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TV1, Arena, Ovation changes

Today TV1 and Arena go widescreen while Ovation becomes available to Foxtel viewers again for an extra fee.

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A few changes on your Pay TV screen from today, June 1st.

TV1 and Arena have both gone widescreen. Some shows on TV1 including Seinfeld will now be seen in widescreen.

TV1 also introduces new-look promos made by zspace with five different mini-brands (Generic, Comedy, Crime, Afternoons and Groovy Movie), while retaining the ‘modern retro’ vibe to the channel.

Also today the Ovation Channel returns to the Foxtel /Austar platform on Ch 134 but as an add-on channel, requiring separate subscription of $9.95 per month. The monthly fee for Austar subscribers is $6.

Ovation was replaced by new Arts channel STVDIO as part of Foxtel / Austar packages in April.

Ovation’s website hosts a slew of pages of comments from subscribers unhappy about the move.

26 Responses

  1. @ Craig – my apologies i was referring to Entertainment Tonight but some how i wrote E! news instead. Sometimes I have that many things going through my head i make myself sound like an idiot =p. However i finally got a reply from Arena:
    “It appears that an error in our feeback software has prevented the delivery of all responses since early June. This is an error we only became aware of on Friday and our website technicians are working on fixing the problem as a matter of urgency
    The Ellen Degeneres Show is currently on hiatus, returning in September, so for the next couple of months we will be airing repeat episodes which were recorded when Arena TV broadcast in 4:3. We have ARCed these episodes to pillarboxed 16:9 in order to air them in accordance with the new channel format.
    Both Ellen and Entertainment Tonight are transmitted in both 4:3 and 16:9 HD, however Foxtel does not currently have the technology to receive the 16:9 transmission while retaining captions, which is a priority for the channel. For this reason these two programmes will continue to be broadcast as pillarboxed 16:9 for the time being. Please be assured, however, that our broadcast team is working on this issue and hope to have it resolved before the new series of The Ellen Degeneres Show airs in September.
    The Insider is recorded and broadcast in full frame 16:9.”
    I dont know if anyone checks this page anymore but i thought it was worth while posting it on here.

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