Australian TV

And that logo was copied from Nine MSN

Ah... No. The old nineMSN logo was different to that... Similar elements, maybe - but the configuration was quite different.

That's what i meant.

BTW for all the people who are PMing me i have a wealth of knowledge of Australian (and to a lesser extent New Zealand TV) however i don't get pay-tv, only FTA tv and Digital tv.

Despite the previous listing by Digital_J, would ABC 1 still be considered the 'top' station as with BBC 1? Does it get the highest ratings generally?

Also what's the news production like with it; it's always difficult to imagine 'seriousness' and 'Establishment channels' in sunny, youth oriented places like Australia

Well, ABC News is very serious (and personally I think biased to the liberal party) and shows mainly national news and some international news. Seven News shows local, national and international news, and Nine is a bit like ITV News - entertainment and sport. Ten News is the best in my opinion and is like the Channel 4 news as it goes for an hour. SBS News has more output of World News and slight political news back home. Hope this helps.

Thanks Digital J - seems like you've a lot of choice for a comparitively small population. And how is the ABC funded, direct funds from government, licence fee or dual-funded with advertising?
Esssentially do they have a strong PSB remit, and is this reflected in its news coverage compared with the commercials?
Does its presentation reflect this at all either?

ABC is funded by the government and shows no commercials, however SBS is funded by the government as well but shows commercials between programs, not during them.

It's fair to say that the Australian approach to 'public service broadcasting' is far more similar to the American approach rather than the British approach. The ABC and SBS are not high rating channels - they basically exist to show programming that commercial networks won't (in economic terms - they exist to correct 'market failure'). Yes, the ABC shows a lot of BBC programming, although this is because, to put it simply, British programmes don't rate well in Australia generally . But it certainly doesn't operate in the same sense as BBC1, in actively competing for ratings - it is there to provide for public service interests.

ABC2 is a digital channel that shows some unique programming, but mainly shows that same programmes as the main ABC channel, but at different times. Once again, not comparable to BBC2 - although at a stretch you might claim a mix of BBC3/BBC4.

SBS is our multicultural broadcaster - it shows foreign language content, including foreign language news bulletins from around the world. It actually has a digital "World News Channel" service, which airs foreign language news bulletins around the clock.

Of the commercial networks, 7 and 9 are generally considered the two major players. 10's in there with a fighting chance - and with shows like Big Brother and Australian Idol, it certainly does well for itself at times of year, but for the most part, the battle is between 7 and 9 to be the ratings leader. 10 however is the most profitable of our TV networks, as I understand it - it spends less per ratings point than any other network.

7 is home to TV hits such as Desperate Housewives and Lost. It also has homegrown stuff like Home & Away and Blue Heelers.

9 has all 3 CSI's, and other crime shows - it does very well on the back of those. It also has Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Temptation, and makes McLeod's Daughters (I know that's screened on a cable channel in the US - I don't know about the UK).

10 has, as I said, stuff like Australian Idol and Big Brother. It has all the Law & Order series, which used to do quite well for it, but now it's been blown out of the water by good programming strategies by 7 and 9. In terms of Australian stuff, Neighbours is the one you're most likely to have heard of. It also does Rove Live.

There's not really much point talking about pay TV - it doesn't have a big reach in Australia. I believe something like 1-2 million households have it - I don't know for sure. It's a small market though. That's probably a product of higher prices for services (big country requiring lots of infrastructure, for a comparatively small population), and also the very healthy commercial environment in FTA television, in comparison to the UK where the major player is, basically, the government (the BBC).

Although usually 4th and 5th in the rating ABC and SBS have come up with a few suprises.
With ABC it's Kath and Kim and it's major news revamp.
And SBS is showing Mythbusters which is delivering them about 800,000 people watching.

BTW for a show to become a "HIT" in Australia, about 1 million peole need to watch.

Seven have had a pretty good year, helped along by Lost and Desperate Housewives. The Home & Away Stalker Storyline has also helped boost ratings on the channel - the storyline is just starting up in the UK now.

Hmm... I think the magic 1 mill mark does not make a show a hit, it just keeps the axe away. Hits are around the vicinity of 1.7 - 2.1 million viewers. A stable performer would be around 1.2-4 million. But 800K on SBS is considered a huge hit by its standards.

When I was in OZ a few years back I noticed that the commercial channels all outsourced there international news. With Channel Nine using ITN, Channel 7 used some was it NBC? Is this still the case and who does Channel Ten use?