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Nine has quit Sony deal

Nine did not renew its output deal with Sony Pictures Television, prior to this year's LA screenings.

Nine is understood to let go its output deal with Sony Pictures Television, opting not to renew with the Hollywood studio prior to the LA screenings.

It retained is output deal with Warner Bros.

The move meant the shows Sony showcased at the last LA screenings are believed to be without an Australian broadcaster:

The Last Resort (ABC)
The Mob Doctor (FOX) [pictured]
Made in Jersey (CBS)
Hannibal (NBC)
Save Me (NBC)

Other broadcasters are believed to be in discussion with Sony.

On Wednesday CEO David Gyngell told Aussie media, “The Nine Network has walked away from a big Hollywood studio and I’m pretty sure the Seven Network will walk away from a big Hollywood studio.”

He cited Downton Abbey and Revenge as the only two overseas shows working on Australian TV.

“If you throw in The Big Bang Theory and a few other small bits of television you can fill up schedules but you will not pull big audiences to FTA television when you are competing for eyeballs for television from a range of devices.”

Gyngell plans to lobby Communications Minister Stephen Conroy for further licence fee rebates.

“People wrote that the licence fee rebate went to to bottom line – it hasn’t. The profitability of the three commercial TV networks are at an all-time low. We have to keep investing in local production and the government respects that. I’m going to lobby him to go harder to reduce the next round of licence fees not so we can improve the bottom line, but so we can again invest in Australian production and Australian drama.”

He singled out TEN’s Offspring as the best on local TV lately.

“We have made some OK television in the past three years, but our new House Husbands for me is the best piece of character drama we have made at Channel Nine. I’ve put plenty of bad television on air in the past but I reckon I’m right on this one.

Underbelly Badness is an amazing piece of television. We need to do some work with investors to ensure that when you come up with something as good as this it shouldn’t have to stop after 65 episodes. Underbelly has given great employment and great opportunities to different people as it’s been a different story every series.

“One project important to me is Kerry Packer’s War. The story Chris Lee has told and the research he has clearly done is so good that there’s only a few people like myself, James Packer, his mother and perhaps John Cornell will pick up on. Lachy Hulmes’ performance is so good that I get a little nervous and a little bit sweaty when I see it.”

Source: Mediaweek

33 Responses

  1. @James-original
    You have totally missed my point,I am not talking about the state of mind of the undereducated viewer.
    I am referring to the fact that as people obviously such as yourself eventually realize that with age of Digital (I notice that you seem not to understand that all the channels are “Digital”) these channel names will just be the same as referred to on Austar or Fox.
    A channel will be a channel such as Fox8 or Arena and not just a name, are you honestly telling me that people remain ignorant to the programme they want to watch being on a channel they are not familiar.
    Most people I know just scroll up and down till they find what they want the same as they do with Pay TV.
    Saying that a show doesn’t do as well if up against a Prime show on the prime Digital channel is at best naive,my point is a particular show that someone wishes to watch is as simple as a button push only a network employee would not admit to that.

  2. Maybe seven would get Sony officially for put other first run and more classic shows for 7two and 7 mate, also they should have rights for put more old movies on 7two and 7mate and lastly put only popular first run FTA movies on 7 from Sony. Also they need to join forces for more yahoo 7 content on more Sony products including plus 7 on psvita. If it goes on ten (again) it will not work for same movies played over and over again like Fox’s The Devil Wears prada

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