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TV Tonight turns 3!

Tuesday marks the third birthday of this website. Happy Birthday to all and thankyou for your continued support.

Happy-3rd-BirthdayToday this site notches up its third birthday.

In 2007 when I first started this blog it was to complement the TV commentary I was already doing in various forms on radio, print and online. At the time Australian television sites on the internet were largely confined to messageboards, Guides and fansites. When the site launched there were a handful of visitors who welcomed the news, the updates and answers to TV questions.

Three years on the site has published over 9,700 stories and now pulls in up to one million hits a month around the country. The TV Tonight brand has become widely recognised in the industry and whilst it is still very much a personal blog, I am often reminded by others of how it champions the viewing audience.

Significantly, your comments are noted by the highest powers.

As an independent source of news and information the blog is frequently consulted by media. In the last year stories, quotes and information have appeared in The Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Australian, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sunday Herald Sun, The Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Tasmanian, MediaWeek, ABC, 3AW, 2UE, Sky Business, and more. Stories broken last year included GO! as Nine’s new channel, Hayley Lewis to host The Biggest Loser, Hey Hey‘s midweek specials, Hungry Beast title change, Ashes to Ashes to end, Cops LAC, the “news-based” format of The 7PM Project, Shaun Micallef’s New Year’s Rave, the end of The Fugly Awards and more.

Last year’s extensive Audience Inventory survey was widely reported in mainstream press and picked up in the UK.

In October there were back to back interviews with executives from all five networks: Kim Dalton, Tim Worner, David Mott, Michael Healy and Matt Campbell.

Other interviews in 2009 included leading Aussie & international actors, writers, producers and personalities including Adam Hills, Amanda Keller, Andrew Denton, Adam Zwar, Andrew O’Keefe, Ashley Pharoah, Bernard Curry, Bill Collins, Brian Nankervis, Cariba Heine, Carla Bonner, Catherine McClements, Chelsea Handler, Colin Morgan, Craig Campbell, Daniel Nettheim, David Field, Dustin Clare, Ed Kavalee, Eve Myles, Fiona Spence, Gary Mehigan, George Negus, Henry Roth, Ian Smith, James Morrison, Jan Russ, Jane Lynch, Jason Stephens, Jenny Brockie, Jess McNamee, Joel McHale, John Blackman, Johnny Capps, Jon Olb, John Safran, Jonathan Holmes, Judith McGrath, Julian Morrow, Julie McCrossin, Justine Clarke, Justine Schofield, Kat Stewart, Kelly Lefever, Kristian Schmid, Lawrence Leung, Les Sampson, Madeleine West, Marena Manzoufas, Margaret Pomeranz, Mark Bouris, Matt Day, Matt Lee, Matt Passmore, Matt Preston, Merrick Watts, Michael Cordell, Michael Harvey, Mick Molloy, Mikey Robbins, Molly Meldrum, Nadine Garner, Pam Anne, Paul McCarthy, Paul Robinson, Peter Ford, Peter Hitchener, Peter Moon, Peter O’Brien, Peter Phelps, Peter Rowsthorn, Poh Ling Yeow, Rob Carlton, Robyn Butler, Robyn Parkes, Rodger Corser, Rodger Monk, Rove McManus, Russell T. Davies, Ryan Moloney, Shane Bourne, Shelley Craft, Steve Knapman, Tabatha Coffey, Talia, Tim Campbell, Tom Steinfort, Toni Collette, Tony Ayres, Tony Tilse.

In the recent TV Tonight Awards readers delivered a whopping 87% vote for Excellent (57%) and Very Good (30%) in the question on site satisfaction -just 1% voted Disappointing. 72% of readers visit the site daily or more than once a day. The flood of compliments by readers was truly humbling (some even thanked the TV Tonight “team!”). Your continued support and site interaction is invaluable. Thankyou.

While there are some may be some who no longer love television, I still find myself delighted, outraged, informed, entertained, sceptical and surprised. And occasionally as mad as hell.

There are new features planned for 2010. Watch this space.

David.

98 Responses

  1. onya David! well done to you on all your hard work…
    as many others have said its hard to imagine what i did before i discovered TV Tonight… i vaguely remember checking the Australian’s Media page every day, but then i was once reading an article that sourced TV Tonight and now it has become the website i need to check multiple times a day-i have it on my computer, my laptop, my phone. hell even the cash register at work has been used to check the site on quiter days…
    i can’t think of anyone who’s opinion i trust any more. whenever i hear industry whispers i don’t believe them till i read them on TV Tonight!
    the amount of work you put in is unbelievable it is really appreciated. when i wrote to you a while back i never expected a response and what i got was above and beyond…
    so tonight i’ll raise my glass to TV Tonight (i invite everyone else to join me!) and after a couple of beers i guess i’ll ponder these 2010 features…

    all the best to you David!
    enjoy your break-you deserve it!!!

  2. Congrats David! This site is one of my most visited every day. Thanks for all of the in depth articles and constant scheduling changes you have reported (which without them, no one would know what is on and what isn’t). Keep up the great work and best wishes for the future!

  3. David, thank you so much for TV Tonight! One of my favourite sites ever. I go to it everyday. Thank you so much for answering my questions about TV shows. 😀

  4. I love this site,always up too date news and l check it daily.Thanks David for all your work,and l know this site will have many more birthdays. Cheers David.

  5. Congratulations! Thank you for all your hard work….If it wasn’t for you David, we wouldn’t know what’s going on. I too come here daily. Cheers.

  6. Happy birthday to TV Tonight. Thank you very much for bringing us this website, it’s fantastic and far exceeded in filling the void of the need for a website dedicated to Australian TV news, ratings, gossip and interactivity.

  7. From someone who has been here from the start … thanks for providing such an informative site and a forum for us to let rip about the daily stupidity in the TV industry …
    You are now a legend …
    And don’t go to Twitter, it is evil! 🙂
    Jack!

  8. I’m surprised the site has only been around for three years, it seems TV Tonight has been around forever (that’s a compliment!).

    I discovered the site from your segment on Joy drive, I so miss that! You never failed to inform and especially make me laugh… Choir of Hard Knocks ^_^ I Can’t Stop Masturbating ^_^ and who could forget the dog bowl incident? I almost died laughing… woof!

    Here’s to three more – no thirty more! – years of TV Tonight. We truly appreciate your hard work.

  9. Happy Birthday TV Tonight,I first found out about this site about one year ago and click onto it everyday at least once or usually more.David,you always keep us informed of whats going on in TV land,keep it up for many more years to come,i truly do appreciate it.

  10. Thank you David for running and updating this wonderfully researched and detailed TV blog. Keeping up with scheduling changes and new shows arriving, reviewing shows, interviewing celebs, reviewing comments, and writing articles is a tough ask but you do a brilliant job and it is much appreciated. Happy 3rd birthday! 😀

  11. Congratulations on your hard work David and like to get the news in a way that you know what the viewers want/perspective on the news of the industry, Along with putting your opinion in along the way.

    Happy 3rd Birthday

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