★★★★★ 0/5

TEN to launch new channel

TEN signals a new channel for 2010, plus Junior MasterChef and locks in The 7PM Project for summer.

106
Leave a comment

tencThe TEN Network will launch a new digital channel in 2010, reports the Courier Mail.

A third digital channel will launch sometime in the next 12 months, it reports.

Commercial networks are currently allowed two SD channels and one HD channel. Currently TEN has TEN, ONE HD and ONE SD which retransmits the feed from the 24 hour sports channel. But as GO! and 7TWO offer entertainment formats they potentially erode TEN’s market share. And as half the country is now on digital it makes the ONE SD channel less viable -except for viewers who have a standard digital rather than an high definition, of course.

It would also presume TEN is eyeing a makeover of its second SD channel rather than ONE HD itself. Many viewers are still lamenting the loss of key entertainment formats in high definition by TEN: MasterChef, So You Think You Can Dance, Rove, Neighbours, Australian Idol, Merlin and more. When TEN opted for high definition sports, it did so at the expense of its other brands.

TEN made the announcement of the new digital channel at its 2010 Program Launch last night in Brisbane.

It also announced a new Junior MasterChef to follow MasterChef next year. This idea has been floated by Programmer David Mott before.

He told TV Tonight in July, “We might do a professionals version or a teen version. We’ll always do one other shorter run but it might not be celebrities.”

TEN also confirmed The 7PM Project would run through summer and into the new year (hopefully with a few tweaks?).

TEN rolls its Program Launch into Melbourne tonight and Sydney tomorrow.

So what would you like to see on a new digital channel?

Source: Courier Mail

106 Responses

  1. I am forward see new TEN 2 SD that I want to see repeat of “It’s a Knockout” (1985-1987) will be on TEN 2 SD. I wish. Please, please, please, plese. I’m exciting to see it. My favourite Australia game of “It’s a Knockout” hosts of : Fiona McDonald and Billy J. Smith.

  2. Ohhh please Channel TEN! I have no idea about this ONE SD, (I never picked that up :s)
    Someone said 24 hour reality channel…which I dont like. Have like a reality night. how go! and 7two have TV show generes depending on the night. Like how Go! has girly shows on Thursday and Movies on Friday.
    Channel ten axed sooo many shows aswell. This channel could finally put them to use!
    Show some OC and some charmed ,aswell as others listed in other comments. Maybe even do something with 90210 which I think got quite good in the 2nd season.

  5. Ten are currently showing Angel at some God forsaken time, and probably still have the rights to Buffy, Dollhouse, Galactica and Veronica Mars – so what about a Cult TV channel: a little bit like the Sci Fi channel but without all the Star Trek jive.

  6. Tasmania and Regionals should get this straight away. I think TDT and SC10 learnt their lesson with OneHD.
    Southern Cross are launching 7Two in December, guess they didn’t won’t the media backlash we experienced here in Tassie when TDT failed to deliver.

  7. Um lots of people have commented here and said that the ultimate solution would be TEN HD, ONE SD & TEN SD2 – which I totally agree with by the way…
    But if TEN put their standard channel on HD then people without a HD STB/TV won’t be able to watch the main channel!!

    So I reckon it will most likely be TEN, ONE HD, TEN SD2, I do however wish they’d put ONE on SD (cause most of the junk on there is SD anyway) and their new channel on HD, cause then major sporting events (AFL, Dehli Games, etc.) could be broadcast on the new TEN HD as well.

  10. @vinny: same with seven two, it’s like ‘the time is 7 to 6’ Although we don’t say 7 to as much as 10 to. That said, 10 had named their 2nd SD channel TenSD 2 for a while before the launch of ONeHD.

  11. @ Johnson … no Nine do not have the Paramount output deal TEN do. The distribution company for the movies you mentioned are different despite being produced by Paramount and that is why Nine have them.

  12. Channel 10 waited for channel seven’s 2nd digital channel announcement before making an announcement themselves, and channel seven just had a long running secret. yeah right seven

  13. KFed: Is that true? That Ten has the rights to Craig Ferguson? God, I’d love that to air down here, it’s hilarious.

    I just wish Ten had never gotten rid of their normal shows in HD for the sports channel. There have been a number of times that I’ve been watching a program and thought, “This would look fantastic in HD.”

  15. Like others have suggested, the ultimate would be to have TEN HD, One SD and TEN 2 SD. I really really really really really want to see my first run dramas in glorious high definition! Shame too, because back when TEN HD was around, it was the best stop to find dramas and documentaries in HD.

  17. @Jason: Ten no longer has the output deal with Paramount. Nine now has the deal, as demonstrated by the screening of Mission: Impossible III and the first Transformers movie in recent months. Nine had the Paramount product as part of the bigger deal with Viacom (which also owns MTV).

  18. Ten should think twice before launching a new digital channel, given it has far more program failures than successes in terms of ratings, and also has only two American program suppliers (CBS and 20th Century Fox). I believe Ten will even have to buy programs from Canada, New Zealand and the UK.
    Having said that, I think the following programs should be on the new channel:
    *classic episodes of Neighbours
    *past dramas from Ten such as Secret Life of Us, E Street, Richmond Hill, White Collar Blue and Above the Law
    *critically acclaimed medical drama The Surgeon (which had only 8 episodes and should be recommissioned)
    *classic episodes of Law & Order franchise
    *The X-Factor from the UK
    *So You Think You Can Dance US and UK
    *back titles from 20th Century Fox such as The X-Files, Ally McBeal and Buffy

  19. I wish they would change the Ten logo, like maybe getting rid of the circle around the ‘ten’.

    Can’t wait for charlie to come back on 7pm next wk- never been a fan of andrew G. Also , i hope they keep 7pm, it’s grown on me and its something i have to watch every week night, it doesn’t cost too much to produce so ten hopefully will keep it.

  20. How about American Idol, The Late Late Show with Craig Fergusion (mispelt now), America’s Next Top Model, How to look good naked, Army Wives, Jamie Oliver shows, In Plain Sight to be on ten’s new channel.
    Guess what it will be called?

  21. I’d love the new channel to be a general entertainment channel. But I have a feeling that since they have a 24 hour sports channel, they will have a 24 hour reality channel. If they do, I hope they take all the reality shows of the main channel and move them to the reality channel.

  23. This is an interesting, and exciting, move by TEN. Let’s face it – all their eggs in the ONE sports basket is silly, especially given TEN’s traditional audience of younger, entertainment hungry people…

    I hope they compete directly win GO! since Se7en have decided not to.

    Now let’s just hope they get it on the Satellite feed.

  25. Guy I doubt TEN will walk away for ONE HD any time soon, they will keep sport on HD, just be grateful we may be getting a 3rd channel from TEN sometime in the next 12 months.

    People want free 24/7 news and other services but not sport? FoxSports is one of the leading reasons people sign up for PayTV and have a free HD service is fantastic!

    Now I just hope their 2nd SD is available for TEN SC viewers.

Leave a Reply