New stations in Hobart Tas & Spencer Gulf SA

[Charles Gregory]

I'm surprised I hadn't seen any discussion about the new Tassie
channel here - it started digital broadcasting on 1st January - there
has been plenty of discussion in the lead up to it, but nothing for a
few months. Here is some information for the curious (copy/pasted
from another email I have sent, because I'm lazy):

TDT is a new TV station that started in Hobart on 1/1/2004. It is
called Tasmanian Digital Television [crap name I think :) ] It is
broadcasting in digital ONLY - I think it is Australia's first
digital-only (not counting multi-channelling by SBS/ABC). It is
expected to start in Launceston and the rest of Tasmania mid year.

It is co-owned by the other stations here, Southern Cross and WIN.
The reason (from the ABA) for the joint ownership being that there
isn't enough advertising revenue to keep three companies afloat, but
the people here should be entitled to the choice of a third commercial
channel.

Content: Southern Cross is currently 7 and 10 affiliated - mainly 7.
Therefore TDT is 10 based, but SC didn't want to just dump all their
10 programs, as people will have to buy a STB to get programs that
they saw for free previously (Big Brother, Australian Idol being the
high rating ones). Therefore, TDT will be broadcasting basically a
Ch10 stream, *except* during prime time (7.30-10.30pm) where it will
play the "opposite" show to what SC is playing. Ie. It will remain
Ch10 unless SC is showing a Ch10 show, in which case it will play the
Ch7 show that Seven network plays at the same time. *breathe*

It's probably easier to say SC = mostly 7, TDT = mostly 10, with some
swapping! Eventually (when analogue is switched off, or maybe before
if the dtv takeup is huge) it is assumed SC will go full 7, TDT will
go full 10.

TDT will not have any local news - as it would have to be produced by
either SC or WIN anyway, which would be a waste of resources as they
both have their own local news - so the news will be Melbourne's 10
news.

Althought it is not a straight Ten feed, nor is it owned by the Ten
Network, it is labelled with a Ten logo in the TV guide, and features
the Ten logo in its station promos.

Until it gets some more local advertising, it is mainly playing scenes
of Tasmania during commercial breaks. See an example here -
http://2dseven.croftchronicles.com/tdthobart.jpg. Apparently one of
the few ads seen so far is for Coogans (electrical/furniture store),
which was the first ad ever shown on TVT6 when it started in 1960.

DTV viewers down here are saying the quality is high above SC and
WIN's existing digital transmissions. Current discussion about the
channel is here http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=2457. I
don't have a digital STB yet myself, but from what I have heard the
takeup (after about a week of publicity) is huge - people who are slow
on the technical side of things are jumping to get a STB.

I can't find any website or logo for TDT at all, apart from the one in
the screen cap above.

=================

I also didn't know about the new Spencer Gulf channel (that started
30/12/2003 or thereabouts) until yesterday - it wasn't on the
aus.tv.history or Television.au web sites. It is broadcasting in the
Central GTS/BKN region (Port Pirie and Broken Hill). The new station
is Southern Cross Ten - which is interesting as Central GTS/BKN is
owned by Southern Cross, so they have a monopoly in the area (like WIN
does in Griffith). It also gives Central GTS/BKN the nations first
dual Seven/Nine affiliate - all combinations are now covered! More
information about the channel is available at
http://www.centralonline.com.au/channel-10.pdf.

Unlike TDT in Hobart, this channel is being broadcast on both analogue
AND digital - maybe a second channel is deemed to need higher
accessibility than a third channel.

This also gives regional SA:
WIN SA (former SES8/RTS5A in Mt Gambier/Riverland)
Central GTS/BKN (existing channel in Port Pirie/Broken Hill)
SC 10 (new channel in Port Pirie/Broken Hill)

...which makes it look like a prime (no pun intended) target for a
merger of the two areas, and finally proper aggregation in SA.

[Thomas 'bacco|007' Baxter]

On 3 Jan 2004 15:43:51 -0800, Charles Gregory wrote:

> Content: Southern Cross is currently 7 and 10 affiliated - mainly 7.
> Therefore TDT is 10 based, but SC didn't want to just dump all their
> 10 programs, as people will have to buy a STB to get programs that
> they saw for free previously (Big Brother, Australian Idol being the
> high rating ones). Therefore, TDT will be broadcasting basically a
> Ch10 stream, *except* during prime time (7.30-10.30pm) where it will
> play the "opposite" show to what SC is playing. Ie. It will remain
> Ch10 unless SC is showing a Ch10 show, in which case it will play the
> Ch7 show that Seven network plays at the same time. *breathe*

SCB made specific mention on many occasions that either channel would not
be directly affiliated with any particular network. SCTV is quite popular
in Tasmania and SCB want to keep it that way [possibly to make best use of
the limited advertising dollars that are in the market]. There is also
the factor that the station will is digital only and that a number of the
10 based programming is very popular. Maybe the situation will change
when the whole state at least has access to the new service [it would seem
silly to continue to as is....]

I thought that TasTV would have been a better name, but obviously the
marketing gurus at both SCB & WIN know best ;)

> Althought it is not a straight Ten feed, nor is it owned by the Ten
> Network, it is labelled with a Ten logo in the TV guide, and features
> the Ten logo in its station promos.

Most of the Ten labelled stations fit into this mould [ie those also owned
by SCB - SCTen NSW/QLD/SA/VIC]

> I can't find any website or logo for TDT at all, apart from the one in
> the screen cap above.

I cant really see one coming in the horizon either.... SCB will probably
add the obligitory 2 paragraph spiel to their corporate website but that
will probably be it.

> I also didn't know about the new Spencer Gulf channel (that started
> 30/12/2003 or thereabouts) until yesterday - it wasn't on the
> aus.tv.history or Television.au web sites. It is broadcasting in the
> Central GTS/BKN region (Port Pirie and Broken Hill). The new station
> is Southern Cross Ten - which is interesting as Central GTS/BKN is
> owned by Southern Cross, so they have a monopoly in the area (like WIN
> does in Griffith). It also gives Central GTS/BKN the nations first
> dual Seven/Nine affiliate - all combinations are now covered! More
> information about the channel is available at
> http://www.centralonline.com.au/channel-10.pdf.

There has been a hold up in the launch of this station in one area [Port
Lincoln]

This station is in the same mould as the other SCTen stations around the
country being a direct copy of the Cap City edition with local ads and
logos etc. Central have made the decision to remove the Ten programming
from GTS/BKN which means that the viewers will get more programming from
their other affiliates in Nine & Seven.

> ..which makes it look like a prime (no pun intended) target for a
> merger of the two areas, and finally proper aggregation in SA.

There are a number of requirements for aggregation, sufficent audience and
advertising dollars are the major ones from memory. There are only 3
areas that are not aggregated i think [Tasmania, Griffth/MIA & Regional SA]

[tony_h]

"Charles Gregory" <spam1@chuq.net> wrote in message
news:6a60f728.0401031543.3db41132@posting.google.c om...
> I'm surprised I hadn't seen any discussion about the new Tassie
> channel here - it started digital broadcasting on 1st January - there
> has been plenty of discussion in the lead up to it, but nothing for a
> few months. Here is some information for the curious (copy/pasted
> from another email I have sent, because I'm lazy):
>
> TDT is a new TV station that started in Hobart on 1/1/2004. It is
> called Tasmanian Digital Television [crap name I think :) ] It is
> broadcasting in digital ONLY - I think it is Australia's first
> digital-only (not counting multi-channelling by SBS/ABC).

Doesn't the EXPO channels count for Sydney as our first digital only, they
have been up for probably a month (and you can call the 24hour infomercial a
vid channel I suppose, and the other 4 or so channels are definitely
data-casting style with guides, traffic camers etc)?

I was wondering what this TDT was about, I read the http://www.dba.org.au
forums a lot, and didn't quite know what this was about.
Cheers
Tony

[Thomas 'bacco|007' Baxter]

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 06:39:08 GMT, tony_h wrote:

> Doesn't the EXPO channels count for Sydney as our first digital only,

EXPO isnt digital only though... Its available on Optus Television &
Austar

[Matthew Cook]

Thomas 'bacco|007' Baxter wrote:

> There are only 3 areas that are not aggregated i think [Tasmania,
> Griffth/MIA & Regional SA]

Tassie is aggregated, just not all the way...

[tony_h]

"Thomas 'bacco|007' Baxter" <bacco007@bacco007.com> wrote in message
news:mnbxbwcmff8o$.1kbajrcmyroee$.dlg@40tude.net.. .
> On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 06:39:08 GMT, tony_h wrote:
>
> > Doesn't the EXPO channels count for Sydney as our first digital only,
>
> EXPO isnt digital only though... Its available on Optus Television &
> Austar

Aha, given I don't want to fork out wads of hard earned cash for that crap
we call pay TV (not even remotely interested) this is something I didn't
know about. You would have to pay me to watch that infomercial channel
(poor vid quality, lots of sickening yankee audience shots of people going
"awwww" when they show something "amazing" like sticking a chicken in an
oven or wisking some fruit and ice together with an "amazing" electric
widget).

Cool
Tony

[Scooby Doo]

Good post !!!

I too would like to know more about this new commercial tv channel in
Tassie....

Seems Australians too often have a fear of having too many commercial
tv channels when they are sorely needed here.....

What is it with this fear or is it sheer naivity ?!?

Australia is soon gonna get a lot more American content dumped on its
shores with this Free Trade Agreement -- not such a bad thing -- so
bascially we have a choice -- only 3 tv channels with more American
content or multiple commercial choices with at least some Australian
crap on them ;-)

================================================== ===========================



spam1@chuq.net (Charles Gregory) wrote in message news:<6a60f728.0401031543.3db41132@posting.google.com>...
> I'm surprised I hadn't seen any discussion about the new Tassie
> channel here - it started digital broadcasting on 1st January - there
> has been plenty of discussion in the lead up to it, but nothing for a
> few months. Here is some information for the curious (copy/pasted
> from another email I have sent, because I'm lazy):
>
> TDT is a new TV station that started in Hobart on 1/1/2004. It is
> called Tasmanian Digital Television [crap name I think :) ] It is
> broadcasting in digital ONLY - I think it is Australia's first
> digital-only (not counting multi-channelling by SBS/ABC). It is
> expected to start in Launceston and the rest of Tasmania mid year.
>
> It is co-owned by the other stations here, Southern Cross and WIN.
> The reason (from the ABA) for the joint ownership being that there
> isn't enough advertising revenue to keep three companies afloat, but
> the people here should be entitled to the choice of a third commercial
> channel.
>
> Content: Southern Cross is currently 7 and 10 affiliated - mainly 7.
> Therefore TDT is 10 based, but SC didn't want to just dump all their
> 10 programs, as people will have to buy a STB to get programs that
> they saw for free previously (Big Brother, Australian Idol being the
> high rating ones). Therefore, TDT will be broadcasting basically a
> Ch10 stream, *except* during prime time (7.30-10.30pm) where it will
> play the "opposite" show to what SC is playing. Ie. It will remain
> Ch10 unless SC is showing a Ch10 show, in which case it will play the
> Ch7 show that Seven network plays at the same time. *breathe*
>
> It's probably easier to say SC = mostly 7, TDT = mostly 10, with some
> swapping! Eventually (when analogue is switched off, or maybe before
> if the dtv takeup is huge) it is assumed SC will go full 7, TDT will
> go full 10.
>
> TDT will not have any local news - as it would have to be produced by
> either SC or WIN anyway, which would be a waste of resources as they
> both have their own local news - so the news will be Melbourne's 10
> news.
>
> Althought it is not a straight Ten feed, nor is it owned by the Ten
> Network, it is labelled with a Ten logo in the TV guide, and features
> the Ten logo in its station promos.
>
> Until it gets some more local advertising, it is mainly playing scenes
> of Tasmania during commercial breaks. See an example here -
> http://2dseven.croftchronicles.com/tdthobart.jpg. Apparently one of
> the few ads seen so far is for Coogans (electrical/furniture store),
> which was the first ad ever shown on TVT6 when it started in 1960.
>
> DTV viewers down here are saying the quality is high above SC and
> WIN's existing digital transmissions. Current discussion about the
> channel is here http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=2457. I
> don't have a digital STB yet myself, but from what I have heard the
> takeup (after about a week of publicity) is huge - people who are slow
> on the technical side of things are jumping to get a STB.
>
> I can't find any website or logo for TDT at all, apart from the one in
> the screen cap above.
>
> =================
>
> I also didn't know about the new Spencer Gulf channel (that started
> 30/12/2003 or thereabouts) until yesterday - it wasn't on the
> aus.tv.history or Television.au web sites. It is broadcasting in the
> Central GTS/BKN region (Port Pirie and Broken Hill). The new station
> is Southern Cross Ten - which is interesting as Central GTS/BKN is
> owned by Southern Cross, so they have a monopoly in the area (like WIN
> does in Griffith). It also gives Central GTS/BKN the nations first
> dual Seven/Nine affiliate - all combinations are now covered! More
> information about the channel is available at
> http://www.centralonline.com.au/channel-10.pdf.
>
> Unlike TDT in Hobart, this channel is being broadcast on both analogue
> AND digital - maybe a second channel is deemed to need higher
> accessibility than a third channel.
>
> This also gives regional SA:
> WIN SA (former SES8/RTS5A in Mt Gambier/Riverland)
> Central GTS/BKN (existing channel in Port Pirie/Broken Hill)
> SC 10 (new channel in Port Pirie/Broken Hill)
>
> ..which makes it look like a prime (no pun intended) target for a
> merger of the two areas, and finally proper aggregation in SA.

[Scooby Doo]

"Matthew Cook" <mattax@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<bt8dij$4f8oo$1@ID-182032.news.uni-berlin.de>...
> Thomas 'bacco|007' Baxter wrote:
>
> > There are only 3 areas that are not aggregated i think [Tasmania,
> > Griffth/MIA & Regional SA]
>
> Tassie is aggregated, just not all the way...

but there are *only* two commercial tv channels at the moment (which
is quite abysmal and pathetic) -- at least until the new channel
starts up in January
2004....................

BTW, it is now well past time to look at more commercial tv channels
-- especially in Melbourne and Sydney...................

================================================== =========================

[Nathan Smith]

"Charles Gregory" <spam1@chuq.net> wrote in message
news:6a60f728.0401031543.3db41132@posting.google.c om...
> I'm surprised I hadn't seen any discussion about the new Tassie
> channel here - it started digital broadcasting on 1st January - there
> has been plenty of discussion in the lead up to it, but nothing for a
> few months. Here is some information for the curious (copy/pasted
> from another email I have sent, because I'm lazy):
>
> TDT is a new TV station that started in Hobart on 1/1/2004. It is
> called Tasmanian Digital Television [crap name I think :) ] It is
> broadcasting in digital ONLY - I think it is Australia's first
> digital-only (not counting multi-channelling by SBS/ABC). It is
> expected to start in Launceston and the rest of Tasmania mid year.
>

This has been talked about here and the TV news in Tas. It's old news and I
doubt there would be too many watching it.

[Charles Gregory]

"Nathan Smith" <stryyker16@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<btb5pn$2po0$1@arachne.labyrinth.net.au>...
> "Charles Gregory" <spam1@chuq.net> wrote in message
> news:6a60f728.0401031543.3db41132@posting.google.c om...
> > I'm surprised I hadn't seen any discussion about the new Tassie
> > channel here - it started digital broadcasting on 1st January - there
> > has been plenty of discussion in the lead up to it, but nothing for a
> > few months. Here is some information for the curious (copy/pasted
> > from another email I have sent, because I'm lazy):
> >
> > TDT is a new TV station that started in Hobart on 1/1/2004. It is
> > called Tasmanian Digital Television [crap name I think :) ] It is
> > broadcasting in digital ONLY - I think it is Australia's first
> > digital-only (not counting multi-channelling by SBS/ABC). It is
> > expected to start in Launceston and the rest of Tasmania mid year.
> >
>
> This has been talked about here and the TV news in Tas. It's old news and I
> doubt there would be too many watching it.

I've actually been quite surprised by the number of people who are
asking/commenting on the new channel, STBs (and DVB-T cards), which
one to get, and so on. It's obvious the new channel is having the
desired effect of boosting interest among the general public. I
wouldn't be surprised if (say) a third of Hobart homes have digital TV
receivers by the end of the year. I'm not sure how many homes that
is, but its 200,000 people total; so lets say 75,000 homes (very
approximate guess), which would make it 25,000 with STBs. This is
ignoring the rest of the state (another 270,000 people) as they won't
get TDT until mid-year at the earliest.

If these numbers are right, then this is a significant difference to
the takeup rate of other cities around Australia, would prove that the
general (non-technical) public want content more than they want
image/sound quality, and maybe then we might see the funding of Fly
and ABC Kids return, and the government allowing multichanneling by
the commericial networks.

Although I mention image/sound quality as non being important above, I
have heard from TDT viewers that the quality is way above SC and WIN -
which is odd, seeing as it is jointly owned by them - but I guess TDT
is their "demo station" for digital, so they may have just been
putting all their effort into that for now.

- Charles

[John Smith]

"Charles Gregory" <spam1@chuq.net> wrote in message
news:6a60f728.0401052200.49e4afde@posting.google.c om...
> Although I mention image/sound quality as non being important above, I
> have heard from TDT viewers that the quality is way above SC and WIN -
> which is odd, seeing as it is jointly owned by them - but I guess TDT
> is their "demo station" for digital, so they may have just been
> putting all their effort into that for now.
>
> - Charles


i think most likely the Network Ten feed they are showing isn't altered very
much compared to what WIN and SC do to their mainland feeds hence the higher
quality of TDT.

[Matthew Cook]

John Smith wrote:
> "Charles Gregory" <spam1@chuq.net> wrote in message
> news:6a60f728.0401052200.49e4afde@posting.google.c om...
>> Although I mention image/sound quality as non being important above,
>> I have heard from TDT viewers that the quality is way above SC and
>> WIN - which is odd, seeing as it is jointly owned by them - but I
>> guess TDT is their "demo station" for digital, so they may have just
>> been putting all their effort into that for now.
>>
>> - Charles
>
>
> i think most likely the Network Ten feed they are showing isn't
> altered very much compared to what WIN and SC do to their mainland
> feeds hence the higher quality of TDT.

And all they usually do to alter it is add splodgy graffitti (well WIN does
anyway) and ads...