Network Ten kept the momentum alive this week by hosting media from around Australia to a Pilot Week launch event in Sydney. Despite clashing with a Foxtel 4K announcement, the TV channel managed to pull an interested crowd that also included the stars and producers of the eight programs.

Network Ten’s Angela Bishop hosted the event, showing clips from all but one of the programs, then interviewing key creative and then introducing Network Ten executives Beverley McGarvey and Paul Anderson.

CEO Anderson told guests that launching eight shows in one week was a massive exercise. “I want to thank Bev and everyone at TEN and the production houses for getting behind the initiative with so much enthusiasm and passion.

“We are very proud of Pilot Week and what it says about us. It says we are innovating and doing things differently, investing in local content, and it says we believe in the power of free TV and getting behind our local production community.”

Anderson then went on to detail some of the results of a significantly increased local content spend courtesy of new owners CBS.

“We have Game Of Games, a new family entertainment show hosted by Grant Denyer, a new Aussie drama series Playing For Keeps, Pete Helliar’s new sitcom How To Stay Married, and Mr Black written by Adam Zwar.

“We have the sweet and insightful ob doc The Secret Life Of Four Year Olds, Blind Date with the fantastic Julia Morris and Ambulance Australia, which has just been announced.

“This week we finally see what the Honey Badger gets up to on The Bachelor.

“This is an amazing lineup and our strongest second-half ever and a significant investment in Australian content.”

Kyle Sandilands and Rove McManus are both betting their next TV projects on Pilot Week. Both former Network Ten stars, they were on hand at the launch to help spruik their latest projects.

Paul Anderson, Anna Heinrich, Kyle Sandilands, Beverley McGarvey

Sandilands said his manager and Network Ten tricked him into doing Trial By Kyle. “I told them I was only a TV talent judge five years ago – I am not a real judge. We look at it more as arbitration.

“Once we filmed it, I think I might have a career doing it. It was pretty easy.”

Sandilands recalled some real court appearances in the past. “The last time I was in arbitration was with Seven for defamation against me.”

Sandilands then asked if there were any former Seven people in the room. He acknowledged the presence of TEN news executive Peter Meakin. “You were at Seven then. The old battle axe that used to run that joint told me: ‘You sat in my in-tray for two years, you prick. Like a cockroach, you wouldn’t die.’ Arbitration is heaps of fun.”

As to what viewers could expect on the show, Sandilands told Bishop: “I love nothing better than two ferals who live next door to each other and don’t get on.”

Sandilands added he though it was a great initiative from TEN. “I have never been more excited about TV and normally I couldn’t care less.”

Rove’s Bring Back…Saturday Night live variety show could help lift the channel’s weekend share if he manages to attract an audience.

Rove was the only host not to have a clip of his program. The show will be broadcast from TEN’s Sydney studio. The Living Room has the studio for Friday night filming, then the set for Bring Back…Saturday Night will be built Saturday morning, and then they start preparation and rehearsals just hours before the show goes to air.

Rove is working with Merrick Watts, Mel Buttle and Judith Lucy and he has two young comedians, both called Alex, working on the format – Alex Jae and Alex Lee. He is also working with his longtime executive producer and Roving Enterprises partner Craig Campbell.

Sandra Sully, Dave O’Neil, Sam Dastyari

Highlights from the other clips shown last night were a Married At First Sight casting session on Skit Happens and scenes from Drunk History featuring Gyton Grantley as Ned Kelly.

Troy Kinne and Natalie Tran talked about their tonight show format and Dave O’Neil’s Dave sitcom looks promising.

Two that really seemed to engage the audience last night were Lune Media’s Taboo with Harley Breen and CJZ’s Disgrace hosted by Sam Dastyari. The latter has elements of a Gruen for the media business, and panellists that helped make the clip we saw compelling were radio’s Intern Pete and former News Corp comms exec Greg Baxter.

TEN’s chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said all the shows have a bias towards laughs, which is because the channel sees a gap in the market for Australian comedy.

Executives from most of the production houses involved were on hand including many TEN stars like Julia Morris, Mark Humphries and Andrew Rochford, Joe Hildebrand and Denise Drysdale and TEN Sydney newsreader Sandra Sully.

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Top Photo: Ale Jae, Rove McManus, and Alex Lee

By James Manning

It was a good get for the series with Monaghan sure to spark interest because of his background in things as diverse at Lost, the Lord Of The Rings movies and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.

It was the script that first attracted Monaghan to Bite Club. “I probably read around 100 scripts a year and say no to stuff I don’t respond to,” the actor told Mediaweek recently. “I read the first four episodes of this show and I thought it was very interesting in terms of what they wanted to do with my character and dynamic.

“I started asking my agents questions after that about where does it shoot and when does it shoot. People cared very much about the project and the character I would have been playing and they didn’t have to twist my arm too much for me to get on a plane and come to Sydney.”

He said he liked to keep busy and work most of the time. “I’d like to work as much as 330 days of the year. Because a lot of the scripts I read make it easy to say no to, I don’t work as much as I would like to.”

When it comes to reading scripts, he thinks about 90 pages are a good length. “If I get about halfway through and I am not responding, then it is usually a pretty easy no for me. If I start to think about the character and what he might wear, how he might walk and what he might say, then I know that something interesting is happening. I might read it again and then start asking business questions.”

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This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.

He is leaving the big screen part of the equation up to his Foxtel customers – he noted most TVs now sold are over 55 inch.

But he can help with the quality of the pictures.

From October Foxtel will launch a dedicated 4K channel, which will need to be accompanied by an iQ4 set-top box to deliver those pictures.

Foxtel said its 4K channel is an Australian first, bringing with it a live 4K experience and an unprecedented way to enjoy sport, documentaries, movies and more through Australia’s only guaranteed 4K satellite signal.

The Foxtel 4K presentation was held twice this week, once for media in the morning and then a glittering evening event.

“Welcome to television… but like never before,” said Delany at the events, echoing the famous words from Bruce Gyngell when TV first launched in Australia.

Foxtel paid homage to the past with two rows of TVs, with Aussie TV highlights greeting guests as they entered Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.

Foxtel in 4K will launch in October on channel 444 and will come as part of a Foxtel Platinum HD or Foxtel Sports HD subscription for customers with an iQ4. At launch, the channel will start previewing 4K content – including live sport, documentaries, concerts and more, and over the next 12 months Foxtel is promising to expand the selection of unique 4K content to its subscribers.

The news comes as Foxtel announces the arrival of the new iQ4 set-top box. The iQ4 looks the same and has much the same features as the iQ3 but for one exceptional feature:

The new iQ4 will enable subscribers with a compatible 4K TV to access Foxtel’s new 4K channel.

Foxtel in 4K arrives in time for the Australia v South Africa cricket ODI on November 4, which will kick off Foxtel’s sports coverage in 4K, bringing detail to sports fans like they have never seen before.

Delany demonstrated what sport looks like in 4K at the launch and it makes a significant difference. He revealed they had already shot an NRL match in 4K – “In a way the first live broadcast has already happened.”

Delany said, “Innovation is in Foxtel’s DNA and we have continuously redefined entertainment for Australia putting us at the centre of connecting subscribers with the sports and the shows they love.

“Today’s news is just the first step into a 4K future. This incredible experience will continue to expand as we bring even more sport and entertainment programming to life in guaranteed 4K, making the most of today’s ultramodern 4K TVs. It’s TV like never before.”

Foxtel customers can learn more at foxtel.com.au/4K to be sure they’re up and running for when the curtain goes up on 4K and live cricket in 4K.

Access to Foxtel’s 4K channel requires an iQ4 set-top box, compatible HDMI cable and compatible 4K TV.

Any other connected equipment must also be compatible with Foxtel’s 4K UHD Standard, available to customers with Sports + HD packs starting in October 2018.

By Kruti Joshi

The company’s regional head of content, Mickey Maher, told Mediaweek: “It’s important that people don’t believe the inaccurate hype that gets reported saying that when we rebrand stations they are losing the localism. Show me evidence where that’s the case. There were also reports of more networking and cost cutting. Again, show me the evidence.

“We don’t make rebranding decisions lightly. We also understand not everyone is going to like them instantly.”

SCA recently rebranded Townsville’s 4TOFM and Newcastle’s KOFM to join the Triple M Network.

“It’s not nice to lose heritage but the world has to evolve and businesses have to evolve to stay relevant,” Maher said. “At the end of the day, we are a commercial business. We need great content to get audience and we need to be able to monetise our business.”

The company needs to do more to explain to the regional market that a change in station name doesn’t mean a radical change of content.

“There are lots of similarities between Triple M Network’s metro and regional stations. Sports and comedy are a key part of what we do,” Maher said. “But the differentiation is that in metro, Triple M is all about men. However, our strategy is to target men and women with our content. Our music is also broader.”

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This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.

By James Manning

Seven

A more competitive channel last night, but Home And Away was still short of 700,000 with 667,000.

Dance Boss then had a second successive night under 500,000.

800 Words had a subdued return to the schedule with 507,000. The series last aired toward the end of 2017 with also just over half a million.

Nine

A Current Affair held over 800,000 for the second time this week.

The Block was down to 918,000 – close to what Tuesday last week did.

True Story featured Sam Pang in a cameo with 634,000 watching, down from 749,000 for the series launch a week ago. The first two episodes last year did 1.4m and then 1.2m.

TEN

Australian Survivor was the channel’s best with 634,000 after 609,000 on Tuesday last week.

Bull has moved to Tuesday nights and it did 237,000 last night after Survivor.

Earlier in the night Pointless was on 238,000 followed by The Project with 280,000 and then 512,000.

ABC

Craig Reucassel was reporting on Foreign Correspondent from Sweden with 502,000 watching, down from 526,000 a week prior.

Catalyst returned at 8.30pm with 456,000.

The first of the four-part Essential Media series Search For Second Earth did 250,000 after 9.30pm.

SBS

The new series of Blackfella Films’ Filthy Rich and Homeless launched with 387,000.

It was preceded by the launch of Great Indian Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo travelling between Amritsar and Shimia for the audience of 312,000.