Digital conversion goes up slightly

The latest Digital Tracker survey for 2010, covering the period June to September, has shown that 75 per cent of Australian households have made the switch to digital television.

This is up from 74 per cent in the previous quarter and 56 per cent in the same quarter last year.

The biggest increase this quarter was recorded in Regional Western Australia, where digital conversion leapt up from 49 per cent of households to 58 per cent in this quarter – possibly inspired by the belated digital roll-out of commercial TV in parts of the state, and the arrival of a new digital-only channel, Ten West.

Regional South Australia, which is due to lose analogue transmissions in just over a month from now, recorded an increase from 77 per cent to 81 per cent of households converted, while Regional Victoria (due to lose analogue transmission in May 2011) recorded an increase from 76 to 79 per cent.

Curiously, Melbourne and Sydney both recorded drops when compared to the last quarter – both falling by 3 per cent each to 74 and 68 per cent respectively.  As the audience sample no doubt changes over time there is expected to be some fluctuations.

Mildura/Sunraysia, which was the first to lose analogue transmission back in June, is no longer surveyed but the national figure takes into account the local 99 per cent conversion rate as measured at the time of the analogue shutdown.

Outside of Mildura the highest conversion rates were recorded in Tasmania (86 per cent) and Darwin (87 per cent).

Nationally, awareness of the digital transition (across the markets that are yet to lose analogue) is at 95 per cent which is the same level as at the previous quarter.

The Digital Tracker survey, which started in January 2009, is carried out by the Digital Switchover Taskforce of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Source: Digital Ready

WIN says less News is more

The pending switchover from analogue to digital television has seen regional broadcaster WIN’s South Australian branch last month restructure its local news service and cut staff numbers.  This is despite the broadcaster being part of the Government’s recently-announced $34 million assistance package to help regional broadcasters in South Australia and Western Australia meet the cost of upgrading to digital infrastructure and adopting the commercial networks’ new digital channels.

WIN currently has a commercial monopoly in the Mount Gambier and Riverland districts in South Australia, where its primary channels (SES and RTS respectively) are aligned to the Seven Network, and it also provides local broadcasts of the Ten and Nine network signals from Adelaide.  The Nine-based channel, WIN9, is broadcasting exclusively in digital.

The costs associated in conversion to digital have seen some administrative staff made redundant from the Mount Gambier station – and the decision has been made to merge the separate Mount Gambier and Riverland half-hour news bulletins into a single news bulletin broadcast across both regions.

WIN South Australia Graeme Gilbertson told ABC Radio:

“An option was that we discontinue our local news altogether as some regional operators have chosen to do.

"There's no reduction in the way in which we cover our news, it just means that some of the stories may not be as long as they were.  Some of the stories in order to fill the half an hour were oddly long. If you watch news bulletins elsewhere, you'll see that the stories are more compact and there's more in it.

"The viewers will see a more compact, a racier bulletin and they're going to benefit with a better service."

Mr Gilbertson also said the network was not closing its local newsrooms or centralising the production of news to Adelaide – where WIN also owns NWS9.

More staff cuts, however, are expected with the centralisation of WIN’s on-air presentation.  WIN has entered into a joint venture with ABC to set up MediaHub, a centralised playout facility in Sydney that will ultimately co-ordinate all on-air content for both broadcasters across Australia. 

ABC has had some well-documented ‘teething problems’ with MediaHub – and the gremlins have also crept into WIN’s on-air presentation as its network gradually cuts over its regional and capital city markets to MediaHub.

Regional South Australia, which includes the Mount Gambier and Riverland markets, will lose all existing analogue broadcasts on 15 December.

Source: ABC

The Circle reunites Ernie and Denise

It was a reunion of one of TV’s most popular partnerships when The Circle co-host Denise Drysdale was joined by guest Ernie Sigley on the show.

The pair were a hit with viewers in the mid 1970s on The Ernie Sigley Show, with both of them (pictured, with Hollywood legend John Wayne) winning TV Week Gold Logies in 1975 as the most popular personalities on television.  Drysdale went on to win another Gold Logie the following year.  Their popularity also saw their cover version of the 1960s hit Hey Paula hit the top of the charts in 1974.

Their career paths have crossed numerous times in the years that followed, including several years co-hosting the Nine Network’s In Melbourne Today and sister program In Sydney Today, before both programs were amalgamated into Ernie And Denise.

Sigley then returned to radio, presenting the afternoon program on radio 3AW for over a decade, while Drysdale went on to the 1990s revival of In Melbourne Tonight before hosting her own morning show, Denise, on the Seven Network.

The appearance of Sigley next to Drysdale on The Circle – showing that they still have that comic chemistry alongside each other – leads up to a series of live shows to be performed by the duo.

Eleven confirms start date

Even though the date has been bandied around for a while now – including a mention on a recent Ten News report – it seems Network Ten’s long-awaited digital channel, 11, has only now confirmed its launch date.

On their Twitter page, eleven_tv proclaims:

“It's finally confirmed! We will be launching on 11/1/11 - Exciting stuff!”

At least that’s assumed to be the date for Ten’s Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth outlets.  There is still no confirmation or advice regarding the channel being launched in regional areas on Southern Cross Ten, Ten Mildura, Tasmanian Digital Television or Darwin Digital Television.

11 promises to be Ten’s new home for youth-focused entertainment – the target age group is 13-29 year olds – with its evening line-up headlined by The Simpsons and Neighbours.  Both programs will be exclusively on 11 – something that’s a sore point with regional viewers frustrated at the aforementioned lack of a local launch date.

The channel’s future, months before it even launched, has been the subject of much media speculation following the surprise investment in Network Ten by James Packer.  Although some commentators suggested that Packer’s investment was a sign of confidence that Ten was headed for some good returns with its multi-channel and news strategy, others have been less optimistic and have suggested that Packer only intends to tear down 11, sports channel One HD and Ten’s expansion of its news portfolio, and turn Ten back into a cut-price, no-frills network.

Of course, there has been no public statement from Packer as to his intentions – and in any case he is not set to get a seat on the Ten board until after the company’s AGM next month – but at this point it seems Ten is pressing ahead - ‘business as usual’ – with its plans, regardless of the speculation.

Regional viewers offered digital equality

The Federal Government has partnered with regional broadcasters to ensure that viewers in remote and regional areas will have access to the same amount of channels as their capital city counterparts.

In a media release issued today, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy announced that the Government will provide $34 million over four years to enable commercial broadcasters in regional South Australia, remote and regional Western Australia, and remote and central Australia to install the transmitters that will give viewers access to all digital TV channels via terrestrial broadcast:

“This is an historic outcome for regional Australia   For decades, viewers in smaller TV licence areas have put up with having only two commercial TV channels, often missing out on some of the country’s most popular programming.

“True equalisation of TV services in Australia was long considered impossible; the Gillard Government is proud to have achieved the realisation of what has been a long-held dream for many people in regional and remote Australia as part of the digital switchover program.”

The Government promises to provide 50 per cent of capital and operational costs for the new transmitters until the end of the transition period from analogue television in 2013, with regional broadcasters meeting the remaining and ongoing costs.

Commercial channels will initially be offered in standard definition only, while the full suite of ABC and SBS channels – including high-definition channels ABC News 24 and SBS1 HD – will be offered.

Once the rollout of the digital TV channels is completed, if any viewer is still unable to access the channels via terrestrial broadcast then they can access the channels through the VAST platform, announced earlier this year.

Regional South Australia – comprising Loxton/Riverland, Mount Gambier/South East, Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill (NSW) markets – is due to lose all existing analogue signals on 15 December this year.  Viewers in these markets can currently access ABC, SBS and local versions of all three commercial networks in digital but as yet none of the extra commercial channels, such as GO!, GEM, 7TWO, 7mate, One or the upcoming channel, 11 – although Southern Cross, covering Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill, has already been assigned broadcast capacity to start broadcasting additional channels after the analogue switch-off is completed in the area.

Commercial operators in Western Australia – Prime (GWN) and WIN – are only now rolling out the first stage of digital transmission, giving viewers access to GWN, WIN and the new Ten West, but today’s announcement will lead to a roll-out of the additional commercial channels. 

Regional commercial broadcasters WIN, Prime, Southern Cross and Imparja will announce the rollout schedule for the new channels in coming days.

Source: DBCDE

1990: November 10-16

Missing at sea… to rest a knee!
E Street character Lisa Bennett has disappeared, presumed dead by many of her Westside neighbours, after being shipwrecked with wealthy boyfriend Michael Sturges (Graham Harvey) – but the character’s absence from TV screens is for good cause, as actress Alyssa-Jane Cook (pictured) has had to take time off from the series to recover from knee surgery.  Cook told TV Week that the surgery was needed to fix an old skiing injury that could have wider implications if left unattended.  “If I’d left it until I was older, it would have taken longer to repair and I could have suffered severe arthritis,” she said.

 

Publish and be damned?
Graham Kennedy (pictured) tells TV Week he has refused repeated requests by publishers to pen his autobiography.  “Publishers have asked me about once a month for 30 years for an autobiography, which is flattering – flattering because they obviously think it would sell well,” he said.  “I would want to write it myself and I’m too lazy to face such a daunting task at the moment.”  The closest that the King of Australian television has come to book publishing has been to write the foreword for former colleague Toni Lamond’s recently-launched autobiography, First Half.  Kennedy, who this year gained strong ratings for Nine’s Graham Kennedy’s Funniest Home Video Show, accepts the fact that should he not get around to writing his memoirs before turning up his toes that someone may choose to write a less-friendly version of his life.  “Sadly, I have no control over that,” he says.

Agro-phobia!
The Seven Network is screening a one-hour special to celebrate the 10th birthday of its puppet megastar Agro, star of the early morning Agro’s Cartoon Connection and the former children’s program Wombat.  The special will feature many of Agro’s Seven Network colleagues including Derryn Hinch, Julie McGregor, Fast Forward’s Pixie-Anne Wheatley (Magda Szubanski, pictured with Agro) and the Dodgey Brothers (Steve Blackburn and Geoff Brooks) and Tonight Live’s Steve Vizard and Jennifer Keyte.    

Briefly…
Former Family And Friends star Rachael Beck has just completed a guest spot on Home And Away, playing the drug-addicted sister of Grant Mitchell (Craig McLachlan).  Beck is now moving to the stage to co-star in A Little Night Music with Geraldine Turner and John Waters.

Actor Kim Gyngell, whose Col’n Carpenter series is likely to be back in 1991, is keen to start work on a film project dedicated to the long-running drama series Homicide.  The film, to be titled Homicide: The Legend Continues, will have an emphasis on the lasting impact that the drama series has had on Australian popular culture.  Gyngell made his acting debut in the original series in the 1970s and has had discussions with director Pino Amenta and actors Ben Mendelsohn, Nadine Garner and Mary Coustas, who have all expressed interest in being involved in the project.

Former Prisoner star Jane Clifton has swapped her prison uniform for a straightjacket in the play Laughing Wild, now playing in Melbourne.  The play, set in New York, takes a farcical look at the community alienation some mentally ill people experience when they move out and try to live “normal” lives.  For Clifton, the play comes just after a 13 week tour of the United Kingdom in the stage production Prisoner Cell Block H, based on the long-running series in which she starred in.

The prospect of an airline career could see Luke Ross make his exit from A Country Practice – but actor Matt Day is not giving anything away.  “You will have to wait and see,” he teases.  “Who knows what the future holds?”  Ross departs Wandin Valley in episodes to air this week as the season finale but his struggles in adapting to city life and the rigorous airline training will feature in episodes to go to air in the new year.

John Laws says…
”SBS’ recent orgy of self-congratulation for having survived – and prospered – for ten years in the TV jungle was, for the most part, well deserved.  For a network that really didn’t have a clue what it was supposed to be doing when it began broadcasting in late 1980, it has commendably earned the label of “true survivor” in the torrid years since.  Importantly, too, it manages to provide a mostly excellent service even though restricted by what can only be described as a tight budget.  It is positively Scrooge-like in its costings when compared to ABC and other TV stations.  SBS has also led the way in freeing up the screening of sexual activity on television.  Was it through coincidence, or design, that on the very night the station screened an hour-long 10th anniversary tribute to itself that it also screened, for the second time, the English movie Sammy And Rosie Get Laid, one of the most sexually explicit to have shown on Australian TV?  But if there is one things SBS does lack it’s a sense of humour.  If it had one or two top-flight comedy programs it would round off its service admirably.”

Program Highlights (November 10-16):
Saturday:  ATV10’s coverage of the Melbourne Cup Carnival concludes with five hours of the Honda Stakes Day, live from Flemington Racecourse.  GTV9’s afternoon of sport includes the Nissan Sydney 500 Touring Car Race, while ABC presents American basketball, English soccer and American NFL.

Sunday:  The final week of ratings for 1990 will see many programs wind up this week – starting with ATV10’s This Land Australia and The Comedy Company and GTV9’s 60 Minutes.  Sunday night movies are Moonstruck (HSV7), Caddyshack II (GTV9) and Heartburn (ATV10).

Monday:  Sale Of The Century (GTV9) finishes up its 1990 season with the week-long Sports Celebrity Challenge, featuring stars of cricket, athletics, swimming and motor racing.  ABC’s Media Watch and Four Corners present their final editions for 1990, and ATV10’s comedy series Let The Blood Run Free (pictured) also finishes up for the year.  GTV9’s failed soap opera Family And Friends makes a late-night return, playing out the remaining episodes that were not shown following its abrupt cancellation earlier this year.

Tuesday:  A Country Practice, Beyond 2000, GP, The Investigators, The Big Gig and Candid Camera On Australia all present their final episodes for 1990.

Wednesday:  ABC presents a 75-minute special, Bradman, featuring the cricket legend’s first television interview to respected cricket writer Jack Egan.  The special is followed by the final 1990 edition of forum-based discussion program Couchman.

Thursday:  More TV finales with The Home Show (ABC), Graham Kennedy’s Funniest Home Video Show (GTV9), E Street (ATV10) and Lateline (ABC) presenting their last episodes for 1990.  GTV9’s children’s mini-series The Girl From Tomorrow also comes to a conclusion.

Friday:  Midday With Ray Martin (GTV9) presents its 1990 finale with a special two-hour episode.  Also winding up tonight is Tonight Live With Steve Vizard (HSV7), Burke’s Backyard (GTV9), Sale Of The Century (GTV9), Countrywide (ABC) and Neighbours (ATV10).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 10 November 1990. Southdown Press.

Sandra Sully signs off from Late News

It was the end of an era last night as Network Ten newsreader Sandra Sully signed off from the Late News for the last time.

The former Canberra correspondent, who’d also had a stint as co-host of Good Morning Australia and the Sydney edition of the 5pm Ten News, took on the role of presenting the network’s 10.30pm bulletin in 1995 – following the departure of newsreader Anne Fulwood to the Seven Network.  With Sully at the helm, the late night edition of Ten News fought off opposition from both the Seven and Nine networks, to the point that neither network now has a significant news coverage at that time of night.

Like with many newsreaders the job often put her in the position of covering some very significant news events.  In 1997 she was on location at Thredbo when the sole survivor of a massive landslide, that claimed the lives of 18 others, was pulled from the wreckage after being trapped for three days.

Then, on the night of September 11, 2001, during the Late News, she was the first in Australia to break the news of a passenger plane flying into one of the World Trade Center towers in New York, and would continue to present news into the night as the tragic events unfolded.

In 2005 she had an exclusive interview with former Iraq hostage Douglas Wood.

As well as covering major news events, Sully has a lighter side – as host of the former quiz show Australia’s Brainiest, as co-host and interviewer on Network Ten’s annual Melbourne Cup coverage, hosting the annual Australian Of The Year presentation and not to forget her often lighthearted handover to Sports Tonight presenter Brad McEwen on the Late News.

Sandra Sully leaves the late-night timeslot to focus on her new role, anchoring the Sydney edition of Ten’s new 6.30pm bulletin which is due to launch early in 2011.

Ten has yet to announce who will formally take over the role of newsreader for the Late News bulletin.

YouTube: Ten

The signs… they are a-changin’

For Sydney’s TCN9, it’s the end of an era as the famous “TCN9” lettering (pictured, right) that has appeared outside the station’s Willoughby premises for fifty years has been replaced.

According to Nine’s Facebook page, the old signage has been taken away for cleaning and preservation, while a shiny new “9” logo (pictured, below) now takes its place.

TCN9 has occupied the Willoughby site since its inception in 1956 – although the station’s earliest programs emanated from a church hall in Surry Hills as the Willoughby site was yet to be finished.  It is the only one of Sydney’s three commercial channels to still be based at its original premises.  TEN10 moved out of its original North Ryde studios back in the early 1990s, while ATN7 has moved out of its Epping studios to the inner suburb of Redfern, with news operations based in the Sydney CBD.

Thanks to The Spy Report for the heads up.

The Melbourne Cup: 1960, 1970, 1980

The running of the 100th Melbourne Cup, on 1 November 1960, was a significant one for television. It was the first time the race was telecast direct to Sydney in a rare co-operative effort between Sydney’s three TV channels – ABN2, ATN7 and TCN9. The direct telecast, scheduled to run for about half-an-hour, included the race, the presentation of the Cup and interviews with the winning jockey, trainer and owner.

ABC’s Michael Charlton hosted the coverage and the commentary of the race was given by ABC’s Joe Brown – whose commentary was also broadcast through ABC radio nationally and overseas through Radio Australia – with TCN9’s Ken Howard presenting the post-race interviews. The telecast was directed and produced by Ron Davis of Melbourne’s GTV9.

Meanwhile, Melbourne viewers – denied the chance to see the race live on television until the late 1970s – would have to make do with delayed coverage of the race during the evening news bulletins on ABV2, HSV7 and GTV9. The film of the race would also be shown during In Melbourne Tonight (GTV9) and Sports Cavalcade (ABV2) and after The Bobby Limb Show on HSV7.

But, being the centenary running of the Melbourne Cup, ABV2 and HSV7 presented special programs devoted to the history of the event. ABV2’s The Cup – 100 Years was screened on Cup Eve and tracked the history of the event from Archer’s win of the very first Melbourne Cup in 1861. The special, which required more than three months of research, also included film footage of the 1897 Melbourne Cup.

HSV7 presented a one-hour Cup Eve special. The program, hosted by Michael Williamson with racing commentator Bill Collins, included newsreel footage of past Melbourne Cup races, dating back to the 1930s, and covered the important races leading up to the current event. The program also featured commentators from local and interstate newspapers with their selections for the day’s races.

Ten years later, the 1970 Melbourne Cup was televised live to interstate viewers but continued to be a delayed telecast within Victoria. ABV2 and ABC regional stations in Victoria presented delayed coverage of the race at 6.00pm and again at 8.00pm. GTV9, which presented a ten-minute Cup preview the night before, also had its delayed coverage at 6.00pm. HSV7 – always keen to get one above its main rival – scheduled its delayed broadcast for 5.55pm. All four Melbourne channels featured the race in their main evening bulletins.

By the time 1980 came around, the telecast of the Melbourne Cup was a major television event. The Ten Network, presenting the Cup coverage for the third year running, started its day’s coverage with a 90-minute preview before crossing to Flemington Racecourse for six hours of live broadcast. The host broadcaster, ATV10, had seventeen cameras placed at strategic points around the track. Their coverage was headed by Phil Gibbs, with races called by Clem Dimsey, with the six-hour telecast also featuring Ray Warren (from TEN10 Sydney), Rob Readings (TVQ0 Brisbane) and John O’Neil (SAS10 Adelaide). Everyday co-host Annette Allison (pictured, below) hosted the fashion and celebrity interviews.

Network Ten’s 1980 coverage was also relayed direct to New Zealand, and remote areas in Australia saw the coverage via ABC through a special arrangement made with Ten. With nationwide coverage, it was at the time reported to being the largest sporting telecast ever undertaken in Australia.

Network Ten continued to cover the Melbourne Cup every year up until 2001. This year’s Melbourne Cup will be broadcast live tomorrow (Tuesday 2 November) through the Seven Network.

Source: TV Times (27 October 1960), The Age (27 October 1960), TV Times (28 October 1970), TV Week (1 November 1980), The Age (30 October 1980)

• 1959: The race that stopped a station

Movember month is here…

Movember is a month-long charity event that started in Australia and has since spread worldwide. For the month of November men are being asked to grow a moustache and gain sponsors to raise funds and awareness for men’s health initiatives – such as those targeting prostate cancer and male depression.

So please either grow a mo' or sponsor someone who is – because men’s health is an often forgotten issue.

Details on Movember can be found at their website.

And to celebrate the month of Movember, here is our little tribute to Australian TV’s contribution to the mo'…