D-Day for Definition
Viewers in other countries will now see Neighbours in high definition ahead of Australians. What does ONE HD mean for drama, comedy and light entertainment?
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
The arrival of ONE HD tonight is a big, bold step by Network TEN in the switch to digital television.
A 24 hour sports channel will provide many armchair sports fans with oodles of events, some of them big, many that are obscure, for TEN viewers in 5 capital cities. Regional viewers now know, somewhat belatedly, they are struggling to be heard in an issue TEN has handballed to Southern Cross.
Yesterday TEN announced its sponsors for ONE including Harvey Norman, Hungry Jacks, Mars, Panasonic, Pokerstars.net and Sportsbet.
But the arrival also marks the end of TEN HD and with it a swathe of programming that was available to viewers in high definition.
In the race to corner the advertising market in sports, TEN will leave behind viewers who were enjoying dramas, light entertainment and other programming in glorious high definition sound and pictures.
From today they are no longer available. There are no immediate plans to address this.
Staggeringly, in 2009 shows that will no longer air in HD include Neighbours, So You Think You Can Dance Australia, Australian Idol, House, Rove and more.
Recently, TEN even upgraded its facilities to allow shows like Neighbours to shift to the digital age. Now, viewers in other countries will enjoy the superior quality over those in Australia.
What an astounding outcome.
So as the industry and Freeview screams at us to upgrade to digital, you could be forgiven for asking “what for?”
Wasn’t the whole point of upgrading to see our favourite shows in superior sound and image?
TEN was brief in response to the problem when the point was raised by TV Tonight.
“Whilst we had the opportunity we provided viewers with programs in HD, however this is a brand new offering and a brand new channel – ONE launching on Thursday at 7:30pm,” said a spokesperson.
TEN also diminished its alternative drama programming on TEN HD this year. Shows that had moved from TEN to TEN HD such as Monk, Smallville, Psych and Friday Night Lights are now a slim chance at finding new timeslots.
This is a race for revenue and branding with viewers, and drama, left out of the picture.
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- Tagged with Australian Idol, Friday Night Lights, House, Monk, Neighbours, ONE HD, Psych, Rove, Smallville, So You Think You Can Dance Australia
49 Responses
I feel the government should switch to H.264 MPEG-4 so they can have at least 2 HD channels so Ten can have both ONE HD and TEN HD. So we don’t have to put up with standard defaholics. The old equipment not supporting H.264 will break or get a firmware upgrade eventually.
Rob-
What proof do I need? I am simply giving my views over. I feel that ONE HD is a waste as it caters to a limited amount of people (those who like sport), as opposed to TEN HD, which appeals to a much wider group of people (drama viewers, comedy viewers, children, reality buffs and yes, sports nuts).
And no, I don’t have any proof, nor am I an “insider”, I was simply making a correlation between the amount of negative comments on this board and from many others, and the fact that they have gone ahead with ONEHD. I am simply assuming that Ten didn’t bother to do any market research. Logically, if they had, they would have known many people are against it. And most likely, not gone ahead with those plans as they have.
It really is a huge step back for HD in Australia. A FTA network does not have an HD channel for their main station is just ludicrous.
Just tuned into ONE “HD” – they were playing some very SD-looking swimming…. If it’s gonna be 24/7 sports on a HD channel, then is it too much to ask that all of that programming is actually in HD? FFS!!
What a complete waste of a channel. At least have 11 as Normal Ten HD, I don’t mind having ONE HD, but sheesh, why must we suffer normal definition (*giggles*). What about all the other shows Channel 10 offers, which are filmed in HD, what a waste… all the overseas shows, what a waste… they film it in HD for a reason. How else will I be able to see the skin condition of David and Kim, or the make-up line on Sandra Sulley??…. Also, when The Simpsons HD episodes make it over here, will they even mention that they’re HD??…. seems like a big waste to me
did they really reduce the PQ neon? they really like doing sneaky stuff don’t they, they slowly and silently disappeared all the HD exclusive shows, then they silently disappeared the HD picture quality to gradually ease us into not complaining. all so they can have a lovely launch filled with praise. but now i just sit back and laugh because now 10 has to contend with the sports fans. the sports fans who judging by the 10 forums are never happy. they get a whole channel just for sport, and in HD, so now they complain that it isn’t live or the right sports aren’t showing for their own personal tastes, or they are not showing the particular game with the team that person loves. there is just so much they have to do to keep the sports lovers happy. they are going to miss the days of the easy to please eternally loyal sci-fi fans, all they had to do to keep us happy was air it in the same timeslot each week, they weren’t even fast-tracked, although it would have been awesome if they were, all it took to make us happy was not not axe them and leave them on the shelf gathering dust. 10 got heaps of praise from 10HD viewers the only problem was that regional people couldn’t get it which is still not fixed and that some people were too broke to buy an STB. so now i just sit back and laugh at 10 for abandoning a fan base that i am a part of and instead trying to please the ever complaining sports fans. serves ’em right.
The problem is that with Freeview each of the networks are allow 2 SD channels and 1 HD channel. If the networks were allowed 1 SD & 2 HD channels, I’m sure they would have kept Ten HD and added One HD as a second HD channel.
The only thing I can say is: Thank God for Blu-ray, Internet and Rental. Who cares about Freeview now.
Neighbours is only made for export anyway. Most Australians can’t stand its bad acting and cultural stereotyping. Neighbours is Neighbours, no matter the picture quality.
Ultimately – who cares?
Poor programming decisions by the networks have plagued viewers for years, those who can have been downloading programs as a result.
None of the networks are interested in their viewers – they are money making businesses focused on their paying advertisers and in getting as much advertising on to the airwaves as possible.
Anyway, One HD will be dead in 3 to 5 years, you can’t sustain viewers on a diet of American Collage sports, lack of interest will run its course.
So, it’s back to normal programming – all in glorious Standard Definition…
And for those who do not look at websites like this, can you imagine how many confused people there now are in SC10’s northern viewing area (and maybe others) where I just watched on SC10 Newcastle’s news – which is Sydneys’ news – the news about ONE HD starting from tonight with absolutely no mention of the fact the regionals will not be receiving it. Furthermore, they made reference to digital ch 1 which can be received on a digtial TV or set top box – which in regional areas, does not exist. A quick flick over to SC10 HD in case a last minute miracle happened revealed the usual scenery and music as opposed to the countdown currently airing on ONE.
Yes it sad that tenHD has stopped. But look at the bright side, Ten is the first, and only, network to actually care about multi-channeling. Sure sport 24hours isn’t the most interesting choice for the most amount of people, but it’s a start, and i believe it will get better as time goes on. TenSd’s bitrate isnt too bad either. Most HDtvs have the ability to upscale the sd signal. Not only that, but i’d say most people only own recorders that record in sd. I do, and i mainly watch recorded programs because 4 minute ad breaks really ruin shows like Lost. I’ve found the quality on a sony bravia 100hz tv to look almost as good as HD (not quite, but quite near).
Ellis,
Mind showing some proof. I’m not against opinion but you’re giving absolutes here as if you have some inside knowledge. Come out if that’s the case
I mean ONE is a sport chanbnel and Ten is the light entertainment channel to pigeon hole it. If your upset with ONE being HD in place of Ten then say that in place of venting a view which is hardly backed up by facts or just produce some proof. If your right and there was no researtch to support a ONE channel or something contradicted it then we all like to know
I know that Neon Kitten but I did not care one way or the other, just because it was SD (upscaled or not) did not make a difference to my enjoyment or dislike of the show. I appreciate there are some who are so entrenched in having only HD content at the expense of the SD equivalent but it’s like saying a new Ferrari is crap because it needs a wash. It’s still a Ferrari. Anyway there will be a time when most channels are HD as we move to MPEG 4 and extra bandwidth allocation after 2013. I fthis was a movie and not sport channel the howls of discontent would be far less. There is a bit and superiroity complex going on here as sport (and it’s veiwers) are seen as less deserving because US drama or australian drama is culturallly and intellectually superior.
Thank you David for addressing this very important issue. Ten could have easily used it’s second SD channel for One, freeing up Ten HD.
Oh and Ryano, put down the koolaid. You’ve sipped too much.
Ryano,
I assume these are the same Execs that wiped millions off the networks value a few weeks back with their doomed capital raising exercise.
“Ten a viable tv company well into the future”
Are you a comedian?
Rob: “Watched House for a few minutes last night, compared 1, 5 and 10 for PQ and just about the same.”
Ten quietly stopped running true HD content on their HD channel a few weeks ago, instead up-converting the shows from an SD source. This was clearly a sneaky move designed to lessen the impact of a sudden loss of picture quality.
I have a couple of episodes of “Life” aired on TenHD last year which I kept for comparison purposes. The difference between these and what’s aired the past couple of weeks is night and day.
Dan, glad you know some girls who like sport. So do I. But they don’t obsess about it en masse like the boys do. Hence all the male-targeted advertising on One.
And Ryano – “a fantastic contribution to Australian society and culture”? A couch-potato channel showing niche sports mainly from overseas? Yes, I think he does indeed work for Ten.
Ryano I think you went OTT with your praise. It’s not possible you could work for TEN, surely.
as i have said before while not everyone will be happy with a sports channel, ten have by far done the best job in terms of multi channelling, ONE will have 24hrs a day of exclusive HD content, compare this to seven which show only a few hours a day of breakaway shows which consists of daily B&W movies from 1940s and reruns of shows no one cares about anymore, while nine shows almost no breakaway programming, yet they call themselves HD multi channels.
100% Kudos to the executives at Ten for future proofing their company.
It took guts to create a real and entirely new network for the Australian people showcasing our favourite past time, sport…and in the best form possible, High Definition.
Not only has the Ten Network made a fantastic contribution to Australian society and culture by deciding on a dedicated 24/7 sports channel for all Australians; they have made Ten a viable TV company well into the future.
I much rather watch sport in HD than just normal tv shows. In the end it really doesn’t matter if it’s SD and HD, just if the show is good or not.
Most of the people are just whinging about losing their precious PQ when at least Ten have taken a chance for their secondary channel unlike the lazy morons at Seven and Nine
I think it will last, i think the general viewer won’t care about their shows being in HD ro SD, knowing most Australians, they probably won’t even know the difference
As I have said in the past, Ten have just shot themselves in the foot. They have given up their main viewers, for a minimal amount of viewers. Rather than having Ten in HD, which appeals to everyone who watches the channel, they are now simply catering to sport fans. Despite what many think, not every Australian is a sports nut. The slogan is also correct- “sharing one passion. Sport”, yep, that’s right, one passion, not multiple passions like Ten HD has done.
Why they couldn’t have just shown it on their second SD channel is beyond me. I think looking at the majority of comments on this blog alone shows the amount of people who are against this move. The lack of market research they did on this issue is obvious. Let’s hope Nine and Seven learn from Ten’s mistakes!
When I set my PVR to skip OneHD and OneSD tonight, there will be two less channels I have to scroll though now, Yay!!
Currently there is only one show I watched on TEN, and now I am stuck with it in SD when it is an HD show.
ryan
it’s called ONE HD not Eleven HD, probably makes sense using LCN 1 not just 11 don’t you think?
Everyone appears to an amateur expert going by the comments thus far.
Neighbours in SD only is some sort of deal breaker?
Watched House for a few minutes last night, compared 1, 5 and 10 for PQ and just about the same. Not sure for Sound (don’t have home theatre equip)
If downloading for TV via questionable means is your only option, then sounds like a narrow view on the world. Just come out and say you want it all for free and instantly – this would be atleast honest rather than bash Ten for doing something different.
9 will have basically more of the same 7 will have something at some point and that’s hardly groundbreaking or exciting. I hope ONE does well, it’s something that I like the look of and without discounting the lack of HD for other Ten programs, seems like a good content mix. If 9 or 7 were doing ONE then I’d be more concerned but Ten, I think it will be well done.