Gyngell: “Pay TV will flatten out”
A frank David Gyngell told media buyers yesterday digital channels would see Pay TV level out, and admitted that "Dance Your Ass Off" wasn't his finest moment.
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Nine CEO David Gyngell spoke pragmatically to media buyers yesterday in Melbourne, at the end of his three-city tour.
Born and bred into a television world, he was again frank about the network’s upcoming slate. After the showreel featuring Underbelly, Hey Hey, Top Gear and many obscure titles such as Send in the Dogs he conceded that not everything will work.
“There will be a lot of good ones, and a few bad ones -I did put out Dance Your Ass Off this year which wasn’t one of the finest CV moments for me. There will be a few more to come and there’s been a few more before that,” he admitted.
Gyngell’s approach to Nine is for GO! to complement the Nine brand in its programming. He signalled a third channel “early” in the new year and yesterday addressed the success of GO! with a gentle reminder.
“I don’t want anyone for a second to be under the illusion that it’s not about anything other than driving the engine of Channel Nine. It’s still about making big shows that rate. Big local shows. You use your overseas output deals to pepper the schedules of your local shows.
“I really believe Pay TV will flatten out in this country,” he predicted.
“This time last year you had five choices of television. This time next year you’re going to have 15. So the challenge for all of us is to give people choice to watch but also to reinvest the money you put with us to make great big broadcast television.
“The most important thing is to make broad television and it’s also the hardest thing to do.”
Frequently in 2009, Nine scheduling often stretched a little a very long way. Gyngell was candid on the network’s output deals.
“We haven’t got as many one hour dramas as our competitors. It’s a lucky dip. You can’t be too proud because you put CSI on a Thursday night about how smart you are. You didn’t make it, commission it, you got it as part of the deal. What makes you proud to be a Channel Nine worker is you make it, you come up with the idea, you put it to air.
“It’s been well documented what happened to this company and it’s sad. But it’s not sad anymore. We didn’t miss out on the Olympics thanks to Eddie and (Jeffrey) Brownie, we didn’t miss out on the World Cup Rugby Union, we didn’t miss out on Tiger Woods, we didn’t miss out on Warner Brothers. Trust me, we will be at the table on the AFL.”
Gyngell’s only slip up in the launch was again dubbing GO! “the new TEN” and Nine “is the old Nine.”
GO! is most certainly not TEN which has original Australian dramas, reality, news, children’s, sport and many shows attracting stellar audiences. GO! is a new kid on the mostly-US programming block, giving Pay TV channels a run for their money, with the occasional alternative in Free to Air.
One Sunday night win does not a channel make.
As for Nine being the old Nine, it’s a confusing statement. Nine is back to its former glory? Nine of the past is no more and there is a new Nine?
In addition to the titles announced yesterday, here are some of the other titles promised for 2010. Some are Australian, some are renewed titles, some are international acquisitions, some have been sitting on the shelf, and some have been promised to us before.
Surprising Facts About Food
When I Grow Up
Cook Along live
Australian Families of Crime
FAQ
Between The Lines
The Jo Frost Roadshow
Next Door Nightmares
20 to 1: Adults Only
The Secret Millionaire
Celebrity Singing Bee
Two and a Half Men
Cold Case
Cops LAC
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- Tagged with 20 to 1: Adults Only, AFL, Australian Families of Crime, Between The Lines, Celebrity Singing Bee, Cold Case, Cook Along live, CSI, Dance Your Ass Off, FAQ, Next Door Nightmares, Olympics, Rugby Union, Surprising Facts About Food, The Jo Frost Roadshow, The Secret Millionaire, Two and a Half Men, When I Grow Up
40 Responses
I do not have pay tv and wont get it. Why should I? Repeats, commericals and movies arent on when we want to watch them. Yes I know the docos are good but what i dont see I dont miss. Its Free tv for me.
Here’s a free tip to Mr Gyngell, which he can take or leave:
Your audience numbers, especially the younger demographics, will decline at a faster rate when your schedule does not match up with what was advertised, including starting times.
FAQ-a Can we help style show maybe?
Glad that 9 is reviving regular Millionaire (which I love) and not opting to reintriduce shows like Temptation. Glad to see Nine did not forget about the Signing Bee
“Nine is the old Nine” = “Nine is irrelevant”.
Is it just me (no offence) but does that photo look like the guy off The Chaser 10 years older ?
He needs stronger shows- I’d suggest he take a better look to international television stations and localise their shows here.
If he were sharp- he’s would put ‘celebrity singing bee’ agianst ‘it takes 2’.
He should also put a ‘better homes and gardens’ type of show in the same timeslot as seven on Friday- in having a chance at destroying 7.
Totally agree… this guy knows nothing about TV.
Nine has lost the plot and GO! has no idea either.
I thought the target demo for GO! was young people. Why show really old shows? I mean Gen Y/Z don’t want to watch Get Smart or Green Acres. Any idiot could tell you that.
Where is Gossip Girl? Where is The Hills? Aria music show? The should get 90210 and other CW shows as well. There should be no shows on here made before 2000.
At least pay TV know their demographics and stick to them!!
I think their new channel should be a HD family channel with movies and classic shows that are currently on GO!
Boy Wonder: “Look anywhere around the world…….FTA is going backwards and cable is booming.”
I’ve no figures, just anecdotal info, but on the US boards & blogs I read the opposite seems to be the case. Now that they’ve gone totally digital, I see quite a few people ditching cable where possible & going for OTA HD & multichannel. They now get their fix of ‘must-watch’ cable shows via iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, & good ol’ ChannelBT.
Woody – I _know_ I’ve watched more GO! than 9. Not because it’s any better; they just have slightly more stuff I may be interested in, and it tends to start somewhere approximately near its scheduled time. This has changed somewhat since 7Two appeared, & GO! fell back to Nine’s usual “let’s-change-the-schedule-at-random” practice.
GuanoLad: “Gyngell’s dumbing down his channel, and treating his audience like they’re brain dead drones. It’s sad to watch it unfold.
It’s been unfolding that way for at least the last 20 years. Nine’s ‘flagship’ 60 Minutes is a pale imitation of what it was in its first few years, Sunday went the same way (& died), its news was only ever better in comparison to the other commercials (& for at least a dozen years now 10 has beaten it in quality), current affairs was always a cesspit of prurient hype & half-truths & is now overloaded with programme & personality promos, & the recent successes of “unmissable Aussie drama” like Underbelly have been so bad they work best if you treat them as outright comedy &/or add your own “BargeArse / Olden Years”-style rifftrack.
When and where are we able to view this showreel?
your not the only one confused david about nine being the old nine and go being ten, what a confusing and stupid statement. and why does he think that these new multi channels will hurt pay tv, at the most fta will have 15 channel which is great but this doesn’t make up for the 150 channels on foxtel. also how could he seriously think dance your ass of would rate, when probably every single person who saw the ad knew it would fail.
I haven’t seen any evidence that Nine understands audiences, understands the changing face of entertainment, or understands what the future has in store, and how rapidly things will change again and again.
Gyngell’s dumbing down his channel, and treating his audience like they’re brain dead drones. It’s sad to watch it unfold.
Actually this time last year you would have had up to eight choices of TV: ABC1, ABC2, SBS One, SBS World News Channel, 9, 7, Ten, and a community TV channel in some areas. And how is he expecting to launch a third channel? The only way to do that would be to replace Nine High-Def.
I think I watched more on Go! this year than Nine proper.
In fact the only time I actually sat down and watched something from beginning to end was the Hey Hey reunions so they have a long way to go before getting me to tune in to their schedule.
This guy has no clue about the TV Industry, he’s in his own world. “Pay TV will flatten out” yeh ok, we’ll see. A statement like that shows his understanding of the situation is foggy, the networks need to work harder to be able to keep up Pay TV
You wonder if he got this job on th eback of his name or some business nouse.
Copying paytv doesn’t take skill it’s just someone else has done the hard work figuring out what people want to see, in the case of paytv for a regular fee.
With old shows back for Nine obviously he has little imagine bu then again maybe that’s what some people want, 80’s and 90’s rubbish at a time when you can watch live or near to live new content from around the world. Nine is really now the TV equivalent of Golden Hits radio stations where you will see the same thing over and over because you just don’t like all that new music the young people are listening to.
@Darrell Tohi – How can you say we have enough game shows ???? There are only 3-4 on our screens (with real contestants) that i can think of.
For someone born into a world of tv and make statements like “Pay TV will flatten out” he must be an idiot. Look anywhere around the world…….FTA is going backwards and cable is booming.
Your kidding there bringing back Who Wants to be a millionare….. I would rather sit through repeats or new eps of Secret Millionaire Australia… Dont you think we have enough game shows????
Anyone who makes as much money as this guy should have Way more audience intuition (and common sense)… I mean, come on, the show’s title “Dance your ass off” should have been a dead giveaway…
GO could be the new Ten it just needs some hot aussie shows and it could really chisel into Tens share int 2010. Ten should be worried.
I truly believe Nine is going to strike back this year and if Gyngell can get some new aussie content up on GO! it could turn into a powerhouse for them interms of demographics.
Haven’t they been saying for just about as long as PayTV has been in this country that no one would pay for it?
I don’t think he gets it, when people are paying $1000s for home entertainment systems, internet and other services they don’t mind paying $100 per month to have more choice, even with the new FTA channels I don’t see that changing.
Where are they going to get the bandwidth for the 3rd channels or like TEN are they going to us their HD as the 3rd channel?
Still the one… that has no decent shows to watch. Only time my tv turns to Nine is for Survivor.
Still, no The Apprentice??
Nine is the old nine, is that the reason why it brought back Nightline? Hopefully, Nine brings back Sunday also.
“One Sunday night win does not a channel make”
I don’t know. Just 4 months after launch Go! is hitting a 5% FTA share in it’s target demo.
Find a broadcaster or cable channel anywhere in the world that has got to that kind of market share within 4 months.