Obituary: Norman Hetherington

Norman Hetherington, the man who created iconic children’s TV character Mr Squiggle more than 50 years ago, has died in Sydney at the age of 89 after a long illness.

After serving in World War II, Hetherington worked as a cartoonist for The Bulletin magazine in the 1940s and 1950s.  He also had an interest in puppetry, presenting a puppet show on the opening night broadcast from ABN2, Sydney, in 1956, and created early children’s television productions in the late 1950s.  Then in 1959 he created the character of Mr Squiggle, a pencil-nosed puppet who created drawings based on scribble patterns (or “squiggles”) sent in by children. 

Mr Squiggle, who also had friends including Bill Steamshovel, Gus the Snail and Blackboard, started as a six-week guest spot on ABC’s Children’s TV Club but soon was given his own show which ended up running for 40 years.

The program, which entertained generations of children, went through various formats and titles but ended up as Mr Squiggle And Friends, making its last appeared on ABC in 1999.

Some of Mr Squiggle’s on-screen assistants have included Miss Gina (Gina Curtis), Miss Pat (Pat Lovell), Miss Jane (Jane Fennell), Miss Roxane (Roxane Kimmorley) and Hetherington’s daughter, Rebecca (pictured, with Mr Squiggle), who appeared alongside Mr Squiggle in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the 1980s, Hetherington and wife Margaret, who wrote all of Mr Squiggles scripts, won two Penguin awards for the program.  In 1990, Hetherington was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his contribution to children’s television.

In July this year, he appeared in a segment on the ABC program Collectors, paying tribute to the long-running Mr Squiggle.

The passing of Hetherington comes after the death of two other children’s TV character creators, Rex Heading (Humphrey B. Bear) and Tedd Dunn (Fredd Bear).

Norman Hetherington is survived by wife Margaret and children Rebecca and Stephen.  His funeral is expected to be held next Monday.

Source: The Eclectic Omnibus, Wikipedia, ABC, ABC

TV Week Logie Awards voting opens

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Harry Potter retiring from Ten News

It will be the end of an era on Christmas Eve when Ten News reporter Harry Potter signs off for the last time.

The 69-year-old is retiring but is expected to continue to remain as a consultant to the network – something that he hopes will help him take his mind off more personal matters as he recovers from cancer.

Potter was diagnosed with bowel cancer five years ago.  It was treated but the tumours returned last year near his hip.  A fifteen-hour operation in February last year and five rounds of chemotherapy have followed:

"I like to think I'm in remission now but, as the oncologist said to me, 'Your definition of remission is a bit different from ours.' "

Potter has been with the Ten newsroom for over thirty years.  He joined Eyewitness News at Sydney’s TEN10 in 1978, where his wife, Katrina Lee, was a newsreader.  Despite his many years in the news business and covering some of the biggest crime stories in the state, he will be remembered by many for once delivering the line ‘the headless torso was found lying face down’.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Prime News exits Albury

Prime Television has announced this week that it will soon no longer be producing Prime News from its Albury studios and will instead be shifting production to centralised facilities in Canberra.

The Albury-based bulletin, which screens 5.30pm weeknights in the Albury and Upper Murray district as the lead-in to the Melbourne-based Seven News, has been in production since local station AMV4 (the local predecessor to Prime) began broadcasting in 1964.

The move to the Canberra facility follows similar moves from Prime’s Orange and Wagga Wagga station facilities earlier this year.

The Albury studios were recently upgraded, at a cost of $200,000, to accommodate widescreen production of its local news, an upgrade that prompted optimism that the network was planning to maintain production in Albury and that it might extend its local news coverage across Victoria to tackle rival network WIN, which has a monopoly on local newscasts across the rest of regional Victoria.

Prime chief executive Doug Edwards said that to fully convert the studios for digital television would cost around $1 million and that the network would be better to use existing facilities:

“We’ve got six newsrooms and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to go out and fully digitalise six newsrooms when you can invest that money into a super facility in Canberra and be able to present much better news. We are looking at new sets, new technology and I think we can do that by investing money into a presentation facility in Canberra that will give a better product on screen.”

Mr Edwards said that the move will not result in any job losses, although two crew staff in Albury will be offered roles in Canberra. Newsreader Helen Ballard (pictured) is expected to stay based at Albury but only as a senior reporter.

Prime News will move production from Albury in the new year.

Source: Border Mail, BradF89

1990: December 8-14

Cover: Olivia Newton-John

Hey Hey it’s… London…?
Hey Hey It’s Saturday host Daryl Somers is set to make an appearance on Aussie expat Clive James’ popular British show, Saturday Night Clive. Somers is hopeful that the appearance could lead to Hey Hey being sold to an international audience.  “I feel we’ve given England such a diet of soapies that it’s about time they copped some comedy/variety/night-time/morning type of stuff.  They just want to talk about me being on TV for a long time, and the show I do, which is unique.  I know Clive and he’s very aware of that uniqueness,” Somers told TV Week.

Oscar winner aims for Oz glory!
Oscar-winning American actor Denzel Washington is likely to win the lead role in the Seven Network mini-series Tracks Of Glory, which goes into pre-production soon.  Producers Barron Films have also been negotiating with LA Law star Blair Underwood, but Washington is now the favourite for the lead role of American champion cyclist “Major” Taylor.  Among the Australian cast list for the mini-series are Cameron Daddo (Bony), Justine Clarke (Home And Away) and John Wood (Rafferty’s Rules).  Tracks Of Glory is set in the 1920s and follows the story of Taylor as he comes to Australia to compete in the richest cycling event in the world.

The show will go on!
Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s Daryl Somers is choosing his words carefully when he announces the disintegration of DAS Entertainment, the nine-year partnership between himself, Gavan Disney and Ernie Carroll, which produces the popular Nine Network program:  “We’ve discussed it.  It’s a mutually agreed split.  Hey Hey will continue, as we are contracted to do until the end of 1991, and we all looking forward to it in a very positive way.  We want the split to be as professional and businesslike as possible, and because we are involved in working that out – the entanglement of contractual obligations with DAS and the (Nine) network and so on – I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to go into great detail at this stage.  But I think it’s safe to say that DAS will be no longer.  Next year the program will be produced by another entity.” Somers and Carroll are expected to take over producing the show – although plans to bring Jacki MacDonald back into the program appear to have stalled.

Briefly…
As the financial situation at Network Ten continues to crumble, producer Ian McFadyen (pictured) is confident that the network will pick up a proposed sitcom he has been discussing with them – a concept based around the lives of employees at a television station.  McFadyen is also confident that Ten will renew sitcom Let The Blood Run Free for a second series.  Meanwhile, his company, Media Arts, also has a deal to produce a sitcom, Newlyweds, for the Seven Network in partnership with Crawfords Australia.  The new sitcom is set to be a starring vehicle for former Neighbours star Annie Jones.

ABC has renewed drama series Embassy for a second series.  The renewal comes after controversy, as Malaysia accused the show’s fictional setting of Ragaan of “making fun” of their country and consequently cancelled official visits to Australia and suspended trade talks, prompting Prime Minister Bob Hawke to step in and reassure Malaysians that the program is entirely fictional.

Aussie actress, former Number 96 and Skyways star Carmen Duncan (pictured), playing the role of bitchy Iris Carrington Wheeler in the US soap Another World, has been named by Soap Weekly magazine as one of the “most desirable women on American television”.  Her character has also been voted one of the most popular on American daytime TV.

Seven Network series A Country Practice has clocked up 800 episodes.  Given the current financial situation at Seven, still in receivership, the cast and crew of the series were allowed only a small celebration at Seven’s Sydney studios.

Neighbours star Ashley Paske has announced that he will not renew his contract with the Network Ten series when it expires in January.  He is expected to be seen on-air until May.

John Laws says:
“SBS has had a great year.  Its fine coverage of the World Cup soccer – possibly more extensive than any other station in the world – was the highlight.  It, more than anything, put the station on the map.”

Program Highlights (December 8-14):
Sunday:  Tennis (Colonial Mutual Men’s Invitational) on ABC.  Golf (Johnnie Walker Classic) on HSV7 and cricket (Benson And Hedges World Series) on GTV9.  Sunday night movies are North Dallas Forty (GTV9) and Stones For Ibarra (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the first instalment of mini-series George Washington.

Monday:  ABC presents a repeat of Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals, featuring John Halfpenny, Glenn Wheatley, Keith Williams and Wilson Tuckey.

Tuesday:  Prime Minister Bob Hawke presents the Walkley Awards, buried in a broadcast of the National Press Club Luncheon, on ABC at 1.00pm.

Friday:  The final 1990 edition of the late-night Robbo’s World Tonight on GTV9.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 8 December 1990. Southdown Press.

Coming soon… the 7.30 refresh

ABC’s long-running current affairs program The 7.30 Report is about to get a refresh – with new hosts and a new name.

From March next year, the program will be re-named 7.30 and will have two hosts, Leigh Sales and Chris Uhlmann, replacing Kerry O’Brien who is soon to finish up on the program after 15 years.

Sales, currently a presenter of ABC’s Lateline and a contributor to The Drum, will front the new-look program from Sydney, while Uhlmann, with more than 20 years’ experience at ABC and currently a presenter on ABC News 24, will be the show’s Political Editor based in Canberra.

Also joining 7.30 will be ABC Online’s Chief Political Writer Annabel Crabb, providing her own take on political events.

The changes come as The 7.30 Report reaches its 25th anniversary.  The program was launched in January 1986 from the remnants of the short-lived news and current affairs experiment, The National, which had wound up after less than a year on air.

The 7.30 Report began as a state-based current affairs program from each capital city and from 1996 was re-launched as a national program, hosted by O’Brien.

The change to the 7.30 brand will also affect the Friday night current affairs program Stateline, though it will continue to cover local issues each Friday in each state and territory – and if a big local story breaks during the week, 7.30 will cover the news at a local level.

As well as 7.30, the new year will signal another change for ABC news and current affairs – with morning program ABC News Breakfast being moved from digital channel ABC2 to the main ABC1 channel.  The transition will allow the block of children’s programming that currently appears on ABC1 each weekday morning to move to ABC2, coinciding with the expansion of the ABC For Kids brand on the digital channel.

In another program milestone, next year will also mark the 50th anniversary of current affairs program 4 Corners.

Source: The Australian, ABC

1990: December 1-7

Kate’s hush-hush romance
Actress Kate Raison has spoken to TV Week to deny rumours that her three-year romance with former A Country Practice co-star Nick Bufalo is to lead to marriage.  “I don’t know where that one started, but, no, I am definitely not getting married,” she told TV Week.  “There is no truth in that rumour whatsoever.”  Raison (pictured) is soon to make a return to TV, playing the role of newspaper editor Sheridan Sturgess in Network Ten’s E Street.

The great E Street exit! 
Meanwhile, E Street is set to lose three of its foundation cast members going into its third year – with the show’s leading star Penny Cook deciding to take “an extended holiday” after her contract expires in February, while Warren Jones and Vic Rooney are also departing the series when their respective contracts expire.  The departure of Cook – which could be permanent – poses a dilemma for producers who have just matched up her character Dr Elly Fielding to Reverend Bob (Tony Martin) after a lengthy friendship and were hoping to stage an E Street wedding.  There is also the issue of what to do with Dr Fielding’s daughter, Claire (Brooke Anderson), in the series.  Meanwhile, there is talk around the industry that the series is heading to the Nine Network following the financial problems surrounding the Ten Network in recent times.

‘I’m shocked it’s come to this…’
The future of the Nine Network’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday appears to be under a cloud following the split of business partners Daryl Somers and Gavan Disney, whose company DAS Entertainment packages the show for the network.  The company, which is also owned by Ernie Carroll (the man behind Ossie Ostrich), is to be dismantled, with Somers and Carroll expected to set up their own company to produce the show.  Compounding to the drama is that Disney is also the manager of show regulars John Blackman (pictured) and Molly Meldrum.  “I’m shocked it has come to this,” Blackman told TV Week.  “It’s upsetting from all angles that they had to resort to this, but my sole responsibility is to the show and that’s how everybody (the rest of the cast) feels.  We’ve got to look to 1991 with the view that we’ll maintain the success Hey Hey has enjoyed.”

Briefly…
Good news for fans of ABC’s Mother And Son, with news that the popular comedy (starring Ruth Cracknell and Garry McDonald, pictured) is returning in a new series in the latter half of 1991 – ending speculation that the end of the show might be near with reports that cast member Henri Szeps was considering leaving the close-knit cast.  But Cracknell, who plays Maggie Beare, expects Szeps will be back for the new series.  “I hope so,” she says.  “I’m sure he will.  You couldn’t get anyone else to take the role.”

ABC will be hosting its Picnic In The Park event at Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl this weekend.  The six-hour event is set to feature on-stage performances from That’s Dancin’ contestants, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Coodabeen Champions, cast members of The Big Gig and presenters from Play School.  Also attending the event will be weatherman Edwin Maher, cast members of drama series Embassy and ABC radio presenters.

Nine’s Bugs Bunny Show host Sophie Lee is joining the cast of The Flying Doctors.  She will be playing the role of radio operator Penny Wellings, the younger sister of Kate Wellings (Lenore Smith).  Lee is expected to continue to host The Bugs Bunny Show around her new commitments with The Flying Doctors.  Meanwhile, Brett Climo, who plays Dr David Ratcliffe in the series, is leaving the show after two years.

John Laws says…
”As far as Steve Vizard is concerned, it’s probably a good job it’s annual holiday time.  The man who made late-night live entertainment a ratings winner this year was looking decidedly tired, if not exhausted, as he creaked his way through his final programs.  The razor-sharp wit of his early months was blunted, much of the innovative sparkle had spluttered out, and Steve resembled a man dutifully going through the motions, doing his darndest to make things work but finding the task more difficult with each passing night.”

Program Highlights (December 1-7):
Saturday:  A big day of sport for HSV7, starting at 9.00am with live coverage of the Davis Cup: US versus Australia, from Petersburg, Florida.  Then during the afternoon, coverage will switch to the Australian Open golf, live from Sydney.  GTV9 covers the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket: England versus New Zealand, live from Adelaide.

Sunday:  HSV7 crosses to Florida for the Men’s Doubles of the Davis Cup, live from 4.30am.  Then, from midday, the Australian Open golf from Sydney.  GTV9 has another day of the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket, live from Adelaide, while ATV10 crosses to Bondi, Sydney, for the Ironman Super Series.  SBS presents the final edition of current affairs program Vox Populi for 1990.  Sunday night movies are Who Dares Wins (GTV9) and Birdy (ATV10).  HSV7 presents a re-run of mini-series Favourite Son, and ABC’s Esso Night At The Opera presents the Australian Opera production of Cosi Fan Tutte.

Monday:  HSV7 crosses to Florida at 5.00am for the final day’s play of the Davis Cup: US versus Australia.  Game show Wheel Of Fortune (HSV7) moves to the new time of 6.30pm, replacing Home And Away which is on summer break.  Steve Liebmann hosts A Current Affair: Summer Edition (GTV9).

Wednesday:  GTV9 presents the 1987 Australian movie The Tale Of Ruby Rose, starring Melita Jurisic, Chris Haywood and Sheila Florance.

Thursday:  HSV7 presents the first day’s competition of the Johnnie Walker Classic, live from the Melbourne Golf Club.  ABC presents live coverage of tennis, the Colonial Mutual Men’s Invitational, from Kooyong, Melbourne – with an hour of highlights late in the evening.

Friday:  More tennis on ABC.  More golf on HSV7.  And more cricket on GTV9, with the Benson And Hedges World Series: England versus New Zealand, live from Perth.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 1 December 1990. Southdown Press.

Victorian towns in analogue switch-off

Regional Victoria is not scheduled to lose analogue transmissions until May next year, but a handful of towns have been the exception and have already had their analogue signals switched off – with more towns to follow in the new year.

Local analogue transmissions in the Mansfield Shire towns of Howqua and Bonnie Doon were switched off today.  ABC and SBS have already been broadcasting in digital in Bonnie Doon, with Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Ten commencing digital broadcasting today as the analogue services were switched off. 

In Howqua, all five networks commenced digital broadcasting today to coincide with the switch-off of analogue.

The towns of Hopetoun, Lorne, Jeeralang/Yinnar South and Boolarra will also have a similar transition from analogue to digital-only broadcasting in February next year.

Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Ten have also joined ABC and SBS in digital broadcasting today in Mansfield, Eildon and Alexandra – with those towns included in the statewide analogue shutdown in May.

The town of Jamieson is served by community-based transmission infrastructure which will not be upgraded to digital after analogue switches off in May.  Viewers in Jamieson will have access to VAST satellite service to gain access to ABC, SBS and commercial television broadcasts, and government subsidies are available to eligible households to assist in the transition.  VAST will give viewers who can not access digital terrestrial television the full range of digital channels via ABC, SBS, Imparja (Nine), Southern Cross Television (Seven) and Ten Central plus a local news channel.

The early and quick transition to digital-only broadcasting in these towns is due to lack of availability of broadcast spectrum to enable simulcasting between analogue and digital for all networks.

The remainder of the regional Victoria market (outside of Mildura/Sunraysia which has already lost analogue transmission) will lose all analogue TV broadcasts on 5 May 2011.

More information on the digital transition, including details of the household assistance schemes, can be found at the Digital Ready website or telephone 1300201013.

Source: Digital Ready

Seven wins 2010

The Seven Network has won the ratings battle for the fourth consecutive year – but all three commercial networks will have something to smile about.

Seven won the ratings year (which concluded yesterday) with an overall audience share of 28.7 per cent (6pm-12mn, 5 cities), followed by Nine (27.7), Ten (21.2), ABC (16.9) and SBS (5.6).

As far as individuals channels go, Seven (24.6) won against Nine (23.5), Ten (19.7), ABC1 (14.5), SBS1 (5.0), GO! (3.8), 7TWO (3.5), 7mate (2.7), GEM (1.7), ABC2 (1.6), One (1.4), SBS2 (0.6) and ABC3 and ABC News 24 (both 0.5).

Topping Seven’s ratings list is Packed To The Rafters (pictured), Australia’s Got Talent, the AFL Grand Final (and the re-match), Such Is Life: The Troubled Times Of Ben Cousins, the Melbourne Cup and the men’s final of the Australian Open.

Seven News, Today Tonight, Sunrise, The Morning Show and Weekend Sunrise all outrated their Nine Network rivals.

My Kitchen Rules (pictured) returned strong ratings but failed to dampen any enthusiasm for the return of Ten’s Masterchef Australia. The X Factor, despite all the hype, promotion and expense, failed to hit any significant ratings highs but returned decent ratings with a last-minute increase as the series came to a climax.  Dancing With The Stars also returned solid ratings as it ran its tenth series and Beauty And The Geek drew big numbers for what is normally a lack lustre Thursday night.

But not everything went Seven’s way this year.  The White Room, The Bounce, Australia Versus and Beat The Star were all prime-time ratings flops.  Iron Chef failed to gain a significant hold on the audience.  Home And Away, which has just ended its 23rd year, was beaten by repeats of US sitcom Two And A Half Men on Nine, and the future of City Homicide appears uncertain.

The Nine Network (i.e. Nine, GO! and GEM) is claiming victory in the advertiser-friendly demographics of 18-49, 16-39 and 25-54 age groups, although Nine’s primary channel was beaten by Ten in 16-39 age group viewers.

Nine’s biggest hit of 2010 was drama series Underbelly 3: The Golden Mile.  Nine also scored well with the NRL State Of Origin and NRL Grand Final.  Reality show The Farmer Wants A Wife returned solid ratings, while The Block (pictured), however, perhaps fell short of expectations but still managed decent numbers. Hey Hey It’s Saturday, which aired on Wednesday nights before being reinstated to its traditional Saturday night spot, has struggled to maintain significant support outside of Melbourne and its future is yet to be decided.  Top Gear and its Australian version rated well.  Sydney-based police drama Cops LAC failed to click with viewers.

The TV Week Logie Awards scored slightly lower than last year though this time it had to contend with competition from Masterchef Australia.

Nine continues to draw heavily on Two And A Half Men to boost its numbers, not just on Nine but also on digital channel GO!  Eddie McGuire’s Millionaire Hot Seat is now paying dividends against Seven’s Deal Or No Deal.

For Network Ten, as well as the primary channel taking out the 16-39 age group, the biggest hit was once again Masterchef Australia.  Like last year the series broke new post-2001 ratings records with more than 4 million viewers tuning in to see the winner, Adam Liaw (pictured) announced.  The series spin-off Junior Masterchef started on a ratings high but despite the inevitable ratings drop that followed it still sat at the top end of the ratings ladder.

Apart from the Masterchef titles the top of Ten’s list of ratings performers were predominantly imported programs – Modern Family, NCIS, Glee and Undercover Boss – although Shaun Micallef’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation was a strong performer as was the Australian adaptation of Undercover Boss and the new factual series Keeping Up With The Joneses.  The special Hamish And Andy’s Caravan Of Courage: Great Britain And Ireland and the telemovie Hawke were also ratings hits. 

New drama series Offspring (starring Asher Keddie, pictured) returned good Sunday night figures, particularly with younger viewers, although the Thursday night series Rush has struggled to be consistent and has seen ratings fall.  Both shows have been renewed for 2011.

The elephant in Ten’s room this year, however, is the Commonwealth Games.  The 11-day competition, traditionally a ratings winner, failed to return any significant ratings results for Ten, although it did give a boost to sports channel One.  The effect of the Games, which took Ten’s entire prime-time schedule out of circulation for two weeks, has seen shows like The 7PM Project and Neighbours lose any sense of ratings momentum they might have had pre-Games and saw viewers flock to digital channels in search of other viewing options.  The 7PM Project has seen its numbers slowly claw back to somewhere near decent, but Neighbours continues to stumble and has hit hit new ratings lows this year but will live on next year on Ten’s new digital channel, 11.

ABC’s The Gruen Transfer was among its highest raters this year, and its election-themed spin-off, Gruen Nation, topped the national broadcaster’s ratings list this year.  Spicks And Specks and The Chaser’s Yes We Canberra were strong performers, along with imported shows Midsomer Murders, Doc Martin and New Tricks.  Drama series Rake, starring Richard Roxburgh, got off to a high-rating start but ratings quickly fell.  The network also had to get the axe out – a rare occasion – for its Wednesday night series, Strictly Speaking, which returned ratings that even had ABC hanging its head in shame.

SBS, which has lost the Top Gear franchise to Nine, saw ratings fall this year, though the network scored well with the FIFA World Cup, from South Africa, with the match between Ghana and Australia being watched by over 1.3 million viewers.

Networks now go into summer non-ratings mode until February, though viewing data is still collected and reported to networks over the non-ratings period.

Seven wins ‘09
It’s Seven in ‘08
Seven wins ‘07

Ray Dinneen to sign off from NBN News

Veteran NBN newsreader Ray Dinneen has announced that he will be retiring from the newsdesk next month, ending a career spanning 36 years.

He will present his final NBN News bulletin on 17 December.  Weekend newsreader Paul Lobb will take on the weekday newsreading role after Dinneen’s departure.

NBN is the Nine Network’s regional broadcaster, based in Newcastle and broadcasting through Northern NSW from Gosford and the Central Coast up to the Gold Coast in Queensland.  NBN News presents a nightly bulletin containing local and national news.

Source: NBN