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NSW state government channel flops

Traffic reports, fire conditions, government news, and language shows. What else is costing NSW taxpayers on their govt channel?

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nswChannel NSW, the Rees Government’s digital-TV experiment on Channel 45 has cost NSW taxpayers $485,737 in the past 18 months. And it has cost $1 million since it started in 2004.

The service is part of a three-year datacasting pilot in the Sydney metropolitan area in collaboration with Broadcast Australia. But it has flopped so badly that the department running it does not even bother to record viewing numbers.

Its content comes from a number of NSW Government Agencies. But The Daily Telegraph reports that the programming on the Channel screens RTA traffic reports and weather observations, there are the same six health information bulletins – women’s health, men’s health, kids’ health, healthy canteens, healthy ageing and nicotine replacement therapy – on rotation.

A 30-minute late-night Chinese language program, is called Talking and Laughing (Mandarin): Shuo Shuo Xio Xio. Eleven episodes have been repeated every night since at least October – as far back as the Telegraph could find the TV guide – and it is slated to run until at least June, possibly further.

NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell has vowed that Channel NSW has to go.

“We’ll switch it off,” he said.

More info on the Channel can be found here.

Source: The Daily Telegraph

13 Responses

  1. “Over 250,000 regular viewers in Sydney

    Independent audience research by Millward Brown and Newspoll (attached) indicates Channel NSW ranked as the most useful new service on Digital TV. ”

    Does no one in Hartcher’s office use Google?

    No need for a never satisfied FOI request – you get bugga all from it.

    Search Google with “Channel.nsw audience research”

    Best wishes.

  2. This is the same government that spends a million dollarsa year on parking spaces at Gov. Macquarie Tower when they could park for free at Parliament house, just a brief walk away. They also found their new metro rail plan can’t be built (as if it ever would) because Central station can’t fit any more trains in. This is just one day in the life of the NSW govt. It’s like an episode of Yes, Minister come to life.

  3. I watch it a fair bit, I think Barry should commit to improving it rather than scrapping it. The talks from the Sydney Writer’s Festival are usually very good (though it’s impossible to know when another one is coming up), I wish they’d broadcast the sessions live from last year’s festival. TVS should also get a look in with digital, the more the merrier, God knows the commercial channels are messing up their digital multichannels.

  5. @cpandilo: I definately agree that TVS needs to be at least data cast on C44, in fact im surprised that a 24 hour shopping channel, Expo, gets rights over TVS. The only time i watch expo is if I want a bit of a laugh, check out the ARTU drill bits ad, it’s a comedy within itself, the characters on it are hilarous.

    As for the ABC news data cast, that needs to be scrapped or upgraded because it’s basically useless.

    Channel 45/ NSW, should switch to being Coastalwatch/ Traffic cams/ RFS updates, and nothing else.

  6. As I have said previously they should put TVS on channel 41 (next to NITV) & move ABC News datacast to channel 42. As well, this trial should be expanded to all 5 metro capitals with their respective community tv channel on channel 41.

    Why are they repeating the Mandarin learning channel with only 11 episodes. I’m sure that there were many more episodes made whether it be Mandarin, Japanese, etc. because I remember this series being on 3pm weekdays on SBS around 5 years ago titled as “TV Ed” and it was on for years. So why are they repeating just these 11 episodes?

  7. makes sense…as far as the NSW government is concerned NSW stops at Penrith / Wollongong / Newcastle… nothing else matters the regionals have never seen this channel

  8. Problem is it is stuck in the datacast model. Whereas Australian Christian Channel which was originally using the datacast model is now full screen most of the time, and NITV is regular television.

    I agree that Channel NSW needs to either have a total overhaul or it needs to go, and Broadcast Australia offer a trial to TVS.

  9. No way! This is probably one of my favourite chill out channels. I absolutely love watching Coastalwatch, which airs a few times a day surf cams of beaches on the nsw coast. Yes i do agree that the asian language program is boring, but that’s mainly because for some reason it can’t play a propper stream of the show, it keeps skipping and freezing so it’s hopeless for people actually wanting to learn the language.
    Also the board of studies program is boring.

    But rta watch and coastal watch keep viewers like me.

  10. When i lived in Sydney, i checked it out and its a waset of a channel, the money could of been given to the ABC, SBS or even better to TVS, i think we all think that this money could of been better spent at TVS, the NSW government should just give the equipment to TVS so they can go digital. also i think this is part of the D44 channels right?, i never got why they were such low-quily, i mean so compressed i know their isnt alot of movement but i still think the goverment sould of made it look a bit better.

    And about the Chinese language program, i bet you less the 1% of everyone who has this channel knows about it, i never did.

  12. Actually the money they have spent there is nothing compared to the $23 million they just sppent on relocating the RTA office. Crazy in these times. No surprise as this state govt is one of the worse, weakest and most incompetent ever. How many people even know about the channel? Money better spent elsewhere.

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