Regional Victoria to go digital by May 2011

The conversion of analogue to digital television continues with the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy announcing that all analogue television services in regional Victoria will be switched off by 5 May 2011.

The switch-off will affect local transmissions of ABC, SBS, Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Ten in the regional markets of Ballarat/Western Victoria, Bendigo/Central Victoria, Shepparton/Goulburn Valley, Gippsland/La Trobe Valley and Albury/Upper Murray.  The Mildura/Sunraysia region has already made the transition to digital-only transmission.

In the latest Digital Tracker survey, covering the period April to June this year, approximately 76 per cent of households in the regional Victoria market (excluding Mildura) have converted to digital and 95 per cent of households are aware of the pending switchover from analogue.

In converting transmission infrastructure to digital-only transmission, some smaller transmission sites, including Bonnie Doon and Howqua, will be switching off analogue services later this year, while the areas of Hopetoun, Lorne, Jeeralang/Yinnar South and Boolarra will switch off analogue in February 2011.

Households that will not be able to receive digital television via normal terrestrial transmission, or currently rely on self-funded analogue transmission facilities that will not be converting to digital, will be eligible for access to the satellite-based VAST service, providing access to programming from all networks including the new digital multi-channels.  VAST will also include a local news channel.

Households who need to switch to VAST may be eligible for government subsidies, and those on pensions, carers payments or other forms of income support may also qualify for assistance in converting to digital TV through the Household Assistance Scheme.

Regional Victoria is the third market in Australia scheduled for analogue switch-off, following from Mildura/Sunraysia in June this year, and Regional South Australia, scheduled for 15 December.

The Melbourne metropolitan area will lose analogue transmission by the end of 2013.

Information on the digital TV transition, including details on how to access the Satellite Subsidy Scheme or Household Assistance Scheme, can be found at the Digital Ready website or telephone the Digital Switchover Taskforce on 1800201013.

Source: DBCDE, Regional TV Marketing

1990: September 22-28

Cover: Tom Cruise

On the brink of madness!
In a chilling coincidence, actor Terry Serio was discussing with TV Week his latest role as a would-be mass murderer in GP just hours after five people were shot dead at a block of flats near TV Week’s Sydney offices.  “It doesn’t take much to push a person over the edge,” Serio told TV Week.  In GP, Serio plays the role of Jesse Watts, a man whose business has collapsed in the recession and is driving taxis just to make ends meet.  His moods get progressively worse.  He has a gun and has thoughts of using it.   He blames his problems on his wife (played by Saskia Post) who turns to Dr Robert Sharp (John McTernan) for help.

Emergency call to Matron
A Country Practice creator and producer James Davern has been having secret talks with former cast member Joan Sydney to try and lure her back into the series.  The talks were sparked by news that cast member Mary Regan, who replaced Sydney as the town’s hospital matron, is planning to leave the series.  But a spokesperson for the Seven Network said that talks were taking place but that Sydney has decided not to come back to the show.  “She wants to stick to theatre and film roles,” the spokesperson said.  Sydney’s most recent role was in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, co-starring with Alex Papps, Roger Oakley, Anne Phelan and Beverly Phillips.

What a night… if only I could remember!
It should have been a day that he would never forget, but for Wheel Of Fortune host John Burgess it became a day he can hardly remember.  Just days before heading to Adelaide to tape the first four Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune shows, Burgess injured an ankle playing tennis, leading to an infection which, if left untreated, could have led to septicaemia.  Defying doctor’s orders, Burgess (pictured, with contestants Lorrae Desmond, David Hookes and Jeanne Little with hostess Adriana Xenides) flew from Perth to Adelaide to attend the taping but was so “spaced out” on medication that he barely remembers anything that happened while taping those four shows.  “So how I got there, I don’t know and how i did those television shows, I don’t know.  It must have been pure adrenalin.  I don’t remember a thing about the first show and very little about the second,” he told TV Week.  At least the pain of the injury was eased slightly by the news that Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune and its Saturday night partner, Celebrity Family Feud, have debuted to hit ratings, winning the battle against Hey Hey It’s Saturday in Sydney and Brisbane, and coming a close second in Melbourne.  But Celebrity Family Feud host Rob Brough is staying cautious.  “Hey Hey has been around a long time and we have only been a success for one night.  We can’t be compared to them yet,” he told TV Week.

Briefly…
Two new characters have moved into Network Ten’s E Street.  Zac Spencer (Daniel Knight) and his sister Nikki (Melissa Tkautz) are dumped by their mother and left in the care of George and Martha Sullivan (Les Dayman and Cecily Polson) and are a couple of kids you’d never want to encounter.  “Nikki is everything I don’t want to be,” says Tkautz. “She smokes and she’s really the sort of girl most parents would be horrified to have their daughters associating with.”

Actor Marcus Graham is in line for a role in the new mini-series Tracks Of Glory, being produced by Perth-based Barron Films, which follows the story of black American world champion cyclist Major Taylor who comes to Australia at the turn of the century to revive national interest in the sport.

Another Daddo is about to make his mark on television.  Lochie Daddo, 20, (pictured) has been hosting ABC’s Countdown Revolution for the past few weeks, following the abrupt departure of hosts Mark Little and Tania Lacy, and is tipped to win the job permanently.

John Laws says…
”The decision-makers at the ABC are becoming a little difficult to follow these days.  There seems to be a kind of uninspired confusion within the corridors of power about what exactly is going to happen to certain high-profile programs.  Or maybe it’s cleverly planned confusion.  For instance, is children’s educational TV really going to be axed, as suggested some weeks ago… or was that shock announcement a piece of sly politicking aimed solely at loosening the Federal Government’s purse strings?  Were we really to believe that the ABC’s weekend news bulletins would be nationalised, as suggested in one announcement?  Yes we were – but then we weren’t, because the “decision” was merely broadcast to gauge the reaction and the idea was hastily dumped when the anger of viewers in regional centres became apparent.”

Program Highlights (September 22-28):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses to White City, Sydney for the semi-finals of the Davis Cup tennis between Australia and Argentina. 

Sunday:  ATV10 crosses to Sydney Football Stadium for the State Bank Big Game – Winfield Cup Grand Final.  After Ten Evening News with Mal Walden, Ted Egan presents ATV10’s new documentary series, This Land Australia, with the first episode featuring the grape-growers and wine-makers of Hahndorf and the Barossa Valley in South Australia.  Sunday night movies are Cocktail (HSV7), Short Circuit II (GTV9) and Avenging Force (ATV10).

Monday: Football’s “night of nights” as HSV7 presents live coverage of the Brownlow Medal count from Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, hosted by Bruce McAvaney.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Maxine Gray tries out a new device that acts as a second set of lungs, making scuba obsolete.

Wednesday: Former Matlock Police and The Sullivans star Paul Cronin guest stars in Nine’s The Flying Doctors.

Thursday:  Annie Jones guest stars in ABC’s new drama series, Embassy.  While in Skirts (HSV7), Tina’s (Antoinette Byron) involvement with a heroic, handicapped man dissolves into disaster.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  22 September 1990.  Southdown Press.

Veronica Overton-Low

The WA TV History blog reports that Veronica Overton-Low, a former TV presenter in Perth and Adelaide, has died suddenly from a heart attack.

Overton, 66, was an actress and had performed at Perth channel TVW7 before securing a job at rival channel STW9 not long after it launched in the mid 1960s.  She was initially hired for administrative tasks as well as appearing on The Channel Niners Club and Christmas pantomimes, presenting the weather report, reading voice-over announcements and appearing on the weekly religious interview program Seek The Truth – all for a very modest wage.

She also made regular appearances at promotional events for STW and later appeared on daytime programs as well as The Jeff Newman Show and became a producer for The Breakfast Show.

After leaving STW9 in 1970, Overton went to Adelaide’s SAS10 to host the morning show Earlybirds with Fat Cat.

With husband John Low (now deceased), Overton ran a talent agency for radio and television.

She also maintained a love of the theatre and directed and appeared in a number of local productions for the Roleystone Theatre Company, recently appearing in its production of My Fair Lady.

Source: WA TV History, WA TV History

Johnny Young for ARIA Hall of Fame

Johnny Young, the 60s pop star who created a generation of stars with the long-running Young Talent Time, is to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as recognition of his contribution to the Australian recording industry.

Born in the Netherlands but raised in Perth, Young was a chart-topper with songs including Cara-Lyn and Step Back and wrote several hits that went on to become ‘60s anthems, including Smiley and The Real Thing.  He also hosted a pop music program, Club 7Teen, for Perth’s TVW7. 

In the late ‘60s, he featured on Melbourne-based pop music programs Go!! and Happening before starting Young Talent Time – a talent quest and variety series cast with junior performers.  Young’s adaptation of the Beatles song All My Loving served as the closing signature tune for Young Talent Time.

Under Young’s guidance, Young Talent Time created stars from child performers like Jamie Redfern, Tina Arena, Jane Scali, Sally Boyden, Debbie Byrne, Phillip Gould, Karen Knowles and Dannii Minogue.  The show won TV Week Logie awards for Best Variety/Music Program in 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1976 and in 1982 won a special Logie for sustained excellence in television.  His chain of talent schools, started in the late ‘70s, continue to operate across Australia today.

In 1990, Young was inducted in the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

Young, 65, is now back in Perth presenting the breakfast program on radio station 6IX and is still performing.

The ARIA Awards’ Hall of Fame presentation is to be held on 27 October, hosted by Julia Zemiro. Also to be inducted this year are John Williamson, The Models, The Loved Ones and The Church.

Source: Daily Telegraph, Wikipedia, Johnny Young Talent School, Australian Television Information Archive

Eleven says ‘hello’

While the Nine Network’s new digital channel, GEM, has stumbled at the first hurdle and failed to make its planned debut yesterday, Network Ten has started its promotion for its new digital channel, 11, which is due to launch in 2011.

The new channel already has a website and is ready to communicate with its target audience, 13 to 29 year olds, via Facebook and Twitter. 

Ten is certainly presenting a confident approach in 11 and promoting it with the intention of getting the audience enthused about the new channel – something that Nine failed to do with GEM.

Spearheading 11’s prime-time line-up will be The Simpsons and Neighbours, joining other series including Nurse Jackie, Dexter, Supernatural, Dollhouse, Smallville, Melrose Place, 90210, Futurama, Sex And The City, The Office and The Cleveland Show.  The network has also put out the call to aspiring Australian producers to pitch innovative program ideas for the new channel.

11 is expected to be launched early in 2011 via Network Ten stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.  It is not known yet if or when the new channel will be broadcast by regional affiliates Southern Cross Ten, Darwin Digital Television, Ten Mildura and Tasmanian Digital Television.

Source: TV Tonight, 11

Kerry O’Brien signing off from The 7.30 Report

After fifteen years as host of ABC’s The 7.30 Report, Kerry O’Brien (pictured) has decided it is time to move on.

In a statement issued yesterday, O’Brien said:

"Quite simply it’s time for a new chapter.  I’ve been in the pressure cooker of daily current affairs hosting and interviewing for 21 straight years including six years at Lateline, and it’s been something of a marathon.”

"It has been an absolute privilege to work with some of the most talented and dedicated professionals in the business, and I leave with confidence that the 7.30 Report will be at the heart of ABC News and Current Affairs coverage for years to come.”

"This has been a great year for the program, and it’s good to leave on a high note.”

O’Brien, who took over as host of The 7.30 Report when the state-based editions were replaced with a national edition in 1996, is planning to leave the program at the end of the year and take on a new role at the national broadcaster in 2011, though details of such have not been announced.

ABC general manager Mark Scott paid tribute to O’Brien’s contribution to the broadcaster, which included six years as host of Lateline before taking on the role of hosting The 7.30 Report:

“As the ABC approaches its 80th year, few journalists have played such an important role, for such a long time, with such integrity and distinction, as Kerry O'Brien.  On behalf of all of his colleagues, I want to thank Kerry for his tireless commitment to the best in ABC journalism through his leadership at The 7.30 Report.”

Some of O’Brien’s political interviews on The 7.30 Report have created headlines, particularly during election campaigns – this year eliciting an admission from opposition leader Tony Abbott that not everything he says on the campaign trail is “gospel truth”, and earlier this year copped an outburst from former prime minister Kevin Rudd after being questioned over the failure of the Copenhagen climate change summit.

This year O’Brien also scored an interview with US president Barack Obama.

In a career that dates back to 1966, O’Brien has also worked on ABC current affairs programs This Day Tonight and Four Corners, has served as a North American correspondent for the Seven Network and presented current affairs programs Public Eye and Face To Face for Network Ten.  He has also been host of many election nights, State and Federal, for ABC.

ABC’s director of news Kate Torney has said that a replacement host for The 7.30 Report is to be announced in due course.  Some of the names speculated as possible successors to O’Brien include Chris Uhlmann, Tony Jones, Leigh Sales and Virginia Trioli.

Source: The Age, ABC, Celebrity Speakers, The Australian

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.

Southern Cross rolls out more channels

Regional broadcaster Southern Cross Media has announced the launch of new digital channels for Darwin, Tasmania and Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill markets.

Southern Cross Television will be providing the Seven Network’s new digital channel, 7mate, in Darwin (on digital channel 70) and Tasmania (digital channel 60) from 24 October.  The channel launches on the Seven Network stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Regional QLD this Saturday.

Viewers will need a high-definition capable digital tuner, PVR or set top box to access 7mate.

The company has also announced that it will be providing a relay channel of the Nine Network to viewers in the Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill region from 31 October.  Southern Cross is the only commercial TV broadcaster in that region and currently provides two channels – GTS/BKN (with Seven Network programming) and Southern Cross Ten – with provision for special event programming (such as sports) from the Nine Network.  Both GTS/BKN and Southern Cross Ten are broadcast in analogue and digital.

The new Nine relay will be broadcast exclusively in digital.

Regional South Australia, including Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill, is scheduled to lose all analogue television transmission on 15 December.  After the analogue shutdown the potential may exist for Southern Cross Media to gain access to additional broadcast spectrum which would allow it to start to relay the commercial networks’ digital multi-channels.

Source: TV Tonight, Freeview

Derryn Hinch diagnosed with cancer

Melbourne radio host and former TV presenter Derryn Hinch (pictured) has told listeners of his 3AW drive-time program that he has been diagnosed with liver cancer and is to undergo “major surgery very soon”.

Hinch, 66, said he will be told later this week when the surgery is to go ahead and that he expects to be off-air from the station for a month.

He told listeners that he is feeling positive and determined to beat the illness:

"I am not down, I'm not depressed, I don't feel sorry for myself.  I'm as passionate as ever about the causes that I'm fighting for and maybe even more so."

"I intend to beat it.  I know everyone says that but I do truly believe this is not the end; it's the beginning of something.”

"As somebody once said, ‘That's life.' "

With a background in print and radio journalism in New Zealand, Australia and the US, Hinch made the move to television in the early ‘80s as the host of the Seven Network’s Willesee At Seven and daytime panel show Beauty And The Beast.  In 1987 he had been signed up by media tycoon Christopher Skase to front the revived Seven Network’s current affairs coverage, with Hinch At Seven running for four years on Seven and then a further two years (as Hinch) on Network Ten.  While at Ten, Hinch scored the first Australian interview with the fugitive Skase in Majorca.

At the end of 1993 he was announced as the successor to Ray Martin as host of Nine’s Midday, a role that lasted a year.

Since 2003 Hinch has presented drive-time on radio station 3AW, syndicated across Victoria, after several years at former talkback station 3AK.  He has also appeared in Dancing With The Stars and had a cameo role, as himself, in Underbelly.

In 2006 he suffered near-death with liver disease, septicaemia, kidney malfunction and immune system failure.

Earlier this year he celebrated fifty years in the media.

Source: The Age, Hinch, 3AW

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.