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“Light fare” for new digital channels

Lighter, "feel-good" entertainment are likely to comprise the bulk of programming on new digital channels say 9 and 10.

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Channels TEN and Nine have told the Sydney Morning Herald this week they had finalised their programming blueprints for their new secondary digital channels, to begin next year.

Their plans contradict earlier reports the networks might collaborate with complementary programming.

“We have a very clear strategy internally as to where we see multi-channelling going, but we are doing our own thing,” said TEN’s chief programming officer, David Mott. “There are obviously some sensitivities on what we are actually doing, but we are playing our own game.”

Nine’s network director of programming, Michael Healy, said Nine expected content deals would be made at MIPCOM in Cannes this month.

Seven’s programming boss, Tim Worner, was already overseas and did not want to comment.

Both Mr Mott and Mr Healy said they were expecting lighter, “feel-good” entertainment and a swing away from the heavier crime and conspiracy programs. Healy added Nine’s new secondary channels could be “a bit more niche”.

“Feel-good kind of speaks to the sorts of shows which we think are right for us next year,” Mr Mott said. “It’s along those lines of feel-good, fun, domestic and not too worthy. Shows can have an element of tabloid to them but not trashy TV. It is very clear now there is a market for that on cable but not free-to-air.”

Mr Healy concurred with the “happy” trend for 2009. “People are gravitating to lighter relief,” he said. “Traditionally, that happens when things become a little tougher. People look to feel-good content. They’re looking at nesting again and lifestyle seems to be having a resurgence. There’s an obvious trend happening, so we’re going with it. We’re fortunate that at the start of the year we had Domestic Blitz, which is a very emotionally engaging show. That’s been a tremendous success.”

Seven, Nine and TEN are allowed to launch their new digital channels from January 1st, although they are under no compunction to do so.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

19 Responses

  1. I fail to see how these so called “feel good” programs are in demand at any time let alone when times are tough. Who wants to see disasters whether air crashes, road traumas, medical emergencies and the like currently being offered on all channels. We need more programs that take our minds off the day to day stuff, more escapism, anything that is not reality based. More sci fi for example. Channel 7 has been leading the way with programs like Heros, Lost, Prison Break etc – but now seems to be pushing them into later and later time slots. Basically the reality concept has out lived its purpose – it is cheap and nasty tv and for every show shown there is a duplicate on another channel. Please think of the viewers before profits. With the cost of electronic equiptment these days one would expect better quality programming.

  2. We need fewer channels, not more.
    Even now there are not enough good programs for the existing channels.
    When more channels are introduced, we’ll see the standards and quality plummet further, just like cable TV. What a pathetic disappointment that turned out to be.
    With more free-to-air channels, the television stations are going to lower their costs further, i.e. cheaper productions and more advertising. Sure you’ll get a bigger “choice”, but for dinner I’d like a steak, not a choice between twenty different dog foods.

  3. Will these new channels keep shows on instead of pulling them off every which way?

    This quote scares me a bit:

    “they were expecting lighter, “feel-good” entertainment”

    I enjoy serious shows but I also enjoy light-hearted things. What I don’t enjoy is constantly being bombarded but stupid shows like Wipeout and Dancing With The Stars. I hope that’s not what they mean. There are plenty of comedies they can put on.

  4. Benno, what do you mean like now, currently there are no figures reported for the HD stations. They are due to begin in November. They should be measured separately anyway.

    Russell, I doubt that Nine would call their digital-only channel Channel 99 because that channel is already occupied by the Nine Guide.

  5. Would the ratings for all the multichannels be added up, or measured separately?

    eg. say ten has SVU on one channel, house on another, and everybody hates chris on the other, would all these dissected ratings be combined to one figure, just like they are now?

  6. I hope that Ten move all their current HD only programs to the new channel and show HD content on the HD channel (that is also shown on ten SD). Too many shows are not shown on tenHD (that are on tenSD) because HD breakaway. For example, SVU last night (X Files was on HD) and Rove on Sundays (some car racing was on HD).

  7. An All sport channel would be hard to make profitable. Only big sports like Olympics, AFL etc make money. Golf, NASCAR and other niche programs that are currently on air, will be hard to sell to advertisers because of small ratings versus big costs.

    An all australian station is ridiculous…Aussie shows have a terrible track record with Aussie audiences…sure some are hits, but not enough for an entire channel

  8. In the UK Five have: Five, Five US and Fiver. I think eventually you’ll see that kind of thing here. But initially the networks seem clueless how to make money from this and are scared that audience fragmentation will lead to smaller ratings on their main channel (but this is something that has already been happening to them for 15 years with Pay TV) This is the networks chnace to stop the growth rate of Pay Tv and stop the bleeding of viewers to pay.
    I don’t think you see localised feeds or programming AT ALL. They will totally national channels with national ad feeds (liek pay TV) I think initially auds will be small and no need to sell localised advertising in different markets.
    I think you see Tonight signposts that list shows on the main network and the secondary channel. And coming back from a commercial break the graphic down the bottom may say
    NOW: GETAWAY
    NEXT: THE STRIP
    ON 9+: KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
    Now the really interesting question: What will these new networks be called? Ideas?
    NINE: Niner, Channel 99, Ninety9, Nine+, Nine2, NextNext
    TEN: Tener, Ten Sport, TenTen, Ten+
    SEVEN: 7Extra, 7Plus, Seventy2

    ??

  9. so what happens to the HD stations when this happens? will they go back to being a simulcast of the first SD channel? and all break-away programming will now be on the SD2 station? or will the HD ones continue as is and there will be 3 different stations? coz i love 10HD as it is now and don’t want to loose my shows, even if they do move to SD2 we won’t get the HD quality on them and it is likely they will be regularly interrupted with sports if they are both sharing the one station. so how does this affect the current HD stations???

  11. I was kinda hoping TEN would make an all sport channel so that on TEN HD and TEN there would be a lot less of it lol.

    And by the time 2012 comes around whoever will air the olympics will have it a lot easier as they can spread the coverage over all their channels, so they could air all the events and possibly play some twice or three times so that if you miss out on it the first time you could watch it again later. >_> This is assuming that the online coverage is as lackluster as Seven’s this year..

  13. Well I for one am relieved! I went on record as saying that carving up the programs and sharing content would not work, not to mention such strong niche branding of the networks. It sounds like we will get a closer version of the UK model when it comes to multi-channeling – and I think that’s a very good thing.

    Ryano I think you will find that Ten will most probably be showing quite a bit of sport on this channel anyway, as they seem to have been buying up a lot of different sports of late. I think dedicating the whole channel to it would not have been financially feasible – while the top programs on pay TV are sports, they are usually NRL and AFL, which Ten would not have been able to get rights to (at least not until contracts were re-negotiated). The sports they do have don’t appear to be big audience draw cards either.

    These channels will probably be a mix of cheap new US (and UK) shows, a dumping ground for lower rating main channel shows in better time slots, sports events and hopefully a platform to promote shows on the regular channel.

  15. Question to T.V. people: Why not have an All-Australian channel. It could have Australia television shows, movies, music videos and general culture programs.

  16. David Mott… my friend… what about the idea of the all sports digital channel? Are you still doing this? This article does not sound promising.
    How could ten go wrong with an all sport channel? Just look at the top rated programs on pay TV any week of the year, sport, sport and more sport.
    I don’t watch anything on TV except for Sport. Marketers would put me in the ‘young up and coming professional ‘category. Im 22 with a Degree. No advertising on television is going to capture my attention unless it’s on during a sporting event.
    Come on man! TEN SPORTS NETWORK NOW! Say it with me…..
    How could you go wrong with an all sports channel? You might actually save the ten network, “Light fare” ‘aint gonna bloody do it for your shareholders buddy.
    When times are tough people need distractions. Sport is the greatest distraction off all, it grabs all your key demographics, families love sport, everyone loves sport! You could build around popular sports orientated local shows and content for each of the 5 major markets. The possibilities are endless…
    TEN SPORTS NETWORK NOW!

  18. I would not be surprised if Nine uses their advantage (i.e. no centralised playout on the East Coast) to create, three distinct channels (making each channel localised). As for WIN, I would expect a half Nine, half, Crawfords-based lineup for their two capital city affiliates.

    Ten’s is a completely different story. It should have some local content depending on where you live, as currently Ten is just the same old station wherever you go in Australia.

    But Seven has the hardest job. It is probably pacing the floor, because it not just has to produce five capital city feeds, but another six or so regional Queensland feeds as well. So a localised channel could also be a good move (especially in regional Queensland and Brisbane where local content is often demanded…).

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