9HD

New channels taking away HD content.

The number of comments around at the moment on this and other web sites about Seven and Nine no longer having HD channels in favour for additional multi channels is staggering.

It seems there are more viewers angry with losing main channel content in HD than there are viewers happy with the extra channels proving alternative programming.

Perhaps this rage against the new channels may not be so severe if it weren’t for the fact that the new channels 7mate and GEM show very little content in HD. Day time programming on these channels consists of old movies and old TV shows mostly not even in 16:9 wide screen, let alone HD. Evening programming is a mix of mostly repeats with little new content. A few of the new shows like The Big C and Weeds on GEM, and Family Guy and American Dad on 7mate are shown in HD.

But while these channels occupy the HD spectrum of Seven and Nine, there are many shows aired on the main channel which are available in HD that are no longer being seen in HD. Nine News for example was upgraded around being optimised to look better in HD, while many of the US imports are available in HD.

Surely a better use of the HD channels by the networks would be to air whatever the network has available in HD rather than having the HD channel carrying targeted content regardless of whether content is in HD or not.

The networks have gone about it the wrong way. It was only a few years ago when they offered nightly HD break aways and started promoting HD content. All of that is gone now and you rarely even see a mention of HD on free to air TV.

On 7mate itself – there is no reference to the fact it is a HD channel, and so far as the majority of content is concerned, it doesn’t have to be a HD channel. The one and only ad I ever saw for GEM on Nine did make mention it was in “stunning” HD.

Based on all the negative comments floating around about what has happened to HD on free to air TV, it would appear that many people are confused or dismayed as to why this would happen and what is going on.

Why did it happen.

To cut a long story short, each commercial broadcaster is allowed two SD and 1 HD channels only. One of the SD channels must carry the exactly the same programming as the analogue broadcast. That means the main channel must be SD, to match its analogue signal. This cannot change until analogue is switched off everywhere by 2014.

Therefore, in order for one of the commercial networks to have three different channels, keeping in mind that the main channel has to be SD, then they must use the HD channel as a separate channel, instead of a simulcast or HD version of the main channel.

Then the question comes: If the ABC can have four channels, why can’t Seven, Nine and Ten? Yes – if they could have four channels, it would be problem solved as they would be able to have 3 separate SD channels and I HD channel which could remain as a simulcast of their main channel. But it would also mean that the HD channel could be no better than 720p resolution like ABC News 24 is, as opposed to the 1080i they use now one ONE HD, Gem and 7mate. Current licensing terms only allow the ABC to have four channels, with the commercials restricted to three.

Back in the 90’s in planning for digital TV in Australia, there was at least the foresight to include high definition as part of the requirement. But instead of guaranteeing the main channels would always be available in HD, the only requirement in place for the networks is that there is 20 hours a week of HD content provided. That content can be at any time, and does not have to be anything from the main channel.

That is where the mistake lies. If they had the foresight to consider HD as a necessary part of the implementation of digital TV in Australia as part of the way the technology was moving, then they should also have taken the necessary steps to guarantee access to quality HD programming – not just 20 hours a week.

Now – and obviously – the majority of what most people would consider quality programming is on each of the networks’ main channel. And why wouldn’t it be – afterall – 100% of the population has access to the main channels whereas only 75% have access to the digital channels and about 65% access to HD free to air*. The main channels is still where all the business is, and still accounts for 85% of what people watch on free to air TV each night. That’s 85% watching the five main channels, compared to 15% spread over 9 digital channels. Regardless of digital channels, each networks’ core focus is its main channel which is also their core source of income.

It would have made sense that the legislation was in place to guarantee that the main channels should be broadcast in HD, in the same way that it was guaranteed for the main channels to also be in SD so people could use cheaper SD only digital gear when converting up from analogue.

This would have meant that each commercial broadcaster could have just the one secondary channel, with the main channel offered in both SD and HD.

The role of FreeView.

FreeView exists as a means to promote free to air TV as a multi channel option to pay TV. Their ads focus on the concept of “more for free”, as over the last 18 months, the number of unique channels has more than doubled.

It would appear that the push for more channels, driven by FreeView, and the desire for free to air TV to claw back some of the market lost to pay TV is the main reason why they have all gone for the option of providing three channels instead of keeping most watched main channel content in HD.

However, there are now people are now realising that it is not the absolute number of channels that is important, it is the quality of content. Viewers may have more options than ever before in terms of what to watch on free to air TV, but now there is very little HD content to be seen.

Many people have spent the money upgrading to HD TVs so they can see their favourite shows in HD, not so they can see channels filled with repeats or shows not good enough for any decent main channel time slot.

Without Warning.

The worst part of losing the main channels in HD is the fact that it came without warning. Promotions of 7mate made no mention that 7HD would be lost as a result. Channel Nine didn’t warn anyone that 9HD would be no more when GEM started. At least Seven moved the HD service to a new channel, so people would still be able to use 70 for the main channel. Perhaps they were hoping noone would notice the difference in quality.

As for Nine, many who were using 9HD channel 90 to watch the main channel were left confused when suddenly channel 90 was showing GEM – a completely new channel. Comments in related stories here on Throng show people trying rescans to find where 9HD moved to and demonstrate the confusion in the market place.

As far as I could see, apart from Throng and similar websites, there is absolutely nothing on the media to explain what was going on with the new channels and what it meant for existing HD channels. People are confused and annoyed, and the lack of information simply enhances the rage.

Massive drop in number of people watching HD free to air TV.

Just 2 years ago – this time in 2008 – you could only get HD TV from free to air TV or BluRay, having just won the format war over HD DVD. Foxtel then did not have any HD channels. Now, Foxtel is about to launch another 4 HD channels, taking the total number of HD channels to 20. While free to air has made HD channels out of their HD simulcasts of their main channels thereby severely reducing the number of people who will be watching free to air in HD.

Just looking at the channel shares in this weeks’ ratings so far: GEM is averaging about 1%, 7mate closer to 2%, ABC News 24 0.5%, and ONE around 1% (although some of this figure includes people would watch ONE on SD if they don’t have HD).

SBS ONE is averaging around 5% of the shares – if you assume that all of the 65% of the population who have access to free to air HD would chose to watch SBS ONE in HD whenever they were watching an SBS show, that means that SBS ONE HD would now be the most watched free to air HD channel in Australia with a share of about 3.5%!

Before 7mate and GEM, you would have had significantly more people watching 7HD and 9HD respectively. Given both main channels Seven and Nine average around 24% of the shares at the moment, and again assuming that if you have access to HD, you will by default chose to watch the HD version of a channel (and why wouldn’t you), then you would have had share of around 16% for each of 7HD and 9HD.

Let’s put that into perspective. From 32% of the population watching Australia’s two most watched TV channels in HD down to just 3% watching the same two channels a week later now that they have become 7mate and GEM. These two channels have reduced the free to air HD television audience from about 37% down to around 8%.

However – I must point out, that because OzTam have never measured ratings of HD channels separately to main channels when showing the same content, we will never really know for sure how many people were watching the main channels in HD, other than assuming that the percentage of people who have access to HD free to air TV can be applied to main channel shares on a pro rata basis.

Free to air TV will ultimately lose.

Is it any wonder people are angry? If you spend thousands on a decent HD TV, don’t you want to use it to its full potential? Looks like the free to air networks are not concerned about the problem as they know that most shows will end up being watched regardless of whether they are in HD or not. Masterchef has never been in HD anywhere yet it rated through the roof.

The networks know, that while there is an outcry from many about the lack of main channel content in HD, at the end of the day, their main channels will continue to rate better than their secondary channels regardless of whether they are aired in HD or not.

But as people look elsewhere for their HD content, free to air will ultimately lose out as being a significant supplier of free to air programming in Australia. It is a situation that they will not be able to do anything about until the end of analogue leading up to 2014 where we may see all of their digital channels rearranged possibly bringing back the main channels to HD, and possibly, further down the track, resulting in all channels being in HD. By then though, there will probably be UHD breaking as new domestic technology. UHD is ultra high definition, and gives four times the pixels there are in HD.

Is there a solution?

It is too late now to go back to the free to air networks and force them to provide adequate main channel content on their HD channels. Now that they are out there with new channels, you can’t just turn around and take that off them.

It is possible that ratings will be affected by the lack of main channel content in HD. Only ratings will drive a change in the situation if the networks are to remain with three channels. Perhaps they could incorporate late night HD encores of prime time main channel shows, replay them during the day (subject to classification restrictions) or have a night of HD catch ups from main channel content. Maybe the more that Seven and Nine in particular see viewers angry about losing main channel content in HD, they may consider acting on it – especially if ratings are being affected.

The only other possibility is that Seven, Nine and Ten are allowed a 3^rd SD channel, like what the ABC has. That way they could have three channels while also providing the main channel in HD, although the HD channel would have to be at 720p instead of 1080i they are now. If this ever happened, it is unlikely Ten would move ONE HD away from HD as they have a big commitment to the HD sports channel. As for the ABC, they have already indicated that, while the arrangement of channels is not ideal for everyone, it is the best they can offer with the bandwidth they have until they review the situation in 2013.

Once analogue is gone everywhere by 2014, we may then see the main channels return to HD. But, unless HD take up is very high, the networks will remain in a position where they must keep their main and highest rating channel in SD so that 100% of the audience can see it. To avoid this scenario, and the possibility of having main channels in SD for many more years to come, legislation should be put in place to ensure that all digital TV receiving equipment form now on come with a digital tuner capable of receiving HD TV, as well as the latest standards in digital compression technology which should hopefully allow all of the digital channels to be in HD in the future.

However, if we continue to allow excessive overlaps between technologies – like we have with the switch from analogue to digital, the technology itself risks being out of date by the time the transition is over. The role out of the National Broadband network could well see free to air TV delivered by internet in the future, which could mean no limits, other than licensing and legislation, to the channels, content and quality of content TV networks can deliver.　

Notes:

* Last figures for digital take up were 75%. It has also been reported, that roughly 90% of the population who have gone digital also have access to HD, which equates to about two thirds overall.
* Ratings shares used based on hypothetical average week, loosely based on OzTam 5 city metro weeks 37-40 shares.

 

I could almost copy and paste the same story as “7mate is the death of 7HD” here, simply replacing references to 7mate with GEM and 7HD with 9HD or Nine Hi-Def. But if I did that I would be saying the same thing over again.

The launch of Nine’s third digital channel GEM is indeed the end of high definition simulcasts of Nine content other than the Today show each morning which will be simulcast on GEM, and some sporting events – the first to appear on GEM will almost certainly be the NRL Grand Final on October 3.

It is interesting and somewhat disturbing though to note just how little of the content on GEM is made in HD. HD shows on the new channel include The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Big C, CSI, Who Do You Think You Are?, Weeds, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and the Ellen Degeneres Show. Some movies will also be in HD, but the rest of the programming is essentially standard definition product shown on a HD channel – which may look OK if they truly upscaled to HD – as you would hope for a HD channel.

Like 7mate, GEM means that Nine main channel content (I believe they will now be calling it their premium channel) will not be seen in HD, even if it is made in HD. Unlike Seven, however, Nine do actually inform the viewer when a show is made in HD and can actually be seen in true HD. You would notice the little orange square HD box next to the other symbols like classification on certain shows. As far as I am aware, the last time I saw Seven promote their HD channel was for the Australian Open back in January.

Shows on Nine that are made in HD that will no longer be seen simulcast in HD (but may appear on GEM at some stage) include The View, Kerry-Anne (not that this show is really needed in HD!), News, Two and a Half Men, Hot in Cleveland, Rescue Special Ops, The Mentalist, the various CSI’s (older eps will be on GEM), Entertainment Tonight and many movies.

Surely a better use of a HD channel would have been to put onto the channel all shows that are made in HD? It is a step backwards to actually have less to see on free to air TV in HD yet content spread over 14 channels once 7mate and GEM get underway.

There is no reason that these new channels could not be almost hybrid channels containing a mix of main channel content in HD and alternative programming when no show is in HD on the main channel. Nine for example could have made the third channel be a mix of Nine HD content, HD content not shown on Nine and even some of the GO shows in HD. Hellcats, The Vampire Diaries and Fringe are just a few that come to mind that air on GO that are made in HD.

But I guess in doing so, channels would start to lose their identity. From a marketing perspective is easier to have three distinct channels with their own agendas and audience targets rather than mixing up content just in order to make a HD channel be nothing but HD content. As it is though, Nine already airs main channel shows like Top Gear and Big Bang Theory onto GO. So maybe it won’t be long before main channel content does indeed end up on the HD channel?

It won’t be until 2014 when analogue is gone and everyone has no choice but to have digital TV before this mess gets cleaned up. If HD TV take up is high enough – and you would think it would be by 2014 – we can expect to see the main channels shift to being HD. We could also see the way digital channels are arranged, branded and marketed completely change then, and possibly the concept of what is a main and a secondary channel diminish in relevance. Further down the track, better digital encoding should see all channels broadcast in HD.

Both Nine and ABC have indicated their position on the way their channels are will remain until 2013 – in Nine’s case, it includes showing sport on GEM which is somewhat contradictory to the general female aim of the channel. For the ABC, it is not ideal to have the news channel in HD only, but they were left with no option considering their agenda for ABC2 and ABC3.

In the meantime, we just have to accept that all our HD channels, (only SBS ONE HD will remain a main channel simulcast), are relatively niche or alternative programming with the end result being that fewer people than ever before are likely to watch free to air programming in HD. Shows on the networks’ main channel will continue to rate well while shows on their secondary channels will continue to play second fiddle to their main channels regardless of whether in HD or not.

For those of us that care more about the quality of their picture on their TV and the improved sound quality a HD signal delivers, the new channels come as a disappointment and will ultimately result in a shift towards BluRays and HD Pay TV services or even internet delivered HD content to use our HD TVs to their full potential.

For the record, I love the idea of having more channels and choice, but I don’t like the idea of how little there will now be on free to air TV in true HD. With Foxtel offering 4 more HD channels later this year, and more next year, free to air will almost certainly be left behind as far as HD is concerned.

Rumours are surfacing in relation to Nine’s planned third digital channel.

According to Media Spy, the network is believed to be developing a classic hits channel which would carry the extensive list of programs it holds through its output deals with Warner Bros. Television, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Lionsgate Entertainment. The concept of the channel would be quite similar to Pay TV’s TV1 which focusses on classic television.

Titles include shows such as ‘Allo ‘Allo!, Bewitched, Blackadder, Frasier, Get Smart, Green Acres, Here’s Lucy, Hogan’s Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie, Just Shoot Me!, Seinfeld, The Nanny and various others which are already seen on GO – the channels that was always meant to be the youth channel.

There were rumours that the new channel was to be a movie channel, and recently, GO has been experimenting with more movies in its schedule. As far as ratings are concerned, classic TV shows regularly rank high amongst GO’s titles, while some movies also do well for the channel.

Should the third channel be a classic TV channel, those shows would move off GO and free up timeslots for more recent, youth oriented programming – thereby consolidating GO’s youth channel mission. There would also be a degree of news content on the new channel, according to Nine’s director of News and Current Affairs Mark Calvert.

“We’ve already in a very modest way launched some news breaks on the Go! channel, which are doing very well. They’re very different in style and content and the agenda to what we do on the main network.”

“Once the third channel comes along, I anticipate there’d be some sort of news and current affairs output on there,” he added.

Currently, the free to air commercial networks are only allowed on HD and 2 standard definition channels. The likely arrangement of Nine’s channels once the third channel comes along – should it indeed be a classics channel – is that GO would move to HD and the classics channel would occupy GO’s SD space.

The primary channel Nine has to remain in SD. Having GO in HD though would mean that there would no longer be Nine content in HD at the same time it is on Nine, unless repeated on GO – like some shows already are. The classics channel would not need to be in HD as most classic material was never made for HD.

However – there is the possibility of the commercial free to air networks being allowed one more channel from 2011 meaning there could be 3 standard definition channels and one high definition. This would allow Nine’s high definition channel to stay mostly as a simulcast of Nine’s primary channel while also allowing for extra sports coverage subject to the anti-siphoning decisions due some time after the election.

The notion of the additional channel – effectively the fourth – has been brought about in discussions relating to sports coverage and anti-siphoning but may impact on the overall quality of the high definition and other channels. As we know, only the ABC offer four channels with three standard and one high definition.

Nine’s third channel – whatever it ends up being – is not expected to launch until 2011. Ten’s third cahnnels will also launch in 2011.

Source in part: Media Spy.

It’s amazing to think that this time last year – just 12 months ago – multi channelling in Australia was limited to just ABC2, SBS NEWS and part time HD break aways from Seven, Nine and Ten. The SBS NEWS channel essentially played nothing more than non stop foreign news bulletins – the same news shown now on SBS ONE and TWO. The number of free to air channels was 7 full time and 3 part time channels.

In the last 12 months, we have seen Ten launch ONE HD, SBS switch from SBS NEWS to SBS TWO, Nine launch GO – the most successful multi-channel to date, and Seven launch 7TWO. In December, the ABC launched their 3^rd channel ABC3. The channel count now is 11 full time channels.

In 2010, we will see more channels added. ABC last month announced their decision to launch a 24 hour news service using the ABC HD signal, while both Nine and Ten announced new channels as part of their 2010 programming package. Seven, when 7TWO was launched made a vague indication to the prospect of a 3^rd channel but nothing more has been said.

ABC’s new news channel (which I’ll call ABC4 for now – the name may end up being ABC NEWS or NEWS TV (like they already have News Radio)) will be the 4^th full time channel for the ABC, but it will come at the expense of ABC HD – which currently is a full time simulcast of ABC1 allowing a few shows to be seen in HD.

Both Nine and Ten are well into their plans for their respective third channels, but neither will be up and running prior to June 30. Now, it has come out that SBS are also looking into a 3^rd channel (I’ll call it SBS THREE for now) which would be news based. That would mean that both the ABC and SBS would offer free to air full time news channels.

Assuming that Seven also launches a third channel in 2010 (and why wouldn’t they if arch rival Nine do, and Ten have one up as well), the total number of free to air digital channels will be 16 by the end of the year – with all 5 free to air networks having 3 channels, other than the ABC with 4.

Add to that, community TV which starts going digital in March (in Sydney, it will be digital channel 44), then some people will have 17 free to air digital channels.

The launch of GO, 9’s new digital channel, spells the end of 9HD break aways at least for the short term.

Until recently, the daytime 9HD break away was seen as a trial run for GO, with programming very similar to what will appear on GO. This week, the week prior to the launch of GO, 9 has stopped all 9HD break aways.

Confirmed today by GO’s twitter feed, there will be no more 9HD break aways until next year due to what they say are technical reasons – which could well be because channel 9 simply cannot put to air 3 different shows at once.

Some of the 9HD break aways have been used to show AFL based shows in NRL states – for example – Footy Classified which airs at 10.30 Monday nights in AFL states used to be able to be seen at the same time on 9HD in the NRL states while the main channel 9 showed something like Underbelly repeats. Now northern Footy Classified fans can see the show at 12 midnight Monday nights (Tuesday morning) instead. Also, the 9HD break away showing the AFL footy show to the NRL states will no longer air. Northern AFL fans have to wait for the AFL shows’ later broadcast at 11.45pm or so.

Other former 9HD break away programs will be either on GO or aired on 9 at alternative times.

9HD now is a simulcast of 9 main, which means any show that is made in HD will be seen in HD. Examples of shows where HD was available but were unable to be shown in HD due to break aways are the 11am news, Ellen, the View and ET. At this stage, no GO show will be simulcast on 9HD, although it is technically possible to do so, especially at times where the show on 9 main is not a HD show.

According to the TV guide for next Saturday and Sunday, 9HD will be commencing break away programming starting from 7am on both days. This new break away consists of childrens’ shows, offering an alternative to Sunday, now on 9 days a week.

Programs on Saturday include Firehouse Tales at 7am, Codename: Kids Next Door at 7.30, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy at 8 and My Gym Partners’ a Monkey at 8.30. After 9am, 9HD airs 2 episodes of Bewitched, followed by I Dream of Jeannie. Kids can flick over to 9’s main channel at 9am to continue childrens’ programming.

On Sunday, programs are simply stated in the guide as “Programming for Children”. Last Sunday, 7am saw Thunderbirds as the first program.

9HD break aways continue to grow, with French Open highlights shown at varying times last at night, and weekend afternoons. Also, in NRL states, the ALF chat show “Footy Classified” can be seen on 9HD at 10.30pm Mondays.

Now all we need is for 9HD to offer true alternative programming from 6am to 11am Monday to Friday as an option to the weekday Today show and Kerry Anne.