Network Ten Bondi Rescue The Simpsons Australian Idol Media Man Australia

Network Ten Australia

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James Packer resigns from Network Ten Board - March 2011

Media Man purchases shares in Network Ten

Network Ten, or Channel Ten, is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country. Ten consistently rates third amongst all channels in Australia's five largest cities, behind the Seven Network and Nine Network.

History

Origins

From the introduction of television in Australia in 1956 up until 1965 there were only two commercial television networks in Australia, the Nine Network and the Seven Network, but in the early 1960s, the federal government began canvassing the idea of licencing a third commercial television station in each city. This decision was seen by some commentators as a way for the government to defuse growing public dissatisfaction with the dominance of imported overseas programming and the paucity of local content.

Structurally, the Australian television industry was closely modelled on the two-tiered system that had been in place in Australian radio since the late 1930s. One tier consisted of a network of publicly-funded television stations run by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, which was funded by government budget allocation and (until 1972) by fees from television viewer licences. The second tier consisted of the commercial networks and independent stations owned by private operators, whose income came from selling advertising time.

Founded in 1965, the new television network was initially dubbed the "Independent Television Network" or ITN, but it quickly adopted the title The 0-10 Network which reflected the names of the first two stations in the group. In the early 1990s, Ten also referred to itself by the acronym "The Entertainment Network" in network promotions.

ATV-0 in Melbourne opened on August 1, 1964, and was prodominantly owned by the Ansett transport and media group, which at the time owned one of Australia's two internal airlines. TEN-10 in Sydney, which opened on April 5, 1965, was originally owned by United Telecasters Sydney Ltd (UTSL).

Programming

On November 17, 2006, Network Ten revealed its 2007 program line-up. It was announced that all of Ten's Australian and overseas franchises would return. Network Ten has commenced a new program supply agreement with 20th Century Fox, and its music records based on Sony BMG only, which was previously held by the Seven Network. Ten has also commenced a new program supply agreement with the CBS Corporation, which includes its news division, which had been aligned with the Nine Network for many decades. Ten's chief executive officer, Grant Blackley, and chief programming officer, David Mott, launched Ten's 2007 lineup at Sydney's State Theatre.

Ten's current Australian programming lineup consists of television shows including: 9am with David and Kim, Australian Idol, Big Brother Australia, The Biggest Loser, Neighbours, Rove and Thank God You're Here. On February 7, 2007, Ten debuted the Australian version of the The Con Test, based on the British TV show Poker Face. Also premiered early in 2007 is Saving Babies, also the return of Bondi Rescue.

Network Ten relies heavily on its CBS and FOX output deals. The Simpsons has been a staple of the network for almost two decades, with repeat episodes formerly screening at 6pm weeknights (Friends replaced this timeslot in February 2008) and on weekends. Other overseas programming on Ten includes; Futurama, House, Jericho, the Late Show with David Letterman, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Medium, NCIS, NUMB3RS, Supernatural, The Office, The Bold and the Beautiful and Judge Judy.

Network Ten plans to show several new shows from the 2007 US fall season. Season One of Californication has already been broadcast (episodes were shown two weeks after their American broadcast) - though most of the US Fall 2007 shows are expected to appear on Ten in 2008, including Back To You, Women's Murder Club, Kid Nation, K-Ville, Journeyman, Cane, Swingtown and Rules of Engagement. Ten has also announced that they are going to screen Dexter, the remaining episodes of One Tree Hill during the second half of 2008, and will air a new Australian soap opera, Out of the Blue.

News & Current Affairs

Ten News

Network Ten's news service is called Ten News. It produces the following bulletins/programs; Ten's Early News, Ten's Morning News, Ten News, Ten's Late News, Sports Tonight, and Meet The Press. In November 2006, Network Ten struck a deal with CBS, reportably worth AUS $6 Million a year. This allows Network Ten the rights to air all CBS News footage, as well as access to its 60 Minutes, Dr. Phil, Late Show with David Letterman and 48 Hours programs. This deal occurred after CBS's talks with the Nine Network broke down, with Nine refusing to pay AUS $8 Million a year to continue its 40-year deal with CBS. Ten in turn struck a cheaper deal, and has onsold CBS's 60 Minutes stories to Nine.

Sport

In 2002, Ten acquired broadcast rights for Saturday afternoon and Saturday night games in the Australian Football League, the elite Australian Rules Football competition, displacing the Seven Network which had held the rights for more than 40 years. The deal also assigned the rights for finals broadcasting to Network Ten. From 2007 to 2011, Ten will jointly broadcast the AFL with the Seven Network, continuing to broadcast the Saturday component of the competition. However, unlike the previous deal Ten will not hold the exclusive rights to the finals series. Instead, the networks will share the broadcasting of the finals series and will alternate the broadcast (year on year) of the grand final. In years when Ten does not televise the Grand Final (2008 and 2010), it will show the Brownlow Medal presentation. Network Ten has announced that it will broadcast the AFL and the Rugby World Cup 2007 in the 1080i High Definition format.

Ten used to air the National Rugby League (NRL) (then New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL)) in the 1980s and early 1990s, but the Nine Network took over the rights.

Network Ten also used to air the National Basketball League during the mid-90's, but after delegating games to extremely late night time slots the network eventually ended its broadcasting. Fox Sports is currently the major broadcaster for the NBL and the Nine Network runs a weekly highlight package (the only free-to-air broadcast of the league). Despite no longer broadcasting the NBL, Network Ten remains a sponsor and "Official Television Partner" of the Perth Wildcats.

Ten used to air WWF RAW And WWF Superstars on Monday and Saturday nights between 1995 and 2000. but ended when Foxtel bought the rights to air the shows.

In 2003 Network Ten started broadcasting the Formula One World Championship. In 2007 they had also started showing coverage of the qualifying.

Network Ten broadcasts major sporting events including; the AFL Premiership Season and Finals (In conjunction with the Seven Network and Foxtel), Formula One World Championship , Moto GP World Championship, NASCAR (TEN HD from 2008), and the Red Bull Air Race World Series. Ten also holds the rights to the 2007 Rugby World Cup and the US Masters golf tournament.

As well as this, Network Ten, in joint partnership with subscription television provider Foxtel, has broadcast rights for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.Network Ten have also bought the rights to the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) Cricket starting April 18th 2008 and will broadcast the event annually for the next 5 years although there is some doubt that the Australian contracted national players will be available for the tournament. (Credit: Wikipedia).

Websites

Network Ten Australia

Profiles

Southern Cross Broadcasting

Media Companies

Media Man does not represent Network Ten

Media Man director owns shares in Network Ten