Australia’s commercial TV networks all met local content requirements for broadcasting in 2010. However, some of them wouldn’t have made it over the line without help from New Zealand (and the local movie community). More »
One of the theoretical benefits of the much-maligned Freeview alliance — the grouping of commercial networks which so far hasn’t offered much more than a heavily-delayed EPG which is only supported by a handful of set-top boxes — is the notion that Freeview might provide a centralised catch-up service for watching programs online, similar to Hulu in the US. That idea is still theoretically on the drawing board, but don’t expect it to happen any time soon. More »
It’s a subject we return to time and again here at Lifehacker: given how popular sport is, why won’t the networks make any effort to show high-definition broadcasts? Ten is the latest offender, dropping HD versions of its AFL broadcasts in favour of standard-definition matches on its main channels. More »
The latest submission by mainstream commercial TV channels to the government’s review of media convergence unearths some new ways free-to-air TV would like to irritate us: even less commitment to timeslots and a reduced obligation to provide children’s programming. But I am sympathetic to their desire for local content rules to spread across multiple channels. More »
As the switchover to digital TV gathers pace, new research suggests that many people have gone with the ultra-cheap option of a standard-definition (SD) box rather than a high-definition (HD) alternative. That’s a potential way of saving a few bucks, but it does cut down substantially on your channel choices. More »
Dear Lifehacker, I’ve just moved to Australia and am settling in right now, but I’ve been a reader of Lifehacker for a long time. If you could make a list of the must-watch TV shows on Australian TV, it’d be really helpful to me. Thanks, Prem More »
A good documentary can entertain and inform you like few other mediums, but we’re seeing less and less of them on Australian television. What’s going on? More »
Whatever its annoyances, digital TV will become the only TV game in town in 2013. Six months ago, 74% of Australian households had converted to digital. In the latest figures, that number has grown ever-so-slightly to 77%. More »
New anti-siphoning rules for sport on TV permit commercial broadcasters to switch major events from their main channel to a second digital channel if they overrun, but the legislation to enable them hasn’t yet been introduced. However, the government has agreed that Seven can switch Australian Open broadcasts onto a secondary channel, avoiding a repeat of last year’s situation where major match coverage was canned for news broadcasts and Home & Away. More »
It was announced last August and has been in non-stop promo since late December, but Ten’s third digital channel 11 finally launches today (11am on 11/01/11). Ten has promised a different approach to the other commercial networks when it comes to programming repeats from its main channel, but will that strategy last? More »
