AB
it could depend on the theme licensing agreement, or maybe we'll see a full launch on monday
WH
In Regional WA (that is, the state of Western Australia except Perth), a deal between Channel Nine and WDT (a joint venture between (Prime's) GWN7 and WIN Television which carried Channel Ten channels before) was not finalised. As a result, WDT's channels have gone off air.
In Northeast NSW, a Southern Cross-owned station is still carrying Channel Ten programming, but has dropped 'Southern Cross Ten' branding in favour of generic Ten brand. This is because, in that region, Nine-owned NBN is affiliated to the main network, and it's unlikely to drop Nine's programmes.
Speaking of that region, NBN has droped its own branding in favour of Nine (except for news).
In Northeast NSW, a Southern Cross-owned station is still carrying Channel Ten programming, but has dropped 'Southern Cross Ten' branding in favour of generic Ten brand. This is because, in that region, Nine-owned NBN is affiliated to the main network, and it's unlikely to drop Nine's programmes.
Speaking of that region, NBN has droped its own branding in favour of Nine (except for news).
Last edited by whoiam989 on 3 July 2016 4:14am
NW
Before reading this thread I didn't realise how complex Australian television is set up. I didn't realise there were that many affiliates either. I just guessed the networks owned and operated in the vast majority of areas, but you learn something new every day. Although it has been very interesting to read.
GE
thegeek
Founding member
meanwhile, it seems a deal hasn't been signed in rural WA, so viewers are getting panoramic shots of Australia in place of Nine network programming.
(and in largely unrelated news, Nine's website has moved from ninemsn.com.au to nine.com.au - Microsoft sold its stake in the site in 2013, but I guess the marketing agreement has finally run out)
(and in largely unrelated news, Nine's website has moved from ninemsn.com.au to nine.com.au - Microsoft sold its stake in the site in 2013, but I guess the marketing agreement has finally run out)
Last edited by thegeek on 2 July 2016 11:00am
WH
Apparently yes. There's a "Reach rule" that, for example, prevents Channel Nine from reaching more than 75% of all audiences across Australia. So the metropolitan networks must make affiliation deals with regional networks.
(I'm also hearing that the Australian Government is preparing to scrap that rule.)
Are there laws preventing the networks from buying these affiliates? It seems odd that none of them have done an ITV and gobbled up a lot of them.
Apparently yes. There's a "Reach rule" that, for example, prevents Channel Nine from reaching more than 75% of all audiences across Australia. So the metropolitan networks must make affiliation deals with regional networks.
(I'm also hearing that the Australian Government is preparing to scrap that rule.)
Last edited by whoiam989 on 2 July 2016 1:06pm - 2 times in total
WH
JUST IN: Channel Nine programming finally has begun on WDT in Regional WA.
(Cue the Vesti at 8 pm music from 2015.)
(Cue the Vesti at 8 pm music from 2015.)
WH
Before 1 July, local news summaries that Southern Cross Ten (and some of joint venture Ten affiliates where Southern Cross owned a half) ran at certain breaks looked like below:
(Looks like some Media Spy folks call them "noodle updates", presumably for the thing in the title card.)
Since 1 July, Southern Cross stations affiliated to Nine took this look:
SC's Northeast NSW station I mentioned above (which opted to use generic Ten branding) uses title card that looks genuine to Ten Eyewitness News title. (Can't find any video on YouTube, though.)
Awful! Arial everywhere! At least Southern Cross could use free Montserrat font, since Ten Eyewitness News uses Gotham, and Nine News uses what looks like Proxima Nova.
(Looks like some Media Spy folks call them "noodle updates", presumably for the thing in the title card.)
Since 1 July, Southern Cross stations affiliated to Nine took this look:
SC's Northeast NSW station I mentioned above (which opted to use generic Ten branding) uses title card that looks genuine to Ten Eyewitness News title. (Can't find any video on YouTube, though.)
Awful! Arial everywhere! At least Southern Cross could use free Montserrat font, since Ten Eyewitness News uses Gotham, and Nine News uses what looks like Proxima Nova.
SC
Apparently yes. There's a "Reach rule" that, for example, prevents Channel Nine from reaching more than 75% of all audiences across Australia. So the metropolitan networks must make affiliation deals with regional networks.
(I'm also hearing that the Australian Government is preparing to scrap that rule.)
There have been some cases of the metropolitan networks buying out regional stations - Nine own and operate NDT, the Nine 'affiliate' in Darwin, and Seven own 'Seven Queensland', serving much of the non-remote areas of the state (outside Brisbane).
It's been much more common for the regional stations to buy each other, so the majority of regional stations are now owned by WIN, SCA (Southern Cross), and Prime. That's where we can compare the situation to what happened within the ITV network. Where many local townships once had a TV channel with its own on-air look and, certainly in the early days, it's own schedule, many now look identical, and are known on-air by the parent company's name, eg. WIN, Prime. Scheduling may still differ between states, depending on affiliation particulars, and WIN actually produces 16 different half-hour local news programmes, which will continue despite the Ten affiliation in most markets.
Affiliation is something of a minefield, particularly in areas without full aggregation. Although I believe almost all markets now have three commercial channels, some still have stations with dual-affiliation - even if there are three stations, harking back to the days before DSO. For example, Tasmania had Southern Cross, which had both Seven and Ten affiliation, and (I think) WIN, a Nine affiliate. There was a station called TDT, on digital only, which carried Ten programming - but because only digital viewers could see it, SCA continued with both Seven and Ten affiliation.
I can't quite get my head around whether all areas now have three commercial channels - there are definitely stations that have dual affiliations, but, like the Tassie example, may have three channels. One station, it may be the Nine affiliate in Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill, carries Nine's schedule apart from news and current affairs which it takes from Seven, such as Sunrise at breakfast time rather than Today.
I could go on, but I'll just confuse us all, including myself! Have a look at this wiki page which is pretty much up to date:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_television_in_Australia
Are there laws preventing the networks from buying these affiliates? It seems odd that none of them have done an ITV and gobbled up a lot of them.
Apparently yes. There's a "Reach rule" that, for example, prevents Channel Nine from reaching more than 75% of all audiences across Australia. So the metropolitan networks must make affiliation deals with regional networks.
(I'm also hearing that the Australian Government is preparing to scrap that rule.)
There have been some cases of the metropolitan networks buying out regional stations - Nine own and operate NDT, the Nine 'affiliate' in Darwin, and Seven own 'Seven Queensland', serving much of the non-remote areas of the state (outside Brisbane).
It's been much more common for the regional stations to buy each other, so the majority of regional stations are now owned by WIN, SCA (Southern Cross), and Prime. That's where we can compare the situation to what happened within the ITV network. Where many local townships once had a TV channel with its own on-air look and, certainly in the early days, it's own schedule, many now look identical, and are known on-air by the parent company's name, eg. WIN, Prime. Scheduling may still differ between states, depending on affiliation particulars, and WIN actually produces 16 different half-hour local news programmes, which will continue despite the Ten affiliation in most markets.
Affiliation is something of a minefield, particularly in areas without full aggregation. Although I believe almost all markets now have three commercial channels, some still have stations with dual-affiliation - even if there are three stations, harking back to the days before DSO. For example, Tasmania had Southern Cross, which had both Seven and Ten affiliation, and (I think) WIN, a Nine affiliate. There was a station called TDT, on digital only, which carried Ten programming - but because only digital viewers could see it, SCA continued with both Seven and Ten affiliation.
I can't quite get my head around whether all areas now have three commercial channels - there are definitely stations that have dual affiliations, but, like the Tassie example, may have three channels. One station, it may be the Nine affiliate in Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill, carries Nine's schedule apart from news and current affairs which it takes from Seven, such as Sunrise at breakfast time rather than Today.
I could go on, but I'll just confuse us all, including myself! Have a look at this wiki page which is pretty much up to date:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_television_in_Australia