With the advent of all of the major analog Free To Airs now ‘live’ with their digital offerings the red set thought it might be a good time to check in and see how they are traveling and consider whether more channels is translating to greater diversity for viewers or just ‘more of the same.’
Quietly and very recently Channel 7 went live with its digital channel 7Two with content that the channel is classifying as, ” broad entertainment …. offering all our viewers greater choice through a variety of shows with something for everyone no matter what your age. Our channel is programmed to complement Channel Seven’s existing schedule so if you are not in the mood for Action on Seven then 7TWO will offer you an alternative… maybe Romance?”
GO! went live in August with a focus on programming for the 14 -39-year-old demographic [traditioanlly ten's domain] with shows like Gossip Girl, The Hills, Terminator – Sarah Connor Chronicles, Weeds, comedy hits like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm and first run content like The Vampire Diaries.
The claims (read ambitions of the FTAs) are that ‘more free television in Australia will translate into increased choice for viewers and advertisers’.
“It’s a win for our audience because it offers more diversity and substantially wider viewing choices than ever before, at no cost.” said David Gyngell from nine at the time of GO! ‘go live’.
Nine’s strategy with GO! is to program distinctly different content to that offered on their regular analog channel whereas 7 has chosen to ‘complement’.
Channel TEN launched ONE HD back in March 2009 with 100% pure sport as its alternative offer and promotes itself as, ” Australia’s first free-to-air 24 hour sports channel” – so a substantially differentiated offer from it’s main analog programming.
SBS 2 went live in June this year with a programming strategy that ‘complements’ their analog offerings, “more world film and drama, documentaries, international news and sport….”
Meanwhile ABC 2 has been live since since March 2005 with a mixed bag of ‘catch up’ options and ‘alternative programming’ and will also launch ABC 3 in the not too distant future – which will be a dedicated children’s channel.
The sheer scale of the task of shifting all Australian commercial free-to-air television transmissions from anolog to digital technology has also signaled ‘a call to arms’ from the Pay TV sector as a release posted today over at PR WIRE demonstrates:
Nov 17
The Playroom commenced broadcasting three new HD channels for The Movie Network from their advanced digital media hub
As part of Foxtel’s $50 million pay-TV expansion, Australia’s leading digital broadcasters, The Playroom, flipped the switch on three new HD channels for The Movie Network channels on Sunday morning, as well as launching the Movie Network’s new Family Movie Channel (FMC). “……….
Andrew Hogg, The Playroom’s General Manager, said: “We’re pleased to confirm that The Movie Network’s new HD channels launched successfully on November 15. The Movie Network will be among the first to benefit from our new digital media operations centre which is enabling us to provide the production, broadcast, aggregation and distribution services content providers are going to rely on in the digital age………..
Asked about The Movie Network’s partnership with The Playroom, Movie Network CEO, Tony Forrest, said: “The Playroom’s facilities are unique. In addition to broadcasting our new high-definition channels, The Playroom will also play a critical role in expanding our premium content services, allowing us to take full advantage of any digital media platform we require”…..
That reads like ‘Game on’ – and now back to the question as to whether there is more choice for viewers with the new digital FTA offerings – at this point in time – it seems yes programming choices and strategies to date do seem to be offering real ‘choices’ for viewers, let’s hope it continues that way.
image: poster found online for ‘Curb your Enthusiasm’ – one of the offerings on GO!
