ONE HD bumps TEN HD into limbo
Fans asking about their favourite TEN HD shows are left in limbo as ONE HD takes over from April.
- Published by David Knox
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TEN’s “science fiction Thursday”, Neighbours catch-up, timeshifted News and documentaries on TEN HD could become a thing of the past with confirmation that there is no contingency plan announced alongside the launch of ONE HD.
TEN HD will continue on air until April when it is overtaken by TEN’s 24hr sports channel ONE HD. The current home of TEN HD, Channel 12, will broadcast the sports content in standard definition.
That leaves Smallville and other fan favourites in television limbo. Other shows including Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, One Tree Hill, Friday Night Lights and Monk have found a home on TEN HD after being snubbed by TEN’s analogue channel. While some will have concluded their run by April, a spokesperson could not confirm the future for shows that drop off analogue to TV Tonight.
“The reason we’ve gone with HD for ONE is because sport is something that is just so well suited to HD, because of the nature of the content,” said a spokesperson.
One of the current benefits of having the HD channel is to allow viewers to see favourite shows in high definition. Key shows including Australian Idol, Rove, Neighbours, Supernatural, NCIS, Rush, House, Life, 9AM with David and Kim, Oprah Winfrey and The Late Show with David Letterman can all be seen in high definition.
But the introduction of ONE HD viewers will see those programmes air in digital but not high definition.
The list of sports coming to ONE HD is not without some “jewels in the crown” but it doesnt mean TEN’s analogue channel will be sports-free. Some sports will air simultaneously on SD and HD. Others may even screen on SD first.
Press Release:
Network Ten today announced the first all-new commercial free-to-air television channel in almost 50
years, a dedicated sports channel to provide Australians 24-hour sports coverage from home and around the world.
As a free-to-air channel, it will be available to Australians who are widely acknowledged as the world’s
greatest sports enthusiasts. The new channel will allow Australians to share their unifying passion for
sport: and will be named ONE.
ONE will be broadcast from early in the second quarter of calendar 2009 in High Definition (HD) on
Channel 1 and it will also be available in Standard Definition (SD) on the network’s second SD channel
(Channel 12).
Network Ten CEO Grant Blackley said ONE’s all-sports programming format will appeal to Australians’
shared passion for sport and, also, ensure that Network Ten as a multi-channel broadcaster continues to build a new and more diverse audience.
“ONE’s appeal to Australia’s natural sports lovers will complement TEN’s seriously different programming
strategy – with each channel offering viewers and clients a unique and appealing programming format,”
Mr Blackley said.
“TEN continues to pursue its targeted strategy – that is, with a primary focus on building its competitive share in the strategically valuable 18-49s, and maintaining the leading position in 16-39s. TEN is also the number one network in day time in all key demos.
“In considering the opportunities for our new multi-channel, it became obvious very quickly that sport
would be a highly attractive genre for the Australian viewing public, of both genders and all ages. There is currently no dedicated free-to-air sports channel in this market, and Ten has existing relationships with key sports rights holders and a reputation for delivery of high quality sports broadcasts.
“Importantly, the network’s upgraded broadcast infrastructure means we are exceptionally well placed to provide these three digital channels, supporting our network’s – and the industry’s – move into a multichannel and multi-platform environment.
“We anticipate that ONE will add significant momentum to digital switchover by giving Australian viewers a compelling reason to purchase an HD or SD receiver,” Mr Blackley said The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, said Network Ten’s initiative heralded a new era in Australian free-to-air broadcasting.
“Innovations such as Network Ten’s digital sport channel will play an important part in Australia’s
transition from analogue to digital television,” Senator Conroy said.
“The Rudd Government is committed to ensuring Australia completes a smooth transition to digital
television and the availability of more diverse and broadly appealing free-to-air multi-channel
programming will assist that process.”
Network Ten’s general manager – sport, David White, said sport plays a prominent role in Australian
culture and identity, and it is uniquely suited to digital TV – with its emphasis on the best broadcast clarity of picture and sound.
“The programming schedule for ONE will showcase the sports Australians love, in a way they will enjoy
viewing them,” Mr White said.
“Live and exclusive will be a hallmark of the channel.”
“Broadcasting in digital means we will be able to most vividly capture the greatest sporting events and
achievements, along with the intimate details of the intense human dramas that play out in sport.
“We believe ONE will appeal to a broad audience and very quickly become a regular and enjoyable part
of Australians’ sports viewing habit,” he said.
Some of the sports highlights that viewers can expect to enjoy on ONE include:
AFL – the 2009 NAB Cup, home and away season, and finals including the Grand Final returning to the
network in 2009
Netball – ANZ Championship Competition and all Test matches featuring the Australian Netball
Diamonds, exclusively for the next five years
Commonwealth Games – 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games
Cricket – Indian Premier League Cricket, the world’s premier annual Twenty20 cricket competition
Formula 1 – every round of the F1 World Championship
Moto GP – extensive coverage of every round of the World Championship
NASCAR – live coverage of the Daytona 500 and other major Sprint Cup races, live coverage of the
Nationwide Series, as well as Sprint Cup qualifying
Australian Rally Championship – exclusive coverage of every round
National Football League (NFL) – three games per week live, including the flagship Sunday and
Monday night games, as well as live coverage of play-offs and the Super Bowl
Major League Baseball (MLB) – five games per week live, including prime time coverage of play-offs and World Series National Basketball Association (NBA) – three games per week live
Golf – US Masters, US Open, World Golf Championships including the Accenture MatchPlay
Championship, the CA Championship, the Bridgestone Invitational and the World Cup, Australian PGA,
Ladies Masters, 2010 Ryder Cup, and 15 additional international and domestic events including the Johnnie Walker Classic, and the Asian tour’s flagship event the Singapore Open and the tour’s seasonending Volvo Masters of Asia.
U.S. College sports – American football and basketball
Tennis – ATP and WTA tennis, details to be confirmed, approximately 11 tournaments during 2009.
Swimming – Network Ten is delighted to announce that, from 2009, it is the exclusive broadcaster for
Swimming Australia. This includes coverage of the Australian Swimming Championships, Pan Pacific
Championships, Australian Short Course Championships, FINA World Short Course, Swimmer of the
Year – a minimum 109 hours per year for the next eight years.
According to rights agreements and current Federal Government anti-siphoning regulations, some of these sports and events will also be shown first or simultaneously on TEN.
To preview and review the week’s events and to continue the conversations about sport that Australians enjoy, there will also be a series of new programs dedicated to the sports Australians love. These will include a new live AFL show on Monday nights, weekly wrap shows for NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR Sprint Cup series and Nationwide series, Formula 1, Moto GP and US PGA Tour.
Every week night, ONE will also broadcast two expanded editions of Sports Tonight, bringing viewers
further in-depth news from both domestic and international sources.
From time to time, ONE will feature extreme sports, emerging sports and a range of sports-related
programming including documentaries.
BACKGROUND
The ONE SD channel will be separately badged and marketed, and used to promote the premium ONE
HD service to SD viewers.
ONE – Branding
The name ONE expresses the channel’s mission to share the greatness of sport with all Australians –
capturing the passion that unites us as one. It was inspired by the irrepressible response of the crowd toa classic goal and the sense of bonding we experience in that dramatic moment, an inspiring effect only great sport can deliver.
Breaking from sporting channel clichés, the logo communicates the fresher, more accessible approach
that is the essence of ONE. It shows that our goal is to capture the unique and much loved place that
sport has in everyday Australian life, beyond just the generic highlights and generic feeds of today’s
offerings.
Digital TV – Australian market penetration
Digital take-up in Australia is accelerating, and is following global trends. Currently, 42 per cent of
Australian households have a digital receiver and, at the time of the launch of ONE in 2009, this is
expected to be around 50 per cent.
Digital TV – multi-channelling policy and digital rollout
Under government legislation (Broadcasting Services Act) free-to-air commercial broadcasters will be
permitted to provide an additional SD digital multichannel each from January 2009 in addition to the HD
digital multichannel currently provided.
The Australian Government has announced that all free-to-air television broadcasters in Australia will
complete the switch from analogue transmission to digital-only transmission by the end of 2013.
REGIONAL VIEWERS: Please see information in comments and other stories on this site that indicate “mid year” for SC 10 and TDT. Please do not ask for further detail on when this will arrive as there is currently no news. For more recent stories on ONE HD kindly click on the show tag at end of story. Kindly read comments before asking repeat question. Thankyou.
184 Responses
Luv the #1hd sport channel …. finally a free to air package that l’m sure most sport nuts will appreciate.
I think its great to have a dedicated sport channel, i love it !
it’s a shame it has come at a cost of high def veiwing of old favourites !
Is Ten Hd available in country victoria?
who cares!!!!!
r they only having ipl cricket, or are they having international cricket aswell????
Let’s hope now that Network 10 has taken over the Australian Swimming Championship telecast that they don’t discriminate against the Multi-Disability swimmer’s. Channel 9 or Foxtel never showed the MD events – and they were rude enough to pack away their equipment while the MD races were on!!! How do you think this makes the MD swimmers feel! Come on Network 10 – Multi-Disability swimmers have friends and relatives all over Australia as well, who would like to watch them swim!!
‘for Nick with your…uhhhh…lack of all understanding’ just read a little slower next time mate, your getting all confused…..so let me get this straight, you reckon golf on all four channels and sports tonight 5 days a week is a good thing, and your telling me to go get a life………..(now i’m confused).
did i mention that i’d been out playing soccer with my sons? that’s right, a real sport Nick, so, ummm, where does wii come into the equation? and yea Nick, obviously i was unhappy with it, quite clearly i was unhappy with it, in fact…
oh yeah and just to clarify never did i make the assertion that switching to watch the abc would cause ten financial hardship. i quite clearly made the point that they are already experiencing financial hardship, hence the cheap ass programming.
and Nick, i know i’m a bit stupid so can you please just expand on your logic that, and i quote ‘the reason why they show all the channels with golf is that the channel hasn’t even started yet’ ……lol!
for matt with your sarcasm the reason why they show all the channels with golf is that the channel hasn’t even started yet (26th march) all channel ten hd ten sd and one hd will all be different when it starts. and do you really think one little family that happen to watch abc instead of ten will make them loose money. go get a life mate and play you wii sports if ur un happy with it!!
All you sci-fi nerds need to get a life. I promise you all that One HD’s ratings will easily surpass that of the current Ten HD channel…bring on the sport! Everyone else can get a video-ezy membership!!
I trust they are kidding with the line:
“Live and exclusive will be a hallmark of the channel.”
The Accenture Matchplay was delayed by approximately one hour.
today was so totally awesome guys…. i was able to watch golf on 10SD (CH10), 1HD (CH 10), 11HD (CH 10) and 12D (CH 10). Man, channel 10 has got four channels and in a pure ‘stroke’ of genius they have chosen to show golf on all four. Brilliant!!!!!! errrr. for the benefit of the programming department at CH10 this is what’s known as sarcasm. You guys must be seriously embarrassed….Seriously.
The truth is the decision to axe normal programming is not about demographics, demand, branding, etc. The decision is obviously the result of severe financial stress this network is under. Showing golf on four channels is undeniable proof that these guys are struggling hard. They can’t even afford to put alternative programming on the old SD channel?
So Golf on all four channels and they reckon that they will have sports tonight on twice a day, 5 days a week????? What the????? seriosly 10, how bad is it? My sons and i actually watched the ABC when we returned from playing soccer in the park today…..lol Bye Bye TEN. and to all those sports monkeys who actually believe this ridculous and embarrassing marketing bull%*&# good luck cos’ i reckon in about 4-6 months from now they’ll be playing 24hrs 7days a week of womens district netball and synchronised swimming….Awesome dude!
this thread reminds me of back in school… sportys vs the geeks.. 🙂
I live in Northern NSW so all this means zero to me. I like SciFi but I would exchange the boring HD presentation loop Southern Cross Ten continue to broadcast for OneHD any day. Southern Cross Ten s*ck!
This is unbelievable. Based on vigorous campaigning by Network TEN several years ago, I have spent literally thousands of dollars on HD equipment. TEN even had the gall to divide their programming, upselling the HD channel as “exclusive content”; in other words, if you don’t buy the expensive stuff, you don’t get to watch it.
Now, after all that, they’re taking entertainment programming off the HD channel? TEN, you have a lot for which to answer. You do not have a monopoly on the commercial television market, and your viewers have a choice. I hope that all those sports fans out there settle for the SD simulcast you’ve elected to provide, so that your “innovative” new HD experiment shatters from its well-deserved fall.
Hey guys, instead of bagging out ten for putting the sport channel in HD and dropping the other scifi programs, maybe get on the back of other channels and get them to broadcast these programs on there additional channels.
I say good on ten for putting the sport on and looking forward to every moment of it.
Bring it on the sports!
Thanks TEN, thanks ONE HD
all you sport hating freaks can get f****d! get off your flithy lounge and play sport then you might enjoy watching it as well. all the s**t shows you talk of will be on dvd soon enough.
yes finallay a dedcated sports channel on free to air… but WTF! no soccer coverage… like none what so ever.. not even 1 league..
seriously soft. a real let down..
well Matt, just because you happen to work in a particular environment where only 1 of 100 people like sport does not mean that they dont exist.. i work at a large fitness club where 90% of the workforce all follow some form of sport be it the local stuff all the way to the US of A sports.
just for my interest, —-> “I’m in my mid 30’s, i’m intelligent, reasonably successfull, married, children etc etc” what does that have to do with anything realted to the topic at hand?
Wow……did you read that catchy “ONE-Branding” blurb? Man that was absolutely amazing….. bonding, uniting, passion, inspired, essence????? lmao…my nine year old could do better…Seriously…he could…….no…really…….he could.
it actually speaks volumes about the brains behind the channel. for any organisation to let this sort of tripe see the light of day is beyond belief. Maybe the CEO’s daughter just finished a marketing course at TAFE….”Pleeeeease Daddy can i tell the little people about the wonderousness of ONE?” Very embarrasing stuff, so the decision to put full time sports on the their HD channel isn’t really surprising, they could never get the programming right anyway. Personally i don’t watch sports, so yes, i’m a little upset.
i just cant wait to have some co-worker try to engage me in conversation about whats happening in “college ball” in the US of A, if, nay, when this happens, there will be blood. College football and baseball???? (laugh or cry? laugh or cry? laugh or cry?). In all seriousness, I’m in my mid 30’s, i’m intelligent, reasonably successfull, married, children etc etc. I can honestly say that apart from the odd tennis match or game of cricket i don’t watch sports, my friends don’t watch sports and in a company of approx 100 employees their is only 1, er “ONE” sports nut amongst us so where are all these “passionate” sports fans….
i think that the sports channel is an excellent idea, but the standard definition channel is pointless and should be left to broadcast tv shows.
channel 1 – oneHD
channel 10 – ten SD
channel 12 – ten HD
dont even have oneSD altogether. buying a HDTV should come with more exclusive content so you dont feel ripped off
Im a big fan of ten and as im a huge sports nut i fully support a new all sport channel and im sure i will watch it religiously. The only thing is why get rid of ten hd? by doin this they effectively stay with 2 broadcasts. they would only have regular ten and the new one sport channel.
Wouldnt it be better to keep ten hd and make the new SD slot the 24 hour sport channel. that way they could have 3 different broadcasts. channel ten is giving up having an extra broadcast just so they can have the sports channel in HD. this is pretty dumb because even though sport is better in HD people like me who love sport enough to watch it 24 hours a day really dont give a crap about whether its in hd or not. And even though aussies love sport the regular ten channel would still pull more ratings especially since half of ONE consists of american sports which won’t attract much attention here.
Also NASCAR sucks balls supercars are boring enough and thats got twists and turns. nobody wants to watch a bunch of yanks “listing lazily to the left” for a couple hours around a big fat donut. If ten is really serious about competing with foxtel for the australian audience they really need to get a hold of the cricket when australia tours overseas.
in summary
keep ten HD ten SD and make ONE SD people like variety theres no point having 3 channels if 2 are showing the same thing
hahahaha….so many people here fail to realise that 10 really couldn’t give a shit about what the minority on this board think. Either way theyve done the research and obviously seen that a sport channel will make more money. Complaining cant change things and complaining that it shouldnt be about the money…well…if they ran with that philosophy they wouldnt have been able to show your precious scifi shows and reruns to begin with.
Bring on the sports! And for those calling the sports theyve bought the dregs…i’m sorry but its obvious you have never realised that F1 NBA NFL and MBL are four of the most recognisable and popular leagues in the world. Add to that the college sport, AFL, swimming and IPL…I’ll never have to change channel!
So why does the freeviw web site list under 10
10, 10HD and one HD
That implies 2 seperate HD channles?
If thats not true sombody (ACC listenting) need to do something about it.