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his presenting the first news bulletin on opening night at BTQ.

And, by coincidence, BTQ7’s fiftieth anniversary coincides with a new era for the Seven Network as it launches its new digital channel 7TWO on the same day.

A lot of the material in this article, particularly related to the earlier years at BTQ7, is sourced by the book On-Air 25 Years Of TV In Queensland.  Compiled and edited by Christopher Beck. (1984)