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TV Tonight turns two!

January 5 marks the second birthday of this blog. Happy Birthday, gang!

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January 5th marks the second birthday for TV Tonight. That’s a lot of man-hours slaving over a keyboard for the sake of telly!

But I’m pleased to report it has been worthwhile thanks to the continued support, comments and traffic by you…

There were 0 comments on the first post on the first day in January 2007. Now some stories attract a bucketload of boquets and brickbats (usually directed at networks). Aside from messageboards, there were barely any serious blogs on Australian television back then -while American TV blogs were breaking stories and proving the value of online, independent comment.

In its 2 year existence TV Tonight has broken stories, interviewed stars / writers / directors / producers and network executives. It is regularly read by media journos, many of whom consult for comment and information. In the last few weeks alone TV Tonight has been referenced in articles in The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, The Sun-Herald, and during 2008 in The Age and Herald Sun. There have recently been radio spots on 3AW, ABC and 2GB recently and last year Channels Nine and TEN both quoted reviews in on air promotions.

But the site is for you, the fan of Aussie telly.

We love TV when it gets it right (there were some great new shows in 08) and loathe it when it aims too low, cuts corners or gets lousy treatment from programmers. Some of us get as fervent over networks as much as our football teams or political parties. It’s not just the shows networks air, it’s the way they conduct their business and the spin they push in pursuit of our attention. And like politics, when we have a healthy opposition, everybody wins.

The days of a viewer simply turning on a TV and watching what was spoon-fed to them are no more. Similarly, the days of a critic merely saying “this is a good show or a bad show and here’s why” are gone. Now they have to stay on top of innumerable programming changes, fastracking, American and British trends, pay television, Freeview, EPGs, high definition television, and technology including IQ2, TiVo and mobile. And that’s just for starters…

In 2009 TV Tonight plans more advancements to entertain and inform you, calling networks to account and deconstructing Australian television in ways that conventional media rarely consider. It will continue to log stories in the wider press with extra comment, plus originally-generated content and interviews.

And have a bit of fun doin’ it.

Standby this week for the results of the reader survey on 2008 television, followed soon by the end of a summer hiatus and return to normal blogging.

Thanks for the last twelve months, guys. Here’s to the next…

David.

70 Responses

  1. Congrats David on reaching this wonderful milestone.

    I discovered TV Tonight in July 2007 and I’m glad to say that I have read every single post from that day to this. Your dedication to this site David is truly astounding and all of us readers thank you for it.

    Long live TV Tonight!!

  2. Congratulations. Have been following the blog in Google Reader since a friend hevaily recommended it. Keep up the excellent television industry coverage. I wish there was something like this for the Australian business world. Cheers.

  4. Everyone has already said what I wanted to say… 🙁 (LOL)

    But no matter because it’s 100% true that TV Tonight is the best website on the net – one that I’ve been addicted to ever since a friend informed me of its existence half a year ago.

    Word must be spreading!

  5. Zambora there is a link in the story to post #1 in 2007. The comments there were actually added in 08 and 09! You can proceed through early posts via the Next Post link there.

    Thanks again for the goodwill wishes guys.

  6. Happy Birthday, TV Tonight. I first discovered your site sometime in early 2007. Every day I was (and still am) always delighted to get up-to-date on the latest gossip from tele-land. Most of the stuff that you put on here is much better than the gossip column in our TV guides. Thanks for keeping us informed!

  7. happy birthday tv tonight. Great job David, and like a few others here, I found this site mid 2008, and each morning it’s part of my morning read. I’ve recommended it to a few others who’re now equally hooked. Great news, great articles and reading the comments by others is a guilty pleasure. I check this site >4 times a day 🙂

    best of luck with year 3 🙂

  8. Congrats David.
    T’was a nice surprise to discover your blog mid-2008, and I now visit a couple of times a day. Keep up the fantastic work and try and ignore the grumpy narks.

  9. Hey David. Happy Birthday. You really have done a marvelous job with this site and you should be congradulated. I found this site about a year ago and i have become addicted. I visit this site at least twice a day. Well happy birthday and i hope that this site continuest to grow in 09.

  10. David , your comment and I quote “There were 0 comments on the first post on the first day in January 2007.” got me thinking ?
    What was the opening topic ? any chance of reprint..
    BTW, how come none of the “plants from Nine” posted in here saying congrats.

  11. I know I’m late to the party, but thanks for the awesome website David. Its the website I and I’m sure many people visit the most out of any on the internet outside of big ones like Gmail and Facebook. The stories here tell it like it is and the community here is heaps of fun, happy birthday n here’s to many more in the future!

  12. Yeah fantastic work David, you have a great thing going here. I visit this site numerous times through out the day 😛

    You’ve definately hit the nail with tvtonight. Well done and keep the good work coming. Thank you for all your effort.

    Happy Birthday.

  13. Already been said numerous times, but deserves to be said again – congratulations David on the ‘anniversary’ and may there be many more. Thanks for a great site that I check every morning upon arriving at work.

  14. Congrats on your milestone David. A lot of hard work goes into maintaining this site I am sure. Don ‘t know what I can say that has not been said earlier except maybe that you have been my homepage for over a year 🙂

  17. Mark you asked a question and gave me no time to research it, during the xmas break (the site had clearly indicated it was in summer go-slow) and then responded with a rude, offensive insult for my supposedly not replying.

    In two years it’s the first time somebody has been so self-centred in asking a request here -for what is essentially a free service. I explained this personally to you via email but judging by your anger that appears to have been in vain.

    Alas in internet anonymity it seems there will always be those who seek to spoil the party….

  18. I’ve always an ABC Loyalist and I have looked for a Site that Provides Daily TV Ratings until I found Yours….

    Thank you For Providing us The Ratings and Sizzling Aussie TV News,Your site is Wonderful,It has been my Habit to visit your site everyday. 😀

    Sincerly Yours,
    meiji_era

  20. Thanks Travis.. .y’know I was thinking in the last few days of the year I would surely slip up with the annual date change somewhere along the line. Funny nobody spotted it earlier. It’s like filling out a bank slip with the wrong date every January.

    Amended. Cheers.

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