Exit 9HD, enter GEM.
According to TV Tonight, Channel 9 will axe its high definition 9HD channel on September 23rd, and replace it with GEM, a channel aimed at women over 35 on September 24th, a day before Channel 7 launches its new blokey 7mate channel. GEM (it stands for General Entertainment and Movies) will feature programs such as Weeds, The Secret Millionaire, Random Acts of Kindness and Wife Swap, along with some HD sports in order to meet programming quotas.
Is it just me, or is it becoming ever more bleak on the digital TV landscape for those of us who want dedicated free to air HD channels?
Chris Guerin
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 12:33 PMThank christ I get my media fix online.
Glenn Fairbairn
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 12:36 PMThe extra channels just make free to air TV feel like pay TV – recycled and repeated content, ad nauseum.
But hey, at least you’re not paying for the recycled content!
Normandy
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 12:36 PMits all about content, no how good it looks.
This is why blu ray is a fail, who cares! content is king and connivence of how to get it!
It seems interesting that Australia started out 3 years ago with 4 dedicated HD channels, now we are down to one! Its the old content is king, and not so much of how good it looks.
Not much of a future for Blu Ray or 3D then is it?
matt
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 9:05 PMi’m sorry, have you SEEN this content? oh, yeah… R.B.T… a show about people getting pulled over and breath tested is PRIME TIME TELEVISION on nine…
WHAT THE F***!
clearly its not about how good it looks OR how quality the content is.
this near literal stream of excrement that’s spammed at me across the tv networks is no king of mine!
give me the same shows, that I might actually want to watch, in HD any day over another selection of crap I will NEVER watch.
Shane
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 12:55 PMAimed at women, with hd sports. While I appreciate the fact the there are women who enjoy sports, do we really need MORE….
What about a sports free channel!!
Ax
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 12:16 AMProgramming quotas demand a certain breadth of of programming, which is why you never see -completely- dedicated Free-to-Air channels like you see on cable and satellite providers
Nathan Adams
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 12:56 PMWhat the hell are we gonna watch the cricket on!?! You can’t axe the HD channel just as summer rolls around. What would Ritchie say…
Simon Reidy
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:03 PMOh great. Another low resolution over-compressed commercial channel playing rehashed crap, rather than a dedicated 1080i HD channel. Somebody catch me while I faint from excitement.
Ed
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:07 PMOh great…. another of the HD channels going to be filled with upscalled SD programs…..
Thats the kicker for me… why waste an HD channel on this?
I never really watched CH9, and this is hardly going to win me over [no pun intended, country viewers]. Think ill stick to SBSHD and blueray for my HD viewing future…
matt
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:09 PM*sigh* like I need more reasons not to watch FTA tv. the whole reason I got into Bones was because i looked so awesome in HD.
JAYTEE
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:09 PMIt’s not just you. We spend up big on Full HD setups and are then forced to settle for SD content ( either on SD or HD channels ).
Johnny
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:11 PMSo now what is the point of having an HDTV for FTA TV? News and sport channels are really all that we have left…
JonBOY26
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:22 PMCant argue with more free digital channels. Plus Weeds is a top show!
M4192
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:27 PMI’d rather have more channels than two of the same but one in HD. I don’t really notice the quality difference but they could just let them have more than one HD channel if that’s what’s stopping them now.
johnd
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:33 PMGiven that the image quality on the HD channels is so bad (except for those travel fill-in things) they might as well be SD. Even those aren’t real HD, just the channels redefinition of HD to suit themselves.
[doa]
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 1:42 PMNo loss, the tight bandwidth used usually makes the viewing unpleasant on all but the news anyhow.
I doubt this will change with this new girly channel, but at least it’s aimed at a demographic that won’t even notice.
Neil
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:00 PMSo I guess that means no more Top Gear in HD.
Thanks for nothing channel nine
Morris
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:01 PM:/ I can’t wait for FTA stations to start broadcasting (more stations) in MPEG4 so I am not limited to ‘Blokey’ and ‘Women over 35 years’ shows.
Paul B
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:05 PMWhat the! What about the rubgy league final!?
Nigel
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:05 PMWeeds is for women over 35, hmmm didn’t think it had hit Soap Opera status yet!
Whilst I don’t like the death of HD TV, I’d sooner rather have more choice (not more 2.5 men repeats though) than have to worry about the quality. If you have a decent upscaling box/TV then it really doesn’t matter in the end. Also a lot of the content the stations get has to be HD content and it usually isn’t.
Jonathan Row
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:41 PMFree to air HD channels? Don’t you mean HD channels in general. Last I checked Foxtel’s pickings were still quite slim, and only covered a few special interest channels.
I don’t understand why all these “bonus” channels targeting smaller demographics (ie 7mate for guys 16-49, GEM for women 35+) don’t just get done in SD, while they keep the HD for the main flagship channel…
Dan Raica
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:42 PMWho cares – half the stuff on these so called HD channels was either upscaled from SD or 720 and most of the time they were not 1080i at all (not to mention poor compression).
Would prefer to have more choice than so-called “better quality”. Which leads me to my next point…
How terrible is the programming on these new channels?!?!
Funnily enough, I seem to consume most of my media through iView etc… Traditional FTA is dead.
Ian
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:42 PMSo I guess there is a business case for more narrow targeting of audiences for the advertisers.
My gripe is the lousy Electronic Program Guide info, particularly the 9 network. One checks to see what is worth watching, cant determine anything, and turn the TV off to find something else to do. If the advertisers want a specific audience, it pays to advertise the drawcard.
I would need to have a prescription drug addiction to just sit there all evening without changing channels.
Sunny Kalsi
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:44 PMtee… vee? Can I get that on the internet?
Tweak
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:53 PM2 and a half men free ?…
Jokes aside, isn’t there some regulation currently in place that limits the number of HD channels each network can currently use, due to the whole transition / phasing out.
I was of the understanding once they phase out analogue we will hopefully get more HD channels, and maybe some decent programming..
Stefan
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:56 PMeh… i dont watch much tv myself. life on mars, the bill, good game and the gruen transfer and im set :P
Peter Campbell
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 3:03 PMPeople still watch broadcast television?