All Stories FeedONE to launch March 26
Network TEN has announced its 24-hour sports channel, ONE, will launch on Thursday 26 March 2009 at 7.30pm.
TEN says the opening weekend will include:
• AFL’s much anticipated first-round showdown between Richmond and Carlton will be the first sporting event to air on ONE in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, with the match to be broadcast simultaneously on ONE and TEN.
• Also on 26 March, ONE will broadcast an exclusive Swimming Australia SKINS event showcasing the Australian Swimming Team and international stars, including Olympic gold medallists Oussama Mellouli and Therese Alshammar. The SKINS event will be shown first in the Sydney and Brisbane markets, with coverage in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth following the AFL.
• Then, ONE will feature live and extended coverage of the Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix over the
launch weekend with more than 22 hours of action across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Full details of the schedule for ONE will be announced closer to launch. TEN also promises:
• Extended versions of the ‘must-watch’ show for sports fans, Sports Tonight.
• More extensive coverage of domestic and international sport than ever seen before on Australian free-to-air television, including AFL, motor sport (Formula 1, Moto GP, NASCAR), netball, cricket, swimming, golf, NFL, NBA Major League Baseball, NCAA College Basketball and Football, and others.
• New, locally produced shows.
Network TEN’s General manager of sport, David White, said “We know our opening weekend will give viewers a sensational introduction to ONE, and mark the beginning of a lifetime’s habit of essential sports viewing.”
This means March 26 is also the date that TEN’s other programming will no longer be available in high definition.
ONE will broadcast from 26 March 2009 in High Definition (HD) on Channel 1 and also in Standard Definition (SD) on Channel 12.
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It’s disappointing that Ten are using their HD channel exclusive for One HD. Like others, I think I hybrid channel would be good. For those complaining about the ‘15′ freeview channels, as David said, it’s all marketing. Don’t forget that ABC and SBS are likely to have new channels coming out this year .
Anyway, I have two questions (that don’t seem to have been answered yet)
1) Is there one feed for all of Australia or does each state have it’s own version of One?
2) Are not AEDT states going to get a live feed, or will it be delayed for their time zone?
As I said back when this decision was announced – Ten can go to hell with their stupid 24/7 sports channel! Not showing any 10 shows (Idol, Dance, drama shows, etc) in HD anymore is a disgrace – especially when I’ve got a massive LCD sitting at home, on which 10 SD looks horrendous!! I’m so pissed off about this!
Although there’s a lot to criticise Ten about in their decision to dump TenHD and introduce ONEHD and OneSD. But when you honestly think about it, Ten is by far the best out of the 3 commercial networks. They were the first to set up a quality HD channel (which sadly only lasted a year) and they are the first on board to introduce a multi-channel. OneHD sport, although not my biggest interest in the world, is still pretty good when compared to 7 and nine, who don’t even have plans for a 2nd channel so far.
In short, it’s 7 and 9 that we should be annoyed at, not Ten, seriously.
I think it is a good move.
It means people don’t have to subscribe to pay tv to watch relatively low rating sports. Getting a free sports channel is a big benefit for viewers.
It is a gutsy move and I hope it succeeds for them.
Wow! There are so many comments on this page. The logo of one hd is a bit tacky though!
Again I’ll say that as far as digital free to air is concerned in Australia, we will not see anything close to 15 unique channels until analogue goes off in 2013. They will not want to risk losing any of their falling ratings to their own alternative channels and as it is the advertising revenue is shrinking – let alone the problem of speading it over more channels.
This is the main reason why unique HD programming usually didn’t appear unti lafter 10.30pm and during the day on 7HD. Only 7HD experiments with Sunday nights, and 10HD used to have their Sci Fi night but due to ratings not counting HD channels, how could any of them know if they had been successful or not?
As for comments about SC10, don’t believe anything you read about them. They were meant to have unique 10HD programming as well some time in 2008. They will hopefully get their act together in time for ONE HD. At least 10 are doing something about an extra digital channel and will hopefully spur 7 and 9 on.
A better set up would be
Make the sole HD channel just “Ten” as it is now
Have 2 SD channels
“One” – 24 hours sport in SD
“Unamed Channel” – 24 hour general entertainment channel
We’d all be better off communicating all our negative thoughts to the TenHD website forums!
Its time for Conroy and Rudd to scap the anti-siphoning legislation NOW!
this is why i cancelled my sports package lol… now instead of having ten hd we get compulsory sport… screw ten…
One word: Boring! Digital FTA TV in Australia has rapidly turned into a dribbling joke.
I half expect TEN to put The Bold and the Beautiful on their HD channel.
the biggest lure for a sports channel is Live!!… If ONE HD is still going to be two hours delayed in Perth, then you can forget it!! I wont be watching
slydoggie- freeview boasts 15 channels, it is supposed to be the 5 networks with 3 channels each, although quite obviously from this that does not mean that the 3 channels will actually be different to eachother.
AFL prime time Thursday not going into Sydney/Brisbane? What the?
I thought this would be a national channel the same way Fox Sports is…booo!
David,
Just a quick question.. With TEN removing their TEN HD service, will they/can they improve the signal strength of TEN SD.. that is effectively making it closer to a HD signal.. Because my biggest annoyance is the fact that TEN SD where i live is really croppy, and the quality is just that bit “blockier”.. I would assume that you would be as unsure as the rest of us though.. They apparently don’t like being specific at the moment..
Thanks,
Alex
@ Kuttsywood: With the latest on News Limited, I wouldn’t go wishing or hoping that News Limited did anything right now…
Neighbours will still be shot in HD, but it just won’t be shown in HD in Australia, just overseas.
I’d say the Sydney News studio will still have Sports Tonight at 7pm each night on OneHD, so Ten will still need that studio in HD.
With all due respect, the shows that were not rating well 5 years ago, they would be dumped to a late night slot. The same will happen now on Ten. Some examples: Taken Out, Queer Eye, Top Model amongst others, all very late at night.
Has Nine thought about dumping their catalogue of old movies (from the 40’s to 70’s) and their ancient sitcoms (Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie) into an Oldies channel. Kinda like what used to be on Channel 31 a few years back. It wouldn’t be a sexy channel to market but it would hit the right demos (of an ageing population) and would leave the main channel for 29-54’s.
Just an idea
To all those complaining about OneHD not showing the AFL live in Sydney/Brisbane… this isn’t allowed under the anti-siphoning legislation. When an AFL game is shown, it must be shown on the main channel (Ten) it must be shown on all multichannels (OneHD & OneSD) simultaneously.
David, CNET is reporting that SC10 will be taking ONE completely, but the start up for Southern Cross wont be until later in 2009, not the 1 Mar start up date.
Between 1 March and later in the year I wonder if SC 10 will broadcast the shows we’ve not seen on 10HD (Battle Star G…, Veronica Mars etc).
Hey, I just went to the Freeview website, and it no longer shows regional equivalents of the new channels, it just says ’stay tuned’. It defintely used to show various regional stations, but still 15 channels. Does that mean that the regional stations will not get freeview in the same manner, if at all?
As dissapointed as I am about Tens move to show mostly sport, the problem is that digital is still a niche market for broadcasters, with no guarantee they’re going to make revenue from the extra stations. Do they even do ratings for the other channels at the moment, and will they? If not, there’s very little incentive for advertisers, and therefore the broadcasters to sink a whole lot of time and money into it, which is probably why the original plans for unique HD programming didn’t really last.
Lets face it, while they should be pleasing their audience, the broadcasters are out to make money, and digital television isn’t currently a way for them to do that, lets hope it will be.
Terrible:( i like my sport…but i dont want a 24/7 channel. all of tens shows looked soo much better on HD.. im going to hate watching sd…whats the pont of having an LCD? soo long TEN HD……..
The cry babies have surfaced again about sport getting first exclusive go of HD only channel allocation. 12 months from now there will be more so calm down. As for SC10, they are expected to start in late March along with Ten but if you don’t have digital SC10 at the moment then don’t hold your breath.
Imagine why all those drama shows are sold off to paytv, well if there was more viewers to generate consistent ratings then Tenb would have kept it, evening allowing for the schedule changes. Ten SD will continue but that’s not good enough for some (or alot if you like). As for NCAA sports, deadset checkout what your saying before sayinbg “who’d watch that sh..” since much of college sports and tournaments are more enjoyable than the professional version. Just need a football component and oh yeah a spare HD channel for the drama queens and then the tears will end.
Will 9 and 7 be actually showing separate channels ( eg 7 hd and 7 SD and normal 7? Has this actually been confirmed.
time to renew the Blockbuster membership card
I love sport, just not 90% American crap.
TEN is restricted in it’s ability to broadcast the AFL live into the Sydney and Brisbane markets, as the AFL is on the federal governments anti-siphoning list which requires networks to show events considered of national interest (e.g. Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, State of Origin) to be broadcast on the networks main channel first before it is permitted to broadcast the event on its multi-channel. Hence, why they’re showing the AFL simultaneously on both ONE and TEN into Melb, Perth and Adelaide. There’s no chance that they’ll show the AFL on the main TEN channel on a Thursday night into Sydney.
TEN is quietly pushing for changes to be made to the anti-siphoning list to allow for events to be shown on ONE first.
Do we know if TEN/ONE is the host broadcaster for the SKINS or will they take the FOX SPORTS feed? If ONE is the host broadcaster, any idea on who will be their main commentator? I know they’ve recently signed Nicole Livingstone to the network for 3 years.
Re: Jed. Foxtel have recently started airing the 1st season of Psych. Ten’s already sold off the rights to the new eps of Battlestar Galactica so I imagine the rights to other HD exclusives like Smallville, Psych & The Shield that Foxtel already show will follow, if they haven’t already.
The Freeview website lists 15 channels available in the 5 metropolitan markets, 3 of each of all the major broadcasters.
Seven – 7, 7HD, 7SD
Nine – 9, 9HD, 9SD
Ten – 10, 10HD, One HD
ABC – ABC1, ABC2, ABC HD
SBS – SBS, SBS2, SBS HD
This list is wrong as Ten are not having 10HD and One HD as it is not possible to carry two HD signals with the bandwidth currently available. It is also incorrect as it lists 7SD and 9SD, which appear to just be the Seven and Nine logos with SD tacked to the bottom of them. This is probably a temporary thing as these networks have not yet announced their multi-channelling plans.
I can’t wait to see how awful it looks, considering they’re going to have to drop the bitrates on both the SD and HD channels to fit OneSD into their available bandwidth…
Things get blocky enough on 25fps film+drama with their current bitrate — can’t wait to see how awful it looks when they steal 5Mbps for OneSD and predominantly show 50fps sports broadcasts.
This no HD for non sport is BS.
Surly Ten has spend millllllions on updating their studios for HD, all for nothing? It’s total BS. Didn’t Neighbours only just go HD? Clearly left hand has no idea what right hand is pulling off.
I really have my fingers cross that southern cross ten carry it !
Sorry, can someone point out where it’s stated about the 3 channels?
The day Ten gets sold by CanDebt, I mean Canwest, (hopefully to News Ltd), the HD sports folly will end, as well as Freeview. Why? Doesn’t News part own Foxtel, right?
How much would TEN have spent setting up studios to record in HD and is that now all a waste of money?
Heaps of hate here for TEN, but…
Even though I’m not a sports fanatic my brother would love this channel and Ten seems to be the only channel who cares about dedicated specialty programming. Do I see a drama channel from Seven or a lifestyle channel from Nine? No.
Oh…. and it’s funny how Ten say they have 3 channels. Guess what they’ll be showing on the night the channel launches? That’s right – the same AFL game on all 3 channels.
So they have a dedicated sports channel, and still the AFL gets delayed in Brisbane/Sydney – this channel is an absolute waste of time. I give it two years at the absolute most. Channel 12 (One SD) should be the dedicated sports channel, channel 1 should be a HD only channel, with content from both Ten and One.
Russell, we know most answers.
- Will Ten HD exist anymore? No.
- What happens to shows such as House and Rove in HD? SD only, how poor!
- How can Freeview be 15 channels when Ten intends to have only 2? They have 3, but even ABC simulcasts on ABC HD. Freeview is over-hyped.
- Will OneSD and OneHD show the same programming? Yes.
- Will viewers in areas served by Ten affiliates get OneHD / OneSD? Not sure….
- How do Ten justify calling it “3 channels” when 2 of them are identical? All our HD channels are predominantly just SD signals with a few variations here and there,
Russell:
I’m sure Ten won’t be alone in the “two channels advertised as three” issue, given that the HD channels for ABC, Seven, Nine and SBS are mostly just simulcast of their main channels with a few token break-outs and I wouldn’t hold my breath that these channels will offer any significant programming other than to simulcast an SD channel. As I said in a comment to an earlier article on this site, the best we can probably expect from Freeview is 10 unique channels (we currently have seven in SD) + 5 HD simulcasts – and that’s in the capital cities. Regional areas who knows??
Only more of a reason to stockpile TV shows and watch them in my own time
Craig I just emailed SC10 programming, asking for a “statement”. Not feeling too hopeful though.
To those who are confused: TENHD goes completely. There will only be 1HD with sport 24/7.
So now we have a date for the death of Channel Ten in the eyes of those who watch quality television. 7 weeks to go.
Stan, the Freeview web site is hilariously wrong. No digital channel in Australia has the space for two HD channels. As of March 26th, anything people watched in is native HD on TenHD – all the US shows, as well as local productions like Rush, Neighbours, Rove etc – will not be seen in HD at all, ever.
The sports nuts have crowed loudly over this move by Ten, but I predict here and now (and actually have been predicting ever since it was first announced) that it will backfire on Ten in a big way, and the person who pushed it through will be collecting the dole sooner rather than later.
As for the shows that TenHD used to show exclusively, well, rumour is that Smallville’s already been sold off to BlockyVision… err I mean Foxtel…
Steve I know it’s confusing but the current old analogue and SD digital channel are the same, carrying all the normal shows. OneHD/SD will sport 24/7 sports both carrying the same content so ch10 will effectively had 2 channels.
Get this weeks TV Guide for more info on the whole HD/SD Freeview confusion.
Yes pietro I want to know what they plan for regional areas which look like being left out once again
David
I’ve never seen an issue generate as much confusion and debate as the TenHD / OneHD plans.
No one seems to know for sure what is happening.
- Will Ten HD exist anymore?
- What happens to shows such as House and Rove in HD?
- How can Freeview be 15 channels when Ten intends to have only 2?
- Will OneSD and OneHD show the same programming?
- Will viewers in areas served by Ten affiliates get OneHD / OneSD?
- How do Ten justify calling it “3 channels” when 2 of them are identical?
Perhaps you could reach out to Ten and Freeview for an exclusive interview on your site to clear this situation up?
Daniel….regional TV has nothing to do with TEN. Complain to SC, Prime,WIN etc. TEN cannot show the games at different times on the two channels as that is considered a replay of which TEN does not have the AFL rights to. / Scott…it’s the amount of Bandwidth that is made available that prevents mulitple HD channels from going to air. / Johnson…why would they continue to shoot a show in HD when it is only going to be shown in SD? Why is this even a concern? / Ellis…don’t think too hard. You don’t speak for anyone but yourself. No-one complained before HD was here about shows not being in HD. No-one will care once it’s not made available. And you should check top rating shows…they are sporting events. / Stan…Foxtel is your only hope for live AFL games into Sydney 100% of the time. It is too costly for the Networks given the crap ratings. TEN does show them live if the Swans are playing.
This move is a great point of difference to encourage Digital uptake in Australia. Clearly showing House and other cool shows in HD wasn’t pushing it hard enough. Seven and Nine are dragging their heels, so rather than get angry about not seeing Harold Bishop in High Def, start having a go at the other Networks for not doing anything.
Paull on February 6th, 2009 12:05 pm “It’s not like TenHD exists anymore, it’s nothing more than a mere logo.”
you are totally right, but don’t let 10 fool you into thinking that this was a natural thing and that they had run out of content for it. this was a deliberate move by 10 in preparation for ONE so that people would think exactly that, don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes.
and for those of you asking what happens to all the shows that were dumped to 10HD only- they are gone, some sold to foxtel, others will never air on tv, the best you’ll probably get is the dvd when that eventually comes out.
Agree, David. According to teh freeview list of channels it looks like that Ten will have to HD channels: one call Ten HD and the other called One HD. So, I’m assuming that the third one, called Ten, is going to be SD and analogue.
RE: tomothy on February 6th, 2009 12:23 pm
it is unthinkable (but then again, not really surprising) that multi-channelling now gives us three versions of the same thing! What happened to alternative content which is what these channels were meant to be?
I think the more information that comes out about Freeview the more irritated the viewers are going to be.
3 Channels for premium events such as AFL. TEN Digital, ONE HD and ONE SD.
So, let’s see. They will be showing this on One-HD, One-SD and because their audience is stil mostly analog, it will have to be shown on Ten-Analogue and thus Ten-Digital also.
So we get four channels all showing the same thing. What a load of crap.
How much did it cost TEN to convert studios to HD? Presumably all this money is now wasted. Shares in Ch.10 anyone?
We regional viewers need a statement from SC10 as to what their plans are…if any.
IMHO there is much less HD on FTA than there was a year ago. And more people are buying TVs with HD tuners. Fabulous!
H.264, I love you.
Right now the HS and 2nd SD channels are not in the ratings list so 24/7 sports makes sense, plus I guess they can cross promote with the other shows on the main channel bringing in more viewers.
As I said before I just hope we get in to catch the F1 opener!
this sucks!! 24 hrs of bring sport!! i like footy but everything else just sucks, 10 obviously aren’t looking for a ratings grab, everyone knows sats are sport days and how badly they rate.
i want movies, docos, and axed tv series
Oh dear, we get short-changed in Sydney again when it comes to AFL games. It looks to me that AFL will have have find another TV station that is willing to show it live or at decent times otherwise Foxtel will be the only choice to watch them.
American College Football and College Basketball is something I’ll definately be watching it’s where you see the upcoming players for the NBA and NFL.
I don’t watch NFL that much but I certainly follow the NCAA and NBA with great interest. I think it’s been 15 years since I saw an NBA game on FTA TV.
And Monday’s LIve Cleveland vs Detroit game was a huge treat. It was a great game to watch that had me on the edge of the seat right until the end.
Can’t wait to watch Boston vs LA Lakers today and LA Lakers vs Cleveland on Monday.
Thank you Ten for bringing something that I’ve been waiting for for years.
So as far as Freeview is concerned, I assume that Ten and ONE count as 2 channels only (Simil cast channels should not count otherwise you couls say there are 20 channels on free to air digital now!). Therefore the 15 they promise is very wrong unless ABC3 happens…
Good on 10 for giving it a go. Alternative 10HD programs, though, have gone where?
I think I speak on behalf of the majority of TV geeks when I say: Boooo Hiiiisssss
Goodbye to any show I watch on Ten in HD…
R.I.P. to all the alternate shows that used to be shown in TENHD…
Farewell late night HD movies…
As I have said in the past, I have nothing against networks taking advantage of their HD channel and new standard definition channel, but to completely replace it with an all sports channel is just ludicrous. Why they wouldn’t broadcast it solely on their new standard definition channel is beyond me! By doing this Ten are completely alienating the majority of their viewers and taking away HD from their flagstaff station. It still boggles my mind thinking about it. No doubt the backlash will be significant when people can’t watch any of their favourite shows in HD. Let’s hope that the other networks will learn from Ten’s mistake…
That’s excellent news. Can’t wait for this channel. Although what will happen to all the shows Ten dumped to their HD channel. Pysch in particular.
“AFL’s much anticipated first-round showdown between Richmond and Carlton will be the first sporting event to air on ONE in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, with the match to be broadcast simultaneously on ONE and TEN.”
– So this means that the same show is broadcast on three channels if you include ONE-SD similcast (not mentioned). How ridiculous!!!!
What a waste of bandwith. HD channels should be a similcast of the SD channel for all networks now they have a new SD channel. Last night Scrubs which is now in 16×9 HD was only on the SD channel.
Hope ONE-HD/SD fails before end of the year.
If I remember to re-scan my set top box and tv tuner card , then I will check it out, but I will most likely forget about it.
Will they also be launching their own One website for this like they have with Ten.com.au?
Now all we need is for Channel Ten to realise that the reason watch sports – is to watch them Live, and not on a 1 hour delay because the network was too lazy to adjust schedules for Daylight Savings and the like.
Until they do that I won’t be giving this the time of day.
It’s not like TenHD exists anymore, it’s nothing more than a mere logo.
Ten still has not explained what they are going to do with local programs currently produced in HD (e.g. Neighbours). Will they still be produced in HD, or will they still be made in SD with all the HD cameras to be used in Ten’s sports coverage only? And what about overseas programs and movies produced in HD?
Richard – College football and basketball is massively popular (they get up to 100000 people to some football games) and will be watched by probably most people in Australia who watch the NBA and NFL as they showcase the next big stars ready to get drafted and make the move up to the professional leagues.
looking forward to one hd, sound like a great sports line up (richard w there are people who like baskeball and nfl) but its is a same that other shows will now no longer be in hd, if the government would give ten two hd channels then everyone would be happy( one for one hd and one for hd simulcast of tens other shows: law and order etc. wonder if one sd on channel 12 will be availble on foxtel (abc2 is)
good to be able to read a proper forum about this channel if you go to the forums on the ten website about one hd its all just personal attacks. because no one reviews the posts you can say anything you want even if it irrelevant or offensive and it still gets posted ,whats the point of a forum if ten don’t even cheek whats up there.
Considering Ten’s decent start to the year, I think they should re-consider showing sport 24/7 on the HD channel.
My choice would be to show HD sport on weekends only.
So One will be shown as both a HD & SD channel.
Hangon a minute. This means we are not getting 15 free channels. Only 14 cause I dont count a channel repeated twice as two new services.
Do the channels actually think people will be happy with this B.S.
I can just see it now. I get bored with the AFL on Channel 10 so then I can turn it over to the other channel ten channels and watch the AFL on them ones.
Come on. Television in Australia is a disgrace.
My mind boggles – didn’t Ten heavily promote their HD channel when it was launched for Drama, movies etc.
Great to see that I spent money on a high def tv and I won’t be able to watch my Channel 10 favourites on it anymore.
What stops a broadcaster having multiple HD channels?
Poor move Ten. Poor. Move.
While I am looking forward to the motorsports, I’m still very disappointed that TenHD will be gone.
I am hoping this channel is also on Southern Cross Digital. I will be pissed if it isn’t. I live in Cairns and SC10HD is just on continous loop of pictures. It is a joke. I rang SC10 and they have no idea.
No mention of tennis. I was hoping the tournaments they got were ‘1000′ events, i don’t think so now as one of those start that weekend they are launching ONE.
Silly that TEN is not making ONE HD a truly Australian-wide service – so while Melb/Adel/Perth get the AFL, Syd/Bris get a swimming event. Surely ONE HD’s programs should be the same Australia wide. Live AFL in Sydney/Brisbane on ONE HD – if not, whats the point of a 24 hour sports channel that will delay a major Australian sport in certain markets?
22 hours of F1 over 3 day, I just hope the channel is available in WideBay as we’ve been waiting over a year to get 10HD here!
It’s really frustrating because last Sunday Network TEN provided an alternate to sport with The Biggest Loser/SYTYCD/Election which was great for those in the Australia who didn’t want to watch Tennis or Cricket.
Sure the alternate is still there, however the bonus of having that alternate content in HD is now gone. They have some great shows on at the moment so it will be a real shame when the HD option disappears.
I think it would have been better to have ONE as a SD channel with TenHD being a hybrid of Channel Ten simulcast and One simulcast content.
Good on Ten for surprising us with a March release.
NCAA College Basketball and Football (Gridiron)!?!? Who is going to watch this? Third division soccer in the UK would rate better!
No offence but too much American sport on here. All of the scrap that Fox Sports don’t want.
I don’t understand why they couldn’t just squeeze in all their sports programming on Ten HD. A majority of their schedule was made up of simulcasts anyway. :-/
What a waste.
this is good news for people that love sports – which i do
I feel for the people that don’t like it, so channel is no longer HD for non-sports programs
Will foxtel have OneHD on their HD package?
Thank you for your time