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Gogglebox to premiere on Foxtel one night, TEN the next.

Exclusive: A game-changing joint commissioning by Foxtel / TEN, becomes an Australian TV first.

2014-10-29_2233EXCLUSIVE: In a game-changing move in the Australian television market, a series has been jointly-commissioned by a Subscription TV and a Free to Air broadcaster -which will see it screen on both sectors on consecutive nights.

As revealed yesterday the local adaptation of Gogglebox will premiere next year on Foxtel.

TV Tonight can now exclusively reveal it will also screen on TEN the very next night.

It is the first time STV and Free to Air have jointly commissioned a show together and the first time an Australian series premieres on both platforms within 24 hours of one another.

It completely eradicates any 12 month waiting period, which has existed on shows before.

The joint commissioning is likely to fuel further speculation about corporate manoeuvres, following rumoured takeover bids of TEN by Foxtel. Earlier this month it was reported Foxtel considered a joint takeover of Network TEN with US private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, but decided against it “for a number of reasons.”

The BAFTA-winning Gogglebox, to be produced by Shine Australia, uses cameras installed in living rooms to capture the reactions of TV viewers and their love / hate relationship with their television sets. Four seasons have aired in the UK, spawning international spin-offs and turning the families who have appeared in it into social media sensations. Casting for Australian families is now underway.

Both broadcasters are expected to announce the Gogglebox commissioning today.

This week Foxtel also confirmed it had commissioned 2 seasons of A Place to Call Home, to be produced by Seven.

11 Responses

  1. Would be great if they did this with Wentworth. It was the best Australian drama in 2014 and deserves a much, much wider audience. And it would be a return to home for the Prisoner legend, on Ten.

  2. Can’t see what is in this for Foxtel, even if they do plan to takeover. If I had Foxtel, I’d be mad that I’m paying for semthing ther vioewers get for free within 24 hours.

    That said, renewing APTCH is a smart move.

  3. Well, they’ve started commissioning in a way they no doubt plan once they all (and by all, the production company and both channels) have the same owner.

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