'Network Ten', or 'Channel Ten', is one of
Australia's three commercial
television networks, available in
Sydney,
Melbourne,
Brisbane,
Adelaide and
Perth in
Australia. Ten consistently rates third amongst the commercial channels in Australia.
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).
1970s
Over the next few years more stations opened in other capitals and regional centres, and gradually these new stations affiliated with the 0-10 Network. But the Seven Network and the Nine Network were already well entrenched, and for its first five years the 0-10 Network led a hand-to-mouth existence. By the beginning of the
1970s the network was in a precarious financial position and there were predictions that it would fail.
The network's salvation came thanks to the adult
soap opera serial ''
Number 96'', which premiered in
March,
1972. The series broke new ground for Australian television and captured the imagination of viewers like few programs before or since. For the next three years it was consistently Australia's top-rating television program and, not surprisingly, its huge popularity attracted advertisers to TEN ''en masse'', with the result that its revenue exploded from just $1 million in
1971 to more than $10 million in
1972.
However, the pattern of ratings dominance was already set, and since the mid-
1960s there has been little deviation from the prevalent rankings, with the Nine Network typically in first place, the Seven Network second, Network Ten third and
ABC TV a distant fourth.
The gradual evolution of Network Ten into its current form has its origins in the ongoing attempts by media mogul
Rupert Murdoch to acquire a prized commercial television licence in Australia's largest capital city market,
Sydney. This began when Murdoch's
News Ltd purchased the Wollongong station
WIN Television in the early 1960s, around the same time he bought
Festival Records. In
1977, frustrated by regulatory blocks that prevented him from expanding into the Sydney market, Murdoch sold WIN Television and purchased a 46% share in Ten Sydney.
In
1979, Murdoch made an unsuccessful takeover bid for the Melbourne-based
Herald and Weekly Times media group. Although the bid failed, he gained a 50% stake in
Ansett, which thus gave him control of Channel 0 in Melbourne. When Murdoch became a
American citizen in
1985 so that he could expand his media empire in the United States, Australia's media ownership laws obliged him to dispose of the flagship television stations, which were sold to Northern Star, an offshoot of the
Westfield Group conglomerate controlled by property tycoon
Frank Lowy.
1980s
On
January 20,
1980, the 0-10 Network became known as ''Network Ten'' to reflect ATV-0's transition to
ATV-10 - although the
Brisbane station continued to broadcast as
TVQ-0 until
September 10,
1988. On
December 27,
1987, Adelaide's
SAS-10 gave
ADS-7 the affiliation rights of Network Ten, and became known as ADS-10.
Northern Star was badly hit by the stock market crash of
1987, having overcapitalised on the Network Ten acquisition, and in
1989 Westfield sold Network Ten to a consortium led by
Charles Curran and former television journalist Steve Cosser.
In
1989, Ten's ratings were in decline, so on
July 23,
1989, recently recruited network boss Bob Shanks relaunched Network Ten as ''10 TV Australia'' and introduced several new programs, including four new prime time game shows. However, by the end of
1989 the ratings had failed to improve and most of the new programs were cancelled.
1990s
In
1990, both Network Ten and the Seven Network filed for receivership. In
1992, the network's flagship stations were sold to the Canadian-based
CanWest media group, which currently holds a 56% stake in the network. Ten also has an affiliate broadcasting agreement with
Southern Cross Broadcasting, which owns numerous regional stations in
New South Wales,
Victoria,
Queensland and
Tasmania.
Network Ten was nearly folded into the
Seven Network in the early 1990s, but due to the lobbying power of billionaire
Kerry Packer, owner of the
Nine Network, this was successfully resisted.
2000s
In
2005, it was revealed that
CanWest was in discussions with newspaper publisher
John Fairfax Holdings about a possible sale of the network, after the federal government had indicated it may consider relaxing Australia's media cross-ownership laws. Previously, newspaper owners could not own television stations in the same city. Fairfax owned the Seven Network until the mid
1980s, and has been looking for a way back into television for a long time.
Ten's main focus is on the 16-39 demographic and for the last four ratings years has won this demographic, in spite of being the lowest rating of the three commercial Australian television stations overall.
Network Ten has headquarters in the Sydney suburb of
Pyrmont, which is where all national news programming and the network feeds originate.
On
August 21,
2005, the network celebrated its 40th birthday with a two-hour highlights package called ''Ten: Seriously 40'' hosted by
Bert Newton and
Rove McManus.
Along with the
Seven Network, Network Ten paid a record $780 Million
''(AUD)'' [Seven and Ten buy rights to AFL] for the rights to the
Australian Football League. Some media commentators, however, believe the figure may have been overpriced given the fact that both Seven and Ten struggled to onsell games to Pay TV provider
Foxtel. Ten eventually brokered a deal that saw Foxtel gain the rights to 4 live games each round, as well as replay rights for all games, shown on their
Fox Sports One channel. Foxtel will pay an estimated $50 million a year for these rights.
Programming
On
November 17,
2006, Network Ten revealed its 2007 program line-up.
[1]
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, ''
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'', and 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 screening at 6pm on weeknights and most weekends. Other overseas programming on Ten includes; ''
Futurama'', ''
House'', ''
Jericho'', the ''
Late Show with David Letterman'', ''
Law & Order'', '', '', ''
Medium'', ''
NCIS'', ''
NUMB3RS'', ''
Supernatural'', ''
The Bold and the Beautiful'' and ''
Judge Judy''.
Network Ten has already planned to show several new shows from the 2007 US fall season: although most of the shows are expected to appear Ten in 2008, including ''
Back To You'', ''
Women's Murder Club'', ''
Journeyman'', ''
Cane'' and ''
Swingtown'', ''
Californication'' is already being broadcast, with episodes shown two weeks after their American broadcast.
News & Current Affairs
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.
[2]
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'', ''World Superbike Championship'', 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.
Current schedule
'Note':
''News & Current Affairs'' are in 'Grey';
''Drama'' is in 'Blue';
''Sitcoms'', ''Animation'' and ''Comedy'' are in 'Purple';
''Lifestyle programs'' are in 'Green';
''Factual programs'' and ''Documentaries'' are 'Yellow';
''Reality'', ''Game shows'' and ''Talk shows'' are in 'Red';
''Sport'' is in 'Orange';
''Movies'' are in 'Pink'.
The above represents Ten's usual primetime schedule. It does not reflect one-off events, and program starting times may vary from those shown. For up-to-date information, see Network Ten's online television guide. (link).
Availability
Network Ten is simulcast in
analogue,
standard definition and
1080i high definition. Ten is broadcast in metropolitan areas via Network Ten
owned-and-operated stations, these include
TEN Melbourne,
ATV Melbourne,
TVQ Brisbane,
ADS Adelaide, and
NEW Perth. Channel Ten programming is also carried into other areas of regional Australia by various affiliate networks and stations including
Southern Cross Ten,
Southern Cross Television,
Tasmanian Digital Television,
Mildura Digital Television,
Darwin Digital Television,
Imparja Television, and
WIN Television.
Foxtel Digital
The Ten Network and Foxtel announced in August 2007
[2] a new agreement which now makes
Ten digitally transmitted via Foxtel’s cable and satellite pay television services. Before then cable subscribers continued to only receive an analogue retransmission of
Ten on
Foxtel, with no satellite retransmission. Ten chief executive Grant Blackley said the deal would further encourage the take up of digital television in Australia.
“Ten’s digital media strategy hinges on delivering our content by multiple means across all platforms as widely as possible,” Mr Blackley said in
The Australian. “With this agreement, viewers will find it easier than ever to access Ten regardless of how they choose to receive their television services.”
Foxtel subscribers can now access Ten’s schedule and program details on their electronic program guide, making viewing of Ten equivalent to Nine and regular Foxtel channels. This now leaves the
Seven Network as the only network not to operate in digital on the Foxtel platform in at least one state. The
Nine Network has only approved digital retransmission on Foxtel in
New South Wales,
Queensland and
Victoria
Controversy
Network Ten was criticised by conservative groups and Liberal backbenchers in 2005 for its reality television series ''
Big Brother''. Ten was criticised for selecting particularly promiscuous housemates for
the 2005 season of the show in an attempt to boost ratings. There were three main objections, all broadcast on its
''Big Brother Uncut'' show. One was footage of a housemate with his fly open whilst giving a massage to a female housemate. Another was where a housemate wrote a fetish song about "skidmarks". There was also a "cumulative" rating where various elements of a particular episode together pushed it above the 'MA15+' rating (the highest rating allowed on TV in Australia). There were calls for TV to be rated by an independent body rather than in-house, but the proposal was scrapped after the controversy died down.
For the 2006 series Ten appointed two censors to review the show instead of one. Federal Minister for Communications Senator
Helen Coonan is reported to say she would be keeping a "close watch on the show's 2006 series". This controversy resulted in ''Big Brother Uncut'' being renamed
''Big Brother: Adults Only'' for
the 2006 season of ''Big Brother Australia''.
In two separate findings, the
Australian Communications and Media Authority determined Network Ten breached clause 2.4 of the
Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice. These two breaches were in relation to the broadcast of Big Brother Uncut on
May 30,
June 13 and
July 4 2005. The Broadcasting material was not classified according to the Television Classification Guidelines.
Despite toning down ''Big Brother: Adults Only'' significantly in comparison to 2005, the series continued to attract
controversy. After ''Big Brother: Adults Only'' was abruptly cancelled several weeks early, a subsequent incident of alleged sexual assault in the house saw the removal of two housemates and a huge public outcry calling for the series to be cancelled entirely. This incident generated significant publicity for the show, even prompted the Prime Minister of Australia to call Network Ten to "do a bit of self-regulation and get this stupid program off the air.".
[3]
Just prior to the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Network Ten broadcast '', a documentary that examined
conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks. Federal
Labor politician
Michael Danby demanded that the programming director of the station be sacked.
[4]
Network Ten were highly criticised for their broadcast of the 2007
New Year's Eve celebrations, mostly for the
sexual innuendo witnessed between high-profile musician
John Foreman and
Matthew Newton, who is TV legend
Bert's son. Many other complaints were received, particularly in regards to the use of explicit language and crude humour (including a "
pashing contest"). This was the first year Ten broadcast the celebrations and fireworks, with
Nine Network previously broadcasting the event since 1995.
Talkback radio programs were inundated with callers venting their anger, and
Seven Network's
Today Tonight broadcast a story lampooning Ten's coverage on the
January 2,
2007 episode.
Logos
'Network Ten' has used many logos throughout its history.
| | | | | |
|---|
| 1980 - 1983 | 1984 - 1988 | 1988 - 1989 | 1989 - 1991 | 1991 - present |
|---|
'Note': ''Pre-network logos can be found at the following articles; TEN, ATV, TVQ, ADS.''
References
1. Network Ten 2007 Line-up
2. Ten gives HD sporting chance
3. 'Get this stupid program off'
4.
Labor MP attacks Ten on 9/11 documentary Nick Butterly
See also
★
List of Network Ten Slogans
External links
★
Official Site
★
Corporate Site
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
