I am largely unfamiliar with the Aussie TV scene. I watched the final two series of their version of Top Gear (once they got the right hosts with the right chemistry), and I recall PBS aired a drama series about an Australian Navy ship a few years ago, the name of which eludes me.
If they are trying to distribute their programs overseas (where one assumes potential profit exists), I'm not seeing evidence of it in my bubble. You'd think English language shows from down under could work in the US, UK, and Canada given a chance. On Tue, Jun 13, 2017 at 10:49 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> wrote: > Among Australia's commercial TV networks, Network Ten has long been the > scrappy underdog going against its longer-established, higher-rated and > (for the most part) richer competitors the Seven Network and the Nine > Network (yes, they're all named after the channel numbers they're on in the > big cities). It first got attention in the 70s with the racy soap opera > "Number 96," which brought nudity and profanity to prime time in Australia > and then followed it up with the gritty soap "Prisoner" (or as it's known > overseas, "Prisoner Cell Block H"), the first series anywhere with an out > lesbian character. Later on, in the beginning of the reality TV era, it > jumped on "Big Brother" when it was still shocking. For the last 25 years > or so, the net's cornerstones have been the Australian rights to "The > Simpsons" (as part of a big content deal with 20th Television) and the > long-running worldwide hit soap "Neighbours." But it's been having its > problems, particularly with those American content deals (they also have > one with CBS) that require them to cough up big bucks for unsuccessful > American series, while "Neighbours," like its competition on Seven "Home > and Away," is not the smash hit it once was in its home country and is more > dependent on overseas syndication, including a lucrative contract with the > UK's Channel 5 that has almost single-handedly kept the show on the air. > And oh yes, less ad revenue, like so many media companies worldwide. And > then on Monday the fecal matter hit the fan when its largest shareholders, > Lachlan Murdoch (son of Rupert) and Bruce Gordon, owner of the net's > biggest regional affiliate WIN, said that they were not going to guarantee > a key loan, Ten says that it is going into voluntary administration, > appointing the Asian-Pacific investment firm KordaMentha as administrators > and has taken its stock off of the Australian markets: > > > http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/network-ten-heads-into-voluntary-administration-20170614-gwqo47.html > > The thing is--this is not just an Australian thing. All of the big media > companies are facing the same problems as Ten and they are worldwide. > American TV is not the viewer magnet that it used to be, domestic scripted > series in many foreign countries like Australia depend on government grants > and tax breaks to be affordable (and, of course, are not guaranteed to be > successful), which means the most popular shows worldwide now are reality > shows (many of them local versions of overseas formats). Currently, Ten's > prime time lineup during the year is dominated by local versions of "All > Star Family Feud" (the civilian version runs weeknights), "The Bachelor" > (and "Bachelorette"), "Survivor," "Gogglebox" (the British format that > watches people watching television that airs in the U.S. on Bravo as "The > People's Couch"), "MasterChef," "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!", > "Shark Tank ("Dragon's Den") and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" And Seven and > Nine? Well, at least top-rated Seven's reality shows (and Nine's shows, > with the big exception of "The Voice") are all home-grown (and their "My > Kitchen Rules" format bombed in an Americanization earlier this year on > Fox). The problem with reality, of course, is hardly any back end other > than overseas sales, the tendency to overdo the genre and the strong > distaste of the genre among enough people, even if it is the only mass > appeal television left. > > And let it be noted that Australia has never really taken to cable or > satellite--but has taken to streamers (9 million Netflix subscribers, 2.4 > million subscribers to the Fox-owned cable/satellite service Foxtel, which > enjoys a near-monopoly on the cord). Which means that only a fool can be > sure that Ten will be able to climb out of its quagmire intact and > successful. And could it happen in the U.S.? It could... > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. 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