The road to August 16: Update

Hi everyone!

I am just announcing, that due to some unexpected recent events, the 50 Years Of Brisbane TV Part 6 post will be delayed until mid July. It will be posted as a doubleheader, with Part 7, on July 16.

Also, I can now reveal, that on QTQ's birthday weekend, there will be a top 50 list, inspired by the recent successful Q150 Icons poll. Ours will have five categories, each with ten slots each, Think of it to be our version of 50 to 1. The categories are as follows:
The 10 greatest Brisbane TV personalities of the past 50 years
The 10 greatest Brisbane produced TV programs of the past 50 years
The 10 most memorable local promotion campaigns of the past 50 years
The 10 greatest "Only In Brisbane" TV moments of the past 50 years
The 10 greatest interstate TV decisions to affect Queenslanders in the past 50 years

The top moment/personality/program/campaign/decision will become the "unofficial" icons of Brisbane TV, over the last fifty years. The QTQ birthday itself, will be home to Part 8, which is unknown at this time. The post "tagline" (not tags, but the catchy name) will also be unveiled on the day, when the post is published.

But the 50 Years posts may not stop on August 16. More will be known in due time.

Also, stay tuned around the 23rd of July, as we will have a special post, talking about the 20th anniversary of the event that sent Ten on the path to today's youth network, that is "Becoming 10 TV Australia: 20 Years On." We will have some of the ID's as well as the "Something's Going On Around Here" campaign, which preluded the switch.

Enjoy reading,
See you in mid-July!

Brisbane TV-Let's Make It Local!

PRESS/BLOG RELEASE: BRISBANE TV-LET'S MAKE IT LOCAL!

With the recent axing of Extra, this blog will make it's mission clear. Brisbane's three commercial stations, you are all on notice. Brisbane is fed up with Sydney networking, and interference with our sacred cows.

I personally am fed up with "Networking lite" that 7 offers, and the "Networking full strength" that 10 and now 9 offers. This blog's message will spread. Nationalising schedules equals networking with a different name. Look at Adelaide and Perth, smaller cities than Brisbane, yet support localised versions of Today Tonight and A Current Affair. Brisbane, was, is and always will be the big country town, should revolt against this. I don't want a program airing, where people will flick off more than they will flick on. THISafternoon has no place on Brisbane screens, if it's live, it will be delayed, during daylight saving.

This blog has supporters, from many places, feel free to leave a comment. But this campaign's backbone is the development of a slogan, and a Facebook presence.


The Slogan is simply: Brisbane TV-Let's Make It Local!


What I want to see more of, during the current global financial crisis, is a increased spend on local programming (which creates local jobs, both directly and indirectly), not decreased spend and decreased quality. Look at Brisbane Ten's news, they have a outdated set, and no local promotion. Seven's 50th planning has been flawed, as well as a reluctance to revive the Love You Brisbane campaign and a need for local programming outside weekends. Nine is the latest member of the cutting localism club, with the Sydney ordered axing of Extra, to bolster their news. Last time I checked, Extra was beating Deal or No Deal.


To help push the campaign, I wish to start with a boycott, of Seven's networked programming, as well as their news as part of pressure for more local programming on 7. Refuse to watch Sunrise, The Morning Show, any 7 News bulletin (including 6pm), Deal or No Deal, Today Tonight and Sunday Night, until they replace Deal with a respectable local program and return to Brisbane screens a local Today Tonight.

Victorians who have moved up here in the last twenty years may remember the struggles that Melbourne had in 1987, when their Channel 7 was bought out, and wrecked. I urge Brisbane to remember this saying...

Say No To Networking! Say Love You Brisbane.

The address for the Facebook group (Brisbanites Against the Axing of Brisbane Extra) is: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=88637576867

Brisbane is waiting for the response...

Kuttsywood
Operator of kuttsywoodscouch.blogspot.com

Founder of Brisbanites Against the Axing of Brisbane Extra.
Founder of the Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society.
A average Brisbane TV viewer.

Q150: What does Queensland mean to you?

As we leave May behind, we head towards June, Queensland Week, and the official 150th birthday of Queensland on June 6.

The 50 Years of Brisbane TV series will take a wide look, on what makes Queensland great, including some classic ads, and some of our defining moments, that only Queenslanders can produce. As the saying goes, "It's our land, my land, Queensland".

But we first pose to you a question, from the official Q150 station (Thats right 7, official), TVQ-10, What does Queensland mean to you?



This is a great effort, by a station not known for localism, as the last local campaign by the station was done in 1994. But could a surprise local campaign come out of the woodwork? After all, 2009 is also-

-21 years since TVQ-0 became TVQ-10.

-Nearing 45 years since TVQ-0 opened in 1965.



But, I pose to you, the average Queenslander, the same question. What does Queensland mean to you?

Kuttsy's answer:

Queensland means more than a great place to live. It is a place, where the best things in life, can be achieveable. It is where our lifestyle is envied by people in other states and other nations, when they come up to our state and holiday, and sample Queensland hospitality. It is a way of life, that cannot be bettered anywhere else. So what if we have our problems, we always conquer them and show the world how it is done. Expo 88 was a prime example, and there will be more examples as the 21st century rolls on.

So, I leave it to you, and we may get some responses published here, soon!

50 years of Brisbane TV Part 5: The Gold Coast, Queensland's TV production hub

Dedicated to... Charles "Bud" Tingwell AM, a icon of Australian film and television, who has achieved many honours in his long career, 1923-2009.

This month we have left Brisbane behind again, to this time focus on Queensland's TV production heart, the Gold Coast, and look at it's two distinct roles in the history of the Queensland industry, first being the place where our early stars got away from it all, and second, the film and television sector wanting a piece of "Australia's Hollywood".

The 1960's: GC glitter meets Brisbane television's early stars.
The Gold Coast of the late 1950's, was a different place. The ubiquitous canal system hadn't been developed, most accomodation was in the form of guesthouses, the motel hadn't quite taken over, and there was two places to be on the Coast, either the Surfers Paradise Hotel (where today's Paradise Centre stands) or the newly completed Lennons Broadbeach (sister of the original Brisbane Lennons, standing around where The Oasis Shopping Centre is today), and they were lures for visitors, from Brisbane, as a alternative to the other main attraction to the GC, the beaches. When Brisbane TV started, good signals could be picked up of the three Brisbane commercials (similar to the Brisbane FM stations of today on the GC), and in the mid 1960's some of Brisbane TV's brightest stars, used the Gold Coast as a base. The late George Wallace, had a home down there and commuted up to BTQ-7 to do Theatre Royal, Nancy Knudsen would entertain her GC fans, by waterskiing on the Nerang River, and in one memorable incident, she would end up landing in mud, instead of a standard landing on dry land, and got mud all over her waterskiing costume, specially designed for a waterskiing pageant. QTQ's Brisbane Tonight, did a few live performances on the Coast, which attracted large audiences, and by the mid 1970's, Gold Coast resident, Paul Sharratt starred in QTQ's Studio Nine, as compere, won a few Logies and set his own career path, as a producer, which was the seed for what was to come, but some minor hiccups, hampered the GC's path.

The 1980's-Boom or Bust: The Gold Coast's major TV change.

The first thing that caused this boom or bust era, was the elimination of death duties in Queensland, which saw older people move to the Gold Coast, from the southern states, so they could stop paying a "death tax", which eventually saw the southern states drop death duties, to stop the exodus. The other major contributing factor was highrise development, which also "ended" the era of VHF broadcasting on the Gold Coast, with a decision in 1980, to allow the Brisbane metropolitan stations, to open UHF feeds to the GC. Lismore-based Northern Rivers Television wanted a piece of the GC UHF pie, having also been requested by viewers to upgrade their signal, and in 1983, NRTV was added to the UHF conundrum, and opened their own Gold Coast facilities. In 1985, SBS was launched on the Gold Coast, at the same time as Brisbane viewers, and in 1992, NBN and Prime Television started broadcasting on the Gold Coast as part of the aggregation of NRTV's market with NBN and Prime's. Many highrise buildings started to have UHF antennas, with connections into most rooms, and the next major change would see the Coast's birth as a production hub.

1990's Warner-Roadshow Studios, The beginning of a new era.

In the slipstream of Expo 88, came the construction of a film studio complex, at Oxenford, near a recently opened water park (which became Wet 'n Wild) with soundstages, and eventually one of the best water filming facilities in the world, attracted international acclaim. In 1991, the project was "officially" opened, with the completion of the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park, and the slogan that the park had from day 1, "Hollywood on The Gold Coast" stuck, for the Oxenford/Pacific Pines area, (complete with a locality "Studio Village") expanded rapidly after the park's opening. The keynote event of the Movie World opening, was a live telecast, of Nine's Hey Hey It's Saturday, which was so successful, it was repeated the next year. Before long, Australian viewers saw the attempts at making a sun/surf drama (to sell overseas) on the Gold Coast that failed, like Paradise Beach and Pacific Drive. but the film industry saw paydirt, with the foundation in 1991 of the Pacific Film and Television Commission, which lured productions to Queensland that filled the new studios, and used various Gold Coast landmarks as filming locations. But the next "big" change, was something that the GC fell in love with, the willingness of Network Ten to pour money into the industry, with great results.

The beginning of the 21st century: Big Brother and the reality TV revolution.
In 2001, Network Ten partnered with Southern Star Endemol, to produce, the Australian version of Big Brother, out of a newly completed Dreamworld facility, complete with a purpose-built house, which itself became a drawcard to the park. It not just launched the early 2000's reality TV boom in Australia, it broke the wall down. Many staff have worked in the facility, up until the programs axing in 2008, as well as hundreds of thousands of people who attended evictions, went on off season tours of the house and on-season tours of the studio facility. Ten had made their imprint, as at one stage, their entire childrens line up was done in Queensland, from preschool programs, to Toasted TV (which is still taped at Sea World). But the "stigma" of the 1990's was finally lifted, when noted childrens drama producer, Jonathan Shiff decided to film his third great series for Ten (first being Ocean Girl, then Cybergirl, which was completely shot in Brisbane and launched the careers of the Origlasso twins, aka The Veronicas) H20-Just Add Water, on the Gold Coast, using the city as a backdrop, to a tale about teenage mermaids. It became a runaway hit, selling overseas and even cracking the biggest hurdle, the burgeoning Pay TV market in Australia, by appearing on the Australian Disney Channel, alongside another unrelated product which also used the GC as a backdrop (and also had the earliest TV appearance of Beau "Nitro" Walker) and originally produced for the Nine Network, Mortified, which brings us to 2009.

2009 and beyond... The future.
As we march towards the beginning of a new decade, The Gold Coast has become a film destination, sometimes posing as the most un-Australian locations, like in the 2006 WWE Films release, The Marine, where it posed as South Carolina, other times posing as itself, but always showed its class. 2009 is also a special anniversary, for Gold Coast residents, as it is fifty years since their proclamation as a city, and the term "South Coast" replaced with "Gold Coast", with only two major changes, the first being the merger of the GCCC with the Albert Shire in 1995, and second being the excising of Beenleigh from the now-merged GCCC area in 2008. The saying goes, "all that glitters is gold", Well, the Gold Coast glitters brightly, in many ways, that people will remember for years to come...

A opener for Nine's Gold Coast News:


The opener for The Strip, 2008 drama series filmed on the Gold Coast



Credits: Youtube-aussiebeachut,

Book-On Air, 25 Years of TV in Queensland (my trusty resource about the early days of Brisbane TV) for various references to Brisbane talent and programs, long remembered and not forgotten by older viewers.

Regional Television Month, bids adeiu...

As we say goodbye to Regional Television Month, we forward on to our next themed month, GC Shines Month, where our focus switches again from Brisbane, this time to our fast growing neighbour to the south, the Gold Coast, which has become a major production centre, in the last twenty years, all due to the development of Warner Roadshow Studios at Oxenford, which also spawned the Warner Bros Movie World theme park (which opened in 1991).


But all growth has it's teething problems. The plans for aggregation in Northern NSW in 1992 included a section of Queensland, from Beenleigh, down to the state border, which was part of the licence area of NRTV, and also was served by the Brisbane commercials via UHF, and had been since the 1980's. As a result the Gold Coast is served by six commercial stations, three metro, three aggregated. But the digital revolution, combined with the rapid growth of the Coast (which has sparked interest from the NRL, A-League and AFL, all wanting to establish teams), has caused a curve ball, where the rapidly increasing GC national sport sides don't get preference to Brisbane sides in Brisbane-based news bulletins, and when matches are telecast, and there is a lack of local GC news produced by the majority of the broadcasters, while the minority give good coverage.

My idea, is that by the time Northern NSW switches off analogue, ACMA should have plans in place for a GC "mini metro" market, with three commercial digital stations (on the former NBN,NRTV and Prime frequencies) , with the Brisbane commercials to stop telecasting on the GC when Brisbane switches off analogue in 2013, and the GC stations affiliation, would have to be defined, clearly including carriage of all multichannels, and a minimum amount of news/local content per night, that is higher than the current regional market standard (to have a minimum of one full local half-hour bulletin, a night, where as most regional stations in aggregated areas provide 5 minute updates and retransmit capital city bulletins.)

Why does it have to be extensive? Any prospective GC licensee would realise their audience is coming home later, and missing either a Brisbane-run GC bulletin, the NBN hour-long with GC inserts, or the Brisbane commercials 6pm bulletins. Advertisers would benefit too, with a more local approach to ad sales, instead of the current, five-way advertising split that GC advertisers face, with a third of all Gold Coast TV ad sales currently, going to PBL, thanks to their ownership of NBN and QTQ Brisbane's Gold Coast feed.

Digital takeup would also be boosted, as guarantees on local content, would encourage, not hinder apartment building and hotel owners alike to upgrade their coaxial systems, that serve hotel rooms, and apartments with clear access to the current six channel system, as well as various Foxtel/Austar channels which run from a central hub in the individual buildings. A development of a three commercial channel service for the Gold Coast could also result in the introduction of a community/tourist channel, possibly run by the Gold Coast City Council, to help sell the city's products and attractions to visitors and locals alike.

It is now up to the growing urban mass, to petition the federal government, for what they need. Three commercial channels, in digital, for the growing Gold Coast viewership. I have heard projections of a million residents in a few years time, meaning the strain on Brisbane stations wallets to maintain 2nd feeds, without sacrificing Brisbane's quality of programming. This solution, gives back what GC viewers lost with aggregation, that is, variety, with a local voice.

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part 4-Queensland's regional television stations, the heart of Queensland's rural life.

Dedicated to those regional Queensland viewers who waited nearly thirty years for the same choice as Brisbane TV viewers.



Regional Television Month continues, with this fourth installment, of 50 Years of Brisbane TV, which will leave the big smoke, for a journey down the old bush track, we call memory lane, and stop and remember Queensland's great contribution to regional television.

The Beginning, regional stations open up the world to their viewers...


Queensland viewers were a early bloomer to regional television, with three years gap, between the launch of the Brisbane metro stations, and the first regional station in Queensland, appropriately within distance of Brisbane. DDQ-10 Toowoomba, serving the Darling Downs agricultural district, opened in July 1962, followed by the far north's first station, TNQ-7 in Townsville in November 1962. 1963 saw the opening of Central Queensland's first commercial station RTQ-7 in Rockhampton, in September of that year, while regional viewers in Wide Bay waited until April 1965, when WBQ-8 opened in Maryborough. Cairns viewers had their first glimpse in September 1966 when FNQ-10 opened, while Mackay's MVQ-6 opened in August 1968. One of the most notable things of early regional television was that news from Brisbane took longer to get there as it was film based, except DDQ-10/SDQ-4 which took QTQ's news on relay, until the early 1980's. By 1975 and the arrival of colour broadcasts, television had reached all the way along the eastern coastal strip, with one sole station, ITQ-8 (which opened in September 1971) serving the outback city of Mt Isa, in the far west of Queensland.


Personalities that regional Queensland produced, that went on to big things.

This first name I am mentioning, people would never have associated with regional television in Queensland, but became it's greatest export thanks to their involvement in a program that revolutionised current affairs in this country. The person? Ian Leslie. The program? 60 Minutes.

Ian Leslie, the Toowoomba boy, who took on the world.

Ian Leslie began his television career as a young employee at a recently opened DDQ-10 in his hometown of Toowoomba in 1962, and worked numerous roles at the pioneering regional station, both on and off camera, and found his true calling, journalism. By the mid 70's Ian left DDQ for Ten's Sydney newsroom, then went over to Nine Sydney just a few years later. It was his years at Nine that were his pinnacle of his career. For the first ten years, of Australia's 60 Minutes, Leslie was the glue that held the first and second generation 60 Minutes teams together and led the program to become a ratings success. After a brief return to Ten prior to the network's recievership in 1990, Ian retired from commercial journalism, and is currently running his own production company.


Another person who revolutionised the journalism profession, is Babinda's favorite daughter, Sharyn Ghidella.


From the Far North, to the newsdesk- Sharyn Ghidella.


Born in Babinda (south of Cairns) in 1968, Sharyn's career started at what was known then as NQTV (which became QTV in 1990) the way most journalists do, working in the NQTV newsroom (which also produced, Samantha Kume, who went to Nine Brisbane, prior to Bruce Paige's return) and presenting news and programming. After witnessing the vibrations which caused QTV to lose their 9 affiliation, she went to read news in Brisbane alongside Marie-Louise Theile, Tracey Spicer, and Geoff Mullins at a recovering Brisbane Ten until she got the call up from Nine in Sydney. At TCN, she often did fill-in news reading at first, then she started anchoring bulletins, and finally working her way up to the newsreading position on the network's breakfast program, Today after veteran newsreader Ian Ross "retired" (in reality he retired, but was lured out of retirement by new executives at 7 in Sydney to read their 6pm news in 2003) in 2002, and stayed until the end of 2006. Sharyn made the decision to leave Today and 9 just as she was pregnant with her first child (which arrived April 14 2007), and move back to Queensland, and read 7's weekend news bulletins, and is a cruicial part of the "networked" third peak that Channel 7 Brisbane enjoys.

The 1980's: a time of change in regional television in Queensland

The 1980's were a critical turning point. Unlike, down south, which had various station groups like The Six Network, TV8, The Prime Network, NRTV etc., Queensland only had one major group, which was NQTV Cairns/Townsville which also owned ITQ-8 Mt Isa. Also critical, was the fact that both Seven National News and Brisbane's State Affair started airing statewide, on every regional station. This caused headaches for Nine, especially as it lost DDQ-10 which relayed 9's news for nearly twenty years. But the biggest story was to come as at one stage, during the 1980's NQTV was worth more than Brisbane's Channel 0. Then in September 1987, a headline would shock the entire industry.

"Darling Downs Television buys TV0 for $120million"

Christopher Skase had only just bought the capital city Seven Network, and had owned TVQ-0 (a loyal Ten Network affiliate) since 1984. Skase's purchase included the Brisbane member of the 7 Network, BTQ-7. It gave Skase a rarity in Australian television, a duopoly, and was forced to sell 0 Brisbane by the regulators to keep BTQ and they sold to Darling Downs Television in September 1987. What made this deal unique, was that DDQ-10 was going to switch channels with TVQ-0, which occured on September 10 1988, during Brisbane's wildly successful World Expo 88. Eventually DDQ sold TVQ prior to aggregation, as the only regional station to ever buy a station in the "Big 3" TV markets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, procceeded in its own path.

The end of the road, 31 December 1990... while the outback gets TV.

Queensland was aggregated in 1990, with QTV taking 10 affiliation (after losing the 9 affiliation), WIN Queensland taking 9 affiliation (formerly Star TV using DDQ's links at 10 for affiliation) and Sunshine Television taking 7 affiliation. But the story didn't end. In 1988, NQTV bought a prized satellite FTA licence (which only SC Central, Imparja, GWN in WA and Win WA hold), and opened QSTV, a satellite operator running from NQTV-owned ITQ in Mt Isa. As the changes in Queensland television happened, QTV was bought by Southern Cross in 2001, and the satellite feed became SC Central, with a 7 feed running on it, competing with Nine affiliate Imparja, to win viewers in Queensland's outback.

"Television is 25 years old to most of us, but people in some of the more remote areas of this state have yet to have television in their homes..." Majella Marsden, former TV sidekick to Wayne "Waynie Poo" Roberts (a Brisbane radio icon), from On Air: 25 Years Of Television In Queensland, published in 1984.

As we approach the dawn of a new age, where television will give us the choice, of fifteen channels, all in digital quality sound and vision, there are some corners of Queensland which have no digital TV access, relying on the analogue satellite feed, which only gives you two commercial channels, SBS and ABC, or where you get five channels, but only in analogue, it makes you wonder how far regional television in Queensland has come since the 1962 opening of DDQ-10 in Toowoomba. The future is looking better, by the day.

1985 report by Queensland's ABC, on the impacts of aggregation.


MVQ-6 Mackay 1989 transmitter listing.


Star Television ID (the original Ten affiliate for Queensland, prior to the 9/10 affiliation wars that defined aggregation in Queensland) 1990


Youtube-Aussiebeachut.

BREAKING NEWS: Kuttsywood's Couch to become segment on 7 News.

Kuttsywoods Couch is pleased to announce, that we have been contacted by Channel 7 to produce their Sunday Flashback segments, due to cost-cutting in the newsroom.

Newsroom wanderer, A Fool, has said "Having Kuttsy produce our flashbacks, will reinvigorate the segment, which has been lacking as of late, with us running back to Waynie Poo for ideas." Kuttsy's reaction has been one of shock, with him saying, "What? I thought we got the Rick-Rolling championship... Rick... I am never going to give you up, I am never going to let you down, I am never going to run around and desert you... I am never going to make you cry, say goodbye, tell a lie..."

In other news, Youtube's aussiebeachut will produce a new half-hour program, completely based from his extensive tape library, for 7 later this year. It will be five minutes of classic footage and twenty five minutes of advertorial content featuring various 7 network personalities.

In news from Channel Ten, they are apparently going move their news back to 6pm tonight, with Neighbours at 7 followed by The Comedy Company, then Perfect Match followed by Thirtysomething, which describes 10's audience in a nutshell.

And finally, Seven has decided to revive their local 5pm program Local Edition, to take on Heather Foord at Extra. Hot tips for hosts include Jillian Whiting, Ken Brown and Eric Summons.


And by the way...



I think I did tell a lie... Of course I wouldn't sign a deal with 7! (the fake wanderer is a dead giveaway!), Aussiebeachut wouldn't give up YT, Ten wont move their news and 7 wrecked all localism... Then it must be... April Fools Day!

Cheap prank!

I will leave you with three pieces for perusal, as my April Fools pranks for 2009!


Nine For Queensland-on Seven

Love You Queensland-on Nine

What QTQ should do to promote Garry Youngberry.

Aggregation-Twenty years on.

This post officially starts Regional Television Month in honor of the 20th anniversary of the start of aggregation in Australia, where this blog will take looks into the history of regional telly, with the 50 Years of Brisbane TV feature having a country twang (with a small history of regional television in Queensland prior to 1991, when Queensland was aggregated), as well as a specific look at NQTV, the former solus broadcaster for Cairns and Townsville, which became QTV for aggregation, and eventually became Southern Cross Ten's Queensland affiliate. But now onto the first topic in this post:

Aggregation, what is it?

Aggregation, in Australian TV terms, is where three previously solus regional operators expand into each others coverage areas, each carrying a capital city network's programming e.g Southern NSW/ACT: You have three operators, Capital (based in Canberra), Win (based in Wollongong), and Prime (based in Orange/Dubbo). As a result of aggregation, let's say, Win is now licenced to operate in Capital and Prime's broadcast areas, while Capital and Prime can expand into Win's broadcast area, as well as Capital/Prime's, to provide a three commercial channel service similar to the capital cities for all three former solus licence areas.

Aggregation's splits-Who got what.

The original plans for aggregation were for six aggregated markets, two in QLD (which were merged to form one super TV market), two in NSW (which went ahead) and two in VIC (which were merged into one statewide market while Mildura was excluded) Tasmania was added later on in 1994, but with two stations, and recieved a third station (Australia's first TV station to air on digital television only with no analogue simulcast) in the early 2000's.

30th of March 1989- A-Day.

The first stage of aggregation began in Southern NSW/ACT on the 30th of March 1989, with former solus stations, Prime Network, Capital 7 and Win TV expanding into each other's markets. All three had name changes, and logo changes, depending on which affiliation they took, with Prime adopting Channel 7 "like" (which used the same music, but their own logo) ID's (and eventually adopted ID's in 1990 fully based on 7's ID's of the time), Capital Television adopting the "X" Ten branding (as they were owned by the main Ten Network, and later adopted the "TV Australia" branding, dropping the "Television" and just becoming Capital, a name that stuck in many forms until 2001.) and Win adopting the 9 dots of their capital city partner, Channel 9. This was on the edge of the 1990 recession, which affected all stations, but Win came out on top. By the time round two started in 1991, this time in the Queensland super TV market (running from Cairns to Caloundra) Win snapped up a couple of Queensland stations (including DDQ-0, a former owner of Channel 10 Brisbane), and "bought" the 9 affiliation away from Cairns-based QTV. It was this moment, where Win became a force, where the money it made in two markets, went into acqusitions. By 1999, 10 years after aggregation started, Win was the success story, where it had 9 affiliation in almost every aggregated market (with NBN being the sole independent 9 affiliate (only to be bought by PBL in 2007), in northern NSW.) and was undergoing a western push, with the launch of Win Western Australia going up against Prime owned, GWN, for loyalty. But the winds of change were coming...

2001: A local news disappearing act.

Aggregation was a boon for news, but as costs spiralled, some broadcasters, like Queensland's QTV cut local news to their new markets, but retained their former solus bulletins. But 2001 was a major downer, as Prime cut local news from their least represented markets, and Southern Cross cut local news in their heartlands, prior to rebranding as Southern Cross Ten. A government inquiry was done, and regional broadcasters were heavily regulated to provide some local news. Some went beyond the call, like 7 Queensland which expanded their news back, after dropping it outside the Sunshine Coast in the early days of Queensland aggregation, to take on Win in most sub-markets, while others only produced updates to fulfill their commitment. But the local news cuts have continued, with satellite regional broadcaster, Imparja, cutting local news in 2008, becoming the only 9 affiliated station to do so.

Where to for regional television in the 21st century?

The major issue facing regional television in this country today, is the same as the capital cities, that being digital television. Some regions who were left in the cold by aggregation like Tasmania, and Mildura in Victoria (which got a second station in 1998, and a third digital-only station in 2006) were given extra licences, to give them choice. The three markets with digital only Ten affiliates, Tasmania, Mildura and Darwin (which recieved licence two in 1998 and their third digital-only licence in 2008), have the highest digital TV takeup rates in the country. What these markets use, is the alternate system to aggregation, a multichannel scheme, which was dropped in the mid 1980's, where these markets have three operators in town (This was modified to two and 1/2 operators in digital markets, where the third station is a joint-venture between the existing two broadcasters), with local content. But in the rest of aggregated Australia, digital takeup is slow. New transmitters and playout facilities have been built to expand for digital signals, with complaints at the rate this is going. But this is just like the battles regional television have fought, like aggregation, one that will change the way television (regardless of location) is seen forever.

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part 3-The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin's contribution to Queensland's TV industry.

Dedicated to Steve Irwin 1962-2006



2009, is a year where we don't just reflect on the living legacy of Brisbane (and indeed Queensland) television. We reflect on the fallen stars, who either died too young, like Brisbane TV personality Tony Gordon, who died tragically in a aerobatics accident in 2001, or died after a distinguished career, like former QTQ newsreader Don Seccombe who passed away suddenly in 1993 and BTQ-7's most notable personality from their 1959 launch, Brian Tait who passed away peacefully in late 2007. But one name is sadly part of this list, the person who brought their Queensland experiences into living rooms worldwide. That man is Steve Irwin.



The genesis of "The Crocodile Hunter"

Steve Irwin was a second generation wildlife expert, growing up, living at his parent's reptile park at Beerwah, before becoming a volunteer for Queensland's crocodile relocation program. Eventually, his parents handed the reptile park to Steve (which became Australia Zoo), and the evolution of the "Crocodile Hunter" began. In 1992 he married his wife, Terri, a American, and by 1996, the first "Crocodile Hunter" episodes aired in Australia. Everyone had not foretold what would happen next.



"The Crocodile Hunter" hits the US

In 1997, the first episodes aired in the US, and was a hit. By 1999 Steve Irwin became a household name in the US, eventually being invited on to Tonight with Jay Leno, and by this time, the program was screening in 167 countries, a major effort (if not the greatest ever) for a Queensland produced television program. People warmed to Irwin's larrikin nature and Australia Zoo became a tourist attraction for overseas visitors to South East Queensland. By 2001, the popularity of Steve Irwin was so great, that he appeared in Dr Dolittle 2 with Eddie Murphy and in 2002 a feature film "The Crocodile Hunter-Collision Course" was released.



A promoter of Queensland and Australian tourism

Steve's success overseas, made Australia Zoo a must see Queensland attraction, and Steve always promoted the virtues of Queensland and Australian tourism overseas. Steve was always on the bill at the "G'day USA" events as part of Australia Week, and his family always came along. Steve was a family man, with both his children Bindi and Robert getting the same education he did, this time with the now massive Australia Zoo as a backyard. The Discovery Channel (which owned Animal Planet, where the Crocodile Hunter series airs) eventually developed a concept for Bindi, which Steve worked on, right until that fateful day in 2006.



Steve Irwin's last documentary, and his passing.
The last documentary Steve Irwin worked on, was "Oceans Deadliest", was filmed on the Great Barrier Reef, near Port Douglas. Brisbane and international TV viewers found out about the tragedy that happened on September 4 through newsflashes, the man they called "The Crocodile Hunter" died doing what he loved, risking his life (in this case, with a stingray, who stuck it's barb into Irwin's heart), to educate the public. Before long, the three Brisbane commercial stations were flooded with journalists from overseas, and Australia Zoo became a moving tribute to the work that Steve did, in protecting the enviroment. Barbera Walters even flew into Brisbane, to do a interview for American television with Terri, which saw many viewers tune in. After the tearful memorial service, there were some more honors to come.

Steve Irwin's legacy, and the honours...
In May 2007, Australian TV publication, TV Week, decided to induct Steve (posthumously) into the Logies Hall Of Fame. But the Irwin legacy lives on through his oldest child, Bindi, who won a Logie for herself as most popular new female talent (in a Queensland sweep of the popular new talent awards, with Lincoln Lewis, son of Wally Lewis winning most popular male new talent) in 2008. Australia Zoo is still a tourist attraction, a Queensland icon, and is a popular place for overseas visitors to go to, when they come to Brisbane for holidays.

50 Years Of Brisbane TV-Part 2-Shine On Brisbane, the 1982 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.

Dedicated to the victims of Black Saturday, including former GTV-9 newsreader Brian Naylor and his wife Moiree...

Prolougue...
Television changed sport in Australia. It turned sport from a mainly spectator medium, to a national obsession. Radio did some work, same with newsreels, but it wasn't until television arrived in 1956 that people saw sport in a new light. Melbourne's Olympic Games that year was the first major event broadcast on Australian television, with all three Melbourne stations providing coverage, with film replays (the Sydney-Melbourne coaxial cable bearer not being built until the early 1960's) being screened in Sydney the next day. By the time the Brisbane stations launched in 1959, sport became a staple of any new television station's schedule.



The changes in technology, that brought television sport forward.
In 1962 Perth hosted the Commonwealth Games, while in 1964 Japan hosted the Olympics. These two telecasts still used the old fashioned film, with delays in events getting to air, even though they were on timezones friendly to Australians, but a major change was about to happen... Satellite broadcasting was developed, but was a expensive matter, with a number of commercial broadcasters, covering the Olympics due to the expense of satellite links for packages from the Olympics, it was not until 1980 in Moscow, that a Australian network went solo with satellite coverage of events. The ABC settled into a position with the Commonwealth Games that commercial broadcasters respected, until the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, when the first solo commercial broadcast was undertaken by the Nine Network. But Nine's Commonwealth Games involvement wasn't new...

Broadcasting the Games...
Nine and the ABC as a partnership, broadcast the Games to a nation, with Nine and the ABC providing coverage in the capitals, while the ABC used their vast regional network to make sure most Australians could see Brisbane's great spectacle. This partnership also bid for the rights to the 1984 Olympics, only to be pipped by Rupert Murdoch at Ten (whose Brisbane affiliate was on channel 0 still). It wasn't just the official broadcasters getting in the spirit of the Games...

Brisbane united: The rising wave of localism.
Brisbane's other commercial broadcasters became voices that defined a era. Channel 0, launched their "Hello Brisbane" (not the Frank Gari campaign the 7's in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth as well as TasTV used in the mid 80's) campaign to bring in viewers, a tactic that worked, and Channel 7 launched their remarkable "Love You Brisbane" campaign which worked even more, which led to the start of Seven Brisbane's "second peak" which lasted until 1987.

Videos:
The Opening Ceremony part 1 and 2 from pugsley2005




Hello Brisbane, Hello Channel 0, from omni99- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykIBRFfxrXw
Seven News Flashback on 1982 Commonwealth Games from August 2008 from aussiebeachut-



A footnote:

After the success of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, Brisbane went for the 1992 Olympics. It lost to Barcelona, but proved if done right, a Australian bid could get close to winning, which eventually we did in 1993, when Sydney won the bid for the 2000 Olympics, which showed the changes in TV technology that we had since 1982, which were many, this time at the dawn of a new century, and a new digital age. The next Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 will show this even more. Even though they are outside Australia, it will be a first, as Network Ten, using their soon to be launched digital multichannel ONE and pay TV operator Foxtel will screen the Games, in high definition. But Brisbane may not wait long for a second Commonwealth Games. A QLD government backed bid, will probably bid for a Gold Coast Commonwealth Games for 2018, as was announced mid 2008. Imagine the wonder of the new Queensland showing off... with the best in technology in ten years time. I can hardly wait...

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part two update...

Part Two, of the 50 years of Brisbane TV blog series will not be seen as planned on the 16th of February.

I have decided as a mark of respect, for the victims of the horrific bushfire disaster in Victoria, including former Channel 9 Melbourne newsreader Brian Naylor, that the planned post will be uploaded on the 26th of February and will be dedicated to Brian Naylor.

I am asking all Brisbanites, who stumble upon this blog, to think of their fellow man, and please dig deep for what will be the toughest test, many families in the affected areas will ever face.

2009- A special year... in more ways than one.

2009 is a important year. It is our state's 150th birthday, QTQ-9, BTQ-7 and ABQ-2 celebrate their 50th birthdays, and some other events may or may not get a mention in the media... But I will mention them here...


30th anniversary of the beginning of electrified suburban rail services in Brisbane:

In November 1979, Queensland Rail, introduced the first suburban electric trains to Brisbane, running from Ferny Grove to Darra, using the first fully airconditioned electric suburban fleet in the country (Melbourne introduced their airconditioned Comeng's in 1981, while Sydney will retire their unairconditioned double decker suburban trains in 2013, when the new A set (currently in production) comes into revenue operation, while their interurban fleet (that runs from Sydney to the Blue Mountains, Newcastle and Wollongong) is fully airconditioned.) By the time the first QR EMU's turned 10, the entire Brisbane network was electrified. In the late 1990's the Citytrain network reached Nambour, Gympie and the Gold Coast. But as we go into the thirtieth year of electric services, the Queensland Government is looking forward, with the extensions to Springfield, Coolangatta Airport, the Sunshine Coast as well as a future-proofed inner-city rail network on the drawing board, we have QR's vision in the 1970's, to thank.

20th anniversary of the completion of Main Line Electrification (Brisbane-Rockhampton)

2009, is also the twentieth birthday of electric TravelTrain services between Rockhampton and Brisbane, which could not have been achieved without the electrification of the North Coast Line for coal, and for passengers as well as freight. There have been two different services, first, the "Spirit of Capricorn" which ran from 1989 until 2003 using the EMU-based InterCity Express (which was transferred to Citytrain's interurban fleet in 2003), and the Rockhampton Tilt Train which gradually replaced the "Spirit" from 1998.

30th birthday of Legal Aid Queensland:

In December 2009, Legal Aid Queensland (a service that allows disadvantaged people to get subsidised legal advice) turns thirty. Originally known as the Legal Aid Commission of Queensland, then later the Legal Aid Office (Queensland) and finally in 1997, under a act of Parliament the organization became Legal Aid Queensland, and is a statutory authority of the Queensland Government.

20th anniversary of the NSWRL's first use of Tina Turner in advertising:

Rugby league has had it's troubles with advertising the game in the mainstream. Rugby league was in a small lull, in 1989, after the hyped introduction of the Brisbane Broncos the previous year. So the game was turned up, a lot. The Sydney-based league brought in Tina Turner, to do a campaign, based on her song "What You Get Is What You See" to promote the game. It succeeded, and added to the best season in many years for the league which culminated in what many say is the greatest Grand Final of all time. As for the league's association with Tina Turner, it continued until 1995, using Turner's 1989 hit, "The Best", which got re-released in Australia during 1992 as "Simply The Best" (using a duet between Turner and Jimmy Barnes), being used in advertising, even screening at one stage in AFL heartland, Melbourne, where State of Origin games were held at the MCG, to gauge reaction for a future Melbourne team. The "Simply The Best" slogan was retired in 1995, just before the fight for the now ARL's survival began, with the Super League war.

20th anniversary of the founding of the South Bank Corporation:

Another big event that happened in 1989 was the cancelling of the Rivercity 2000 proposal for South Bank. Rivercity 2000, was the original plan for South Bank post Expo 88, which would have seen a mini CBD across from the regular CBD. But Brisbane people wanted river access, which was severely limited in the Rivercity 2000 proposal. So the Queensland Government created the South Bank Corporation, and put the South Bank redevelopment to a global design competition. While this was happening, the World Expo Park theme park which was slated to be a permanant legacy of Expo 88, closed in September 1989. Accordingly it was added to the South Bank Corporation's juristiction, and was earmarked (and eventually became) for a Brisbane convention and exhibition centre (during different phases of the planning for South Bank, it was planned for a separate convention and exhibition centres, similar to Sydney's at Darling Harbour, another successful urban revitalisation, Brisbane took a combined facility.)

By 1991, South Bank was a hive of construction again, and by June 1992, the original South Bank Parklands was opened, Numerous changes have happened since, including the 1995 opening of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, the late 1990's replacement of the canals with the Energex Arbour, and the return of the traditional South Brisbane traffic grid pattern with the addition of Little Stanley St. Development has since taken off with a unique backdrop of tall and midsize buildings behind the parklands.

The centenary of the founding of Surf Life Saving Queensland.
2009, is also a very special year for Surf Life Saving Queensland. This year the organisation turns 100. 100 years of protecting Queenslanders from the dangers of the surf, saving lives, and training volunteer lifeguards for our surf beaches, that attract 30 million people every year. While the national centenary was in 2007, The Queensland centenary is also a important occasion.
The celebrations for the centenary are on the 21st of February at the Coolangatta SLSC, with a parade of surf lifesaving technology as well as a re-enactment of the first surf rescue in Queensland.

50 Years of Brisbane TV-Part 1 Good night and Goodbye: Farewells from the newsdesk...

Dedicated to Mark "Mawk" Riccardi, [uploader of Marie-Louise Theile's farewell] 1989-2008.

Brisbane is a unique TV market. We were the first metro TV stations north of Sydney. We still cling to our localism like a raft. But we innovate, like no other. Before we get to the farewells, I will talk about some past female newsreaders, and one who is still going strong.

The original female newsreader- Melody Illife.

Not much video is out there about Australia's first female newsreader. That's right first. In the sixties, QTQ-9 had Don Seccombe and Melody Illife reading Nine's news, which introduced something which has become the staple for Brisbane television, the male-female dual news bulletin. Melody won a Logie in 1965, for this achievement, which opened doors for many other females to get into television news.

Jackie McDonald, Entertainer, Sidekick, Newsreader?

TVQ-0 had a great combo in 1982, in the form of Brisbane TV legend, Brian Cahill, and Kay McGrath (who we will get to later). But in 1983, they took a gamble after Cahill's departure, by unveiling a new newsteam. Des McWilliam, who eventually became the station's news director and childrens personality Jackie McDonald, were brought in to spearhead their bulletin. The only major flaw was, Jackie was also doing Hey Hey it's Saturday (back then still a morning program), in Melbourne, on Channel 9. Eventually, (after the Brisbane press found out about Jackie's weekend job with a ostrich, just as TVQ put up billboards promoting the 6pm bulletin) Jackie left to do Hey Hey full time, just as it was moved from mornings to a national primetime slot in 1984 (in which the controversy was referred to in the opening minutes of the first episode.)

Kay McGrath: a magnificent career.

Kay McGrath... A icon, a newsreaders newsreader. Kay started her career at Brisbane's Channel 0 (a foundery of female talent, which also gave Robin Parkin, Tracey Spicer, Marie-Louise Thiele and Anna McMahon their starts in TV news.) and eventually read the main 6pm bulletin with Brian Cahill in 1982. By 1985, she was reading with Des McWilliam on weekdays, on the now TV0 Eyewitness News, alongside sports reporter (and eventual anchor in 1988) Rob Readings, and former Met Bureau head Ray Wilkie on weather. By 1987, after working for TVQ for many years and seeing the changes at that station (from Channel 0 to TV0, from Qintex to Darling Downs Television ownership), her former boss offered her a move to 7 and Sydney.
1988 was a good year, but she longed for Brisbane, so in 1989 she came home and became Frank Warrick's co-anchor until 2001. For the first half of 2002, she read solo, until Rod Young came from the ABC, and became her co-anchor. Ratings slowly grew, but the real gain was when 7 lured John Schluter after he left 9, and 7 News had reached highs not seen since the 1980's, Kay turned 50 in 2006, and is probably the oldest female newsreader still active on Australian television.

The Farewells...

Tracey Challenor.

Tracey, was part of the 90's class of female, multitasked newsreaders (i.e learned the newsreading art from Kay McGrath, and to process weather from Frank Warrick), that came up through BTQ-7, that went on to a lot of bigger things, with notable members such as Jillian Whiting (who went to QTQ-9 and anchored with Bruce Paige then went to Extra, before leaving in late 2008), Melissa Downes (who went to QTQ in 2001, and did reporting and the occasional bulletin before she replaced Heather Foord this year) and Kim Watkins (who went to 9 for a long stint, before becoming the co-host with David Reyne of 9am with David and Kim, after Bert Newton left Ten in late 2005). The majority of this group were former news reporters, which led to most of this group doing reporting on weekdays, and newsreading on weekends. Eventually, Challenor was the sole member of this group at BTQ, and settled into a weekend position, which fitted in with her family commitments. By 2007, however, she was asked to leave the weekend position, for new recruit Sharyn Ghidella and the farewell is below.





Marie-Louise Thiele.

Marie Louise started at Ten, around the time the network went into recievership, which lost a steady project for one of their female newsreaders, "Brisbane with Anna McMahon" due to cost cutting. Eventually TVQ relaunched, at first with TVQ stalwart Des McWilliam at the desk, but time changed and newsreader Glenn Taylor (who had spent three years reading Seven Nightly News with a young Jennifer Keyte in Melbourne) returned to Brisbane, to anchor Ten Eyewitness News with Marie Louise. All went well until 1993, when she moved to ATV-10 in Melbourne, to replace Jo Pearson (a news icon that shaped ATV's news in the 1980's), where she worked with both David Johnston, and Melbourne institution Mal Walden. By the late 1990's, she came home, at first back with Taylor, then after Taylor's departure, TVQ legend Geoff Mullins (which a controversal moment occured), and from 2004 to 2007, Bill McDonald.



Heather Foord.

Heather started her career, working briefly on Ten's Good Morning Australia (the breakfast program that launched Larry Emdur and Ken Brown aka Brownie, on successful careers), before joining the QTQ-9 newsroom in 1987. Heather filed reports and went on the road to do stories, like most seasoned journalists, before becoming a occasional newsreader, while doing news updates, until 1990, when she took on the role which would define her career. Robin Parkin left QTQ, and Foord stepped up and read the 6pm weekday bulletin with Mike London, which lasted until 1996, when London and a returning Bruce Paige swapped roles, and Foord was anchoring with Paige (much like now). During that first run with Paige, Heather started a family, and for a time went back to weekends (with new recruit, Jillian Whiting reading weekdays with Paige), at first with Mike London again, then after he left after an "incident" in 2003, Foord was reading solo. By 2004, Foord and Whiting swapped, with Whiting reading weekends, and the second Paige/Foord run began. By 2008, however the strain that working five nights per week had on her family, started to show, particulary during her late 2007 stint reading the news on Today (filling in for Georgie Gardner) while still reading with Paige at 6pm, and she announced at the end of a Friday night bulletin, that she was giving reading news up for her family. The farewell is below, but we will still see Heather, as she is moving to Extra, and being part of the station's upcoming 50th birthday celebrations.








Youtube-Mawk3, dragons4ever2007, kuttsywood*

(*Disclosure, the kuttsywood Youtube channel is operated by the same person who wrote this blog. You know, me... so check it out!)

What's coming up in early 2009. Brisbane style...

So 2008's ending...

Lets see, what we have covered here this year...

-Love You Brisbane.

-the 20th anniversary of Expo 88 (in three distinct parts, but with no definative ending... yet.)

-the 20th anniversary of TVQ moving from 0 to 10.

-The Tank St Bridge naming contest.

-The formation of the "Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society"

As well as other items, too numerous to mention.



But 2009 is going to be bigger.

Some of the upcoming highlights for early 2009...

-20 years of aggregation... and aggrevation.

-Brisbane Ten and Q150, seriously...

-A piece talking about NQTV (a Far North Queensland television station which eventually became Southern Cross Ten Queensland), in the late 80's.

-(hopefully) Part 4 of Expo, Brisbane Style.

-A new feature, called "50 years of Brisbane TV" which talks about the glorious history of the Brisbane commercial stations, which has started with my top 10 Queensland made moments.

Happy new year, and to all a good read.

The Logies moving to Queensland?

I saw an article, on the Courier Mail website, talking about a pitch by the Queensland Government to lure the Logies out of Melbourne. What the QLD Government is suggesting is a Gold Coast move, but industry insiders said, that the Gold Coast has no TV history.

Of course you don't have TV history for the Gold Coast, it is a production centre, with no TV stations of it's own, instead relying on two sets of UHF feeds, one from Brisbane and the other from interstate.

But this blog supports a Brisbane-based event. Why Brisbane? I have heard enough of those saying "Brisbane needs to step up and stop being a go-between" Also, Brisbane has TV history on its side.
1. Brisbane (and Ipswich) was the base for the first experimental TV transmissions in Australia, from The Windmill in Spring Hill in April 1934. (April 10 2009 is the 75th anniversary the start of these first transmissions)
2.Brisbane gave to television, personalities like Kerri-anne Kennerly, Jackie McDonald, Agro, Shelley Craft and countless others.
and 3. Brisbane has a rich local programming tradition, which still lives as part of Brisbane Extra.

So, If you want the Logies in Brisbane... Stand Up and Tell PBL Brisbane's Great!

The retro strategy and how it failed...

This is the symbolic sequel to one of my most popular posts of 2008, Bringing Back Love You Brisbane, but it starts in a strange place, aggregated regional Queensland, in 1995.

Part 1-Queensland's first taste of networking.

1995, was a funny old year for Queensland TV, Bruce Paige returned to QTQ, Brisbane launched it's own Footy Show, QTV became Ten Queensland, and the shock of the decade as the metro 7 network bought affiliate Sunshine Television and rebranded it as 7 Queensland, in the process dropping Sunshine's successful "Love You Queensland" campaign, in favor of networked promos, and the news service became Seven Local News.

By 1998, a networked 7 Queensland was winning ratings wars against the dogs that Sunshine sat and watch fight in 1991, WIN and Ten Queensland contridicting the network's (then) 2nd status nationwide.

Part 2-Seven's retro strategy...

Meanwhile the same, couldn't be said for 7 in Brisbane. After a rough five year patch, since veteran newsreader Frank Warrick left in 2001, Seven News and the station were rating 2nd, to a station that had ursurped the local leadership, QTQ-9. Nine had local programming, weekdays in the form of Extra hosted by a trusted personality, Rick Burnett, the Gold Coast News (which screened in lieu of Extra on the Gold Coast) with former Brisbane Ten newsreader, Rob Readings and the 6pm news with Bruce Paige, Heather Foord and long time weatherman John Schluter. But within three months in 2006, the fortress had fallen. The GC news was moved to Brisbane in July, Extra lost Rick in August, and for unknown reasons John left in September.

Seven snapped up Schluter, and relaunched on Boxing Day the Sunshine Television theme "Love You Queensland" statewide, thats right statewide.

Part 3-Tonight on Seven News Flashback...

The Love You Queensland revival was the cornerstone, Sharyn Ghidella's arrival was the bricks and mortar. Seven also discovered that John and the recently launched "Seven News Flashback" segment fit like a hand in a custom built glove, and before long John was back on weekdays this time against Paige. Eventually, 7's news ratings were beating 9's without Deal providing a good lead in. Seven easily won 2007, thanks to their new recruits in the newsroom, as well as the lack of response by QTQ on "Love You Queensland". But that was about to dramaticly change.

Part 4-You better smile!

2007 ended with 7 producing small ID's for Xmas, while 9 did a neat local 30 sec effort, which was a precurser to the start of 2008, where 9 debuted their wehearttv campaign, with at first a localised version only featuring Nine News. But it grew steadily, eventually with most of QTQ's personalities, featuring in a 60 second promo, which was nearly 100% Queensland. But on June 2 2008, a dramatic change happened, which would redefine "local promotion" in the 21st century.

Part 5-"Queensland, it's a part of me, sunshine in the heart of me, Channel Nine... Nine For Queensland"

Gone were the glass hearts, grass hearts, bark hearts that symbolised the wehearttv campaign, instead there was a focus on the dots, the station's upcoming 50th birthday, and lots and lots of maroon. It was more upbeat, had a "vibe" to it, reminicent of the "Still The One" era. Personalities littered the promo, some in complete 360's of the 2008 launch, like Bruce Paige, he went from outside a house to playing with his dog and running along the Brisbane River. This promo represented Brisbane better, than the regionally skewed 7 promo, thanks to the evolution of the campaign throughout the latter half of 2008, from 60 second ID's to supplanting wehearttv in SEQ.

Part 6-A LYB return?

Seven in Brisbane needs a major recovery. It's news is still #1, but lost 2008 (if the Beijing Olympics aren't counted) to 9. Love You Queensland, the GOTTALOVEIT tagline, even the "TV man" that 7 uses aren't going to stage a shock revival. But giving viewers what they want could be a good start, for 2009 is also Queensland television's 50th year... and they are expecting a nostalgia overload from Brisbane's commercial stations. The biggest present any Brisbane viewer wants is the proper revival of Love You Brisbane. It has to be remembered in twenty five years... when this generation is all grown up with kids, to a newer, bigger, brighter Brisbane.

Seven... We have a message for you.

So what if you "claim to win 2008".

The Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society will not accept any victory if it was made using networked programs, having a attitude that Brisbane viewers aren't good enough for separate promotion, by destroying your history for office space that leaks badly and risking a backlash if Kay leaves to join the Paige / Lofthouse issue at 9.

Thanks for nothing 7. Networking can go to hell!

The Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society

http://au.youtube.com/group/luvyabnefanclub

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35322692002

Brisbane TV turns 50- My top ten Brisbane TV moments

2009. Brisbane's 150th as a city, Queensland's 150th as a state and Brisbane TV's fiftieth. If one were to pick the greatest moments of our TV industry, our list would be full of interstate imports. But if you restricted that list to moments that affected Queenslanders or brought Queensland to the world, it would be a fine list. So here is my top 10 moments over the last fifty years.

10. State Of Origin rugby league. This annual event started in 1980, as a single game, but has evolved to become a fully fledged Queensland tradition, usually drawing the highest ratings of the year in Brisbane. All three Brisbane commercial stations have aired the series in the past, with the current rights holder being Channel 9.

9. Brisbane Lions first premiership in 2001 (Seven) AFL football has had trouble gaining a foothold in Queensland, with the code until the late 1990's, not getting good enough crowds and TV ratings compared to the Broncos in the NRL. In 2001, a shocking thing happened, the Brisbane Lions (formed from a merger in 1996 between, the Brisbane Bears and Melbourne's Fitzroy Lions) rampaged through the finals qualifying for their first grand final, then one of the players won a Brownlow Medal, and finally, beat the reigning premiers Essendon. As a result, the Lions were bringing the AFL premiership cup north of the Murray River for the first time (and starting a interstate premiership dynasty that lasted until 2007.)

8. 1997 SuperLeague grand final. (Nine) In the mid 1990's, the Super League war had split the ARL. In the only year of a split rugby league competition, Nine had rights to both the Superleague and ARL grand finals, and free-to-air rights to both competitions. The most unique part of the Super League grand final was that there were two firsts, one being that it was held in Brisbane not Sydney (at then-ANZ Stadium), the other being that it was held at night. The Brisbane Broncos were on home turf and beat Cronulla to win the only-ever Super League title. By 1998 however, the two competitions were reunited as the NRL.

7. TVQ's involvement at Expo 88. (TV0/Brisbane Ten) There are four moments to come out of Expo 88 on this list, but this one was innovative. TVQ-0 (later TVQ-10) moved their entire production operation (news, playout, local production) off Mount Coot-tha for six months as part of Expo 88. The studios were located inside the Queensland pavilion, and became part of life at Expo, and life in Network Ten's schedule, as national morning news bulletins, and Brisbane's own Living with Ian Skippen (which was axed in late 1988) were for the duration of Expo, being produced in these studios. The most unique element was that Expo visitors could watch the news bulletin/programming being produced. What TVQ pioneered at Expo, has affected considrebly the way we see news in Australia.


6. The Australia Day 1974 floods and it's effects on the ABC. (ABC) Brisbane's commercial television stations all set up on One Tree Hill (another name for Mt Coot-tha), instead of closer to the city like in other capitals, the only one not to do this was the ABC which set up studios on the riverside in the inner Brisbane suburb of Toowong. It was a weird decision and it would learn the consequences the hard way in January 1974 when Cyclone Wanda struck Brisbane. The Brisbane River rose, and flooded the Toowong facility, causing damage to film records of the first 15 years of Brisbane's ABC TV station.

5. Brisbane moving from 0 to 10 in 1988. (Brisbane Ten) For the first twenty three years of operation, TVQ was on channel 0, a low channel on the VHF band, which had reception issues, which also plagued ATV-0 in Melbourne (which switched to 10 in 1980). TVQ was sold by then owners Qintex in 1987 (after purchasing rival station BTQ-7), to Darling Downs Television for $123 million. The new owners pledged to switch their new acqusition on 0 with their channel number, 10 to receive better reception in Brisbane at the expense of their station getting channel 0. So during Expo, people were being urged to "Come across" to 10, up until September 10 1988 when TV0 became Brisbane Ten, of which the public usage of "Brisbane" was later dropped, to become just Ten.

4. Exodus from the ABC Toowong studios in 2006. (ABC) Toowong for the ABC had its share of bad luck, flooded in '74, hail damaged in 2003, but the biggest by far was the ABC's abandonment of the Toowong facility in late 2006, due to a cancer cluster. As a result the ABC's Brisbane staff are spread all over the city, with the ABC TV newsroom based at TVQ-10, the Brisbane ABC radio operation based in Lissner St, not far from the old studios. The ABC has been doing a stringent search since then, to build the new home for ABC Queensland, so everyone can be under one roof again.

3. The Expo 88 opening ceremony. (TV0) As host broadcaster, TVQ had to produce the Expo opening ceremony broadcast, for nearly 800 million viewers, with Network Ten's Kerri-Anne Kennerly and Tim Webster from Good Morning Australia (back when it competed with 9's Today) anchoring the celebration that Brisbane came in droves to see unveiled, after nearly two years preparation.

2. The 1982 Commonwealth Games. (ABC and Nine) The original city booster, the 1982 Commonwealth Games was aired both on the ABC and Channel 9, which gave Brisbane viewers a lot to focus on, when they wer'nt at QEII or Chandler cheering Aussies on. It also gave rise to the "Love You Brisbane" campaign on 7 while channel 0 had "Hello Brisbane" (not the Frank Gari version that HSV in Melbourne used in 1985) to boost civic pride alongside the Brisbane City Council's "Shine On Brisbane" which was aimed at getting Brisbane spick and span for the world's arrival.

And finally...
1. The Expo 88 Closing Ceremony. (Brisbane Ten) It was the farewell Brisbane didn't want to say. After six months, nearly 18 million visitors, and millions of memories, the carnival that was World Expo 88 was over. Brisbane viewers tuned in, as well as the people who stood on the Riverside Expressway, and oversaw a glittering closing ceremony. It had everything, from then PM Bob Hawke, to The Seekers (with Julie Anthony filling in for Judith Durham) singing "The Carnival is Over", Expo's entertainers getting their moment, Sir Llew's farewell speech, a sole trumpeter playing "Waltzing Matilda", while the flags of all the participants came down followed by a fireworks display to culminate Brisbane's finest hour.

If you have any moments, comment back.

The Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society-The Facebook version...

I have said in a previous post, that a Facebook prescence is on its way.

It is now online, ready to discuss what was Seven Brisbane, what is Seven Brisbane and what will be Seven Brisbane. And if anyone from Seven Brisbane wants to know... We wanna Love You Brisbane once again in 2009.

It is at
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35322692002

Thanks for the "shoutout"!

John Schluter or the Seven Brisbane News department,



If you stumble along and find this blog during any Flashback research...

Leave a comment, and answer the question... When is "Love You Brisbane" coming back and what is the station doing for it's fiftieth in 2009?

And by the way, thanks for the "shoutout".

The Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society.
http://au.youtube.com/group/luvyabnefanclub

The first annual Kuttsywood's Couch guide to Daylight Saving TV delays in Queensland

Daylight Saving. The great divider, between Queensland and "down south" starts this weekend.

I have listed below, the programs that will be live and those that will be delayed (as well as voting closing times during this period up until the end of 2008.



Seven Brisbane/Seven Queensland

Seven News Brisbane/Seven Local News/Brisbane produced news updates-unaffected.

Seven Morning News/Seven's 4:30 News/any national updates-delayed by 1 hour, unless it is a breaking news story.

Sunrise/Weekend Sunrise-delayed by 1 hour.

Today Tonight-delayed by 1 hour.

Dancing with the Stars-delayed by 1 hour, Voting closes 6:30pm Sundays, Eliminations posted at http://au.tv.yahoo.com/dancing-with-the-stars/index.html 8:30pm Brisbane time.

Nikon Indy 300(23-26 October) Most likely live into Queensland.

Bathurst 1000 (TV coverage 10-12 October)-most likely live with filler programming for QLD viewers after the race.

V8 Supercars Desert 400 (in Bahrain, November 6-8) Unknown at this time.

(More will be added in the future)



Nine Brisbane/WIN Queensland/(possibly) Imparja

National Nine News/Brisbane produced news updates-unaffected in Brisbane, Imparja reairing status unknown at this time.

WIN News/Rockhampton or Toowoomba produced updates-unaffected

Extra/9's Gold Coast News-all airings unaffected.

Today-unknown at this time

A Current Affair-delayed by 1 hour in Brisbane and on Imparja, 1 & 1/2 hours on WIN.

Nine Early Morning News-unknown at this time

Nine Morning News-delayed by 1 hour.

Nine's 4:30 News-delayed by 1 hour. NOTE-only airs on WIN and Imparja, may air in Brisbane during summer non-ratings.

Late night national updates-delayed by 1 hour.

Susie [WIN only, in lieu of The View]-unknown at this time.

NRL Grand Final-Live at 4pm on Sunday 5th October.

Rugby League World Cup-unknown at this time.

Cricket coverage-Unknown.


Ten Brisbane/Southern Cross Ten-Queensland

Ten News Brisbane/Brisbane produced updates-unaffected.

Southern Cross produced updates/programming-unknown

National updates, Ten Late News, Ten Early News, weekend bulletins-delayed 1 hour unless breaking news.

Meet the Press-unknown

Australian Idol-delayed 1 hour, Votes close 6pm Mondays, for Bottom 3 voting details go to http://www.australianidol.com.au/voting.html after 6:30pm Brisbane time.

Rove-delayed 1 hour

Sport-depends on where it is held.

Ten HD (Brisbane/Gold Coast only)-mostly unaffected.

Super Bowl XLIII (on Ten and Ten HD)-unknown at this time

Sydney NYE-delayed 1 hour.

Note for Gold Coast viewers: I have not listed NBN,Prime or Southern Cross Ten-Northern NSW. These three stations have different schedules than the Brisbane metro stations and are based mainly on Sydney (with delayed Sydney news bulletins or in the case of NBN a hourlong Newcastle produced bulletin). Consult a TV guide for more information.

The Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society.

Seven... We Brisbane viewers are losing patience.
In fact, so are our friends over at www.wicketywak.com .

In a recent comment on my blog about the Love You branding, the people who run the Wickety Wak website, have told me that Seven has ignored Wickety Wak's requests for masters of their material, and have also rejected plans for a Sunday flashback, to commemorate the work that the band did for Seven Brisbane in the 1980's as the band is retiring at the end of 2008.

It is now time to kick this up a notch.
Remember the stars that were made at 7 Brisbane in it's near 50 years of operation? The late Brian Tait, David "Fordo" Fordham, Boris The Black Knight, the late Tony Gordon, Agro, Crikey The Clown and many, many others.
Seven will get the message somehow.

Youtube account holders, join the Love You Brisbane Appreciation Society Youtube group at http://au.youtube.com/group/luvyabnefanclub .

Use the spirit of 7's appalling Olympic coverage as a guide!

More information (possibly a Facebook prescence) in the weeks to come.
Love You Brisbane!

ten-9-08 (part 2) The lighter side of TVQ's life story- The "inevitable" blooper reel.

By now, you have seen the Darling Downs story, from their shock buy in 1987 to aggregation in 1991, but now here is a story of a different kind. TVQ-0/10 has had many great moments, Expo 88 being the pinnacle. But what happens, when the camera's rolling and you flub your line... or your on a commercial break and the camera's still rolling... These end up either on the cutting room floor, or in the case of some of the following, end up on the station's Christmas tape to laugh at during the station's annual Christmas party. But there has been rare occasions where the blooper comes through to viewers... Sit back and enjoy the weird moments when the stars didn't get it right the first time.

Blooper #1-Jackie Mac and a dog who can't get enough of Jackie's chicken friend from 1980. Note- This actually went to air!



Blooper(s) #2-A collection of Ten Network bloopers, including a decent helping from Ray Wilkie, Geoff Mullins and David Fordham.



Blooper #3- 1991 T-E-N, That's Entertainment promo- the TVQ remix...



Blooper #4- David Fordham and a promo which never made it to air from 1991!



Blooper #5-Geoff Mullins, Sir Joh, somebody stealing Chinese food (and Geoff's interpratation of the incident) all to the LA Law theme and Ray Wilkie again flubbing weather, from 1991.



Blooper #6-The most well known blooper from TVQ, because it actually went to air and was repeated endlessly, the commercial break finished early, and we end up hearing Marie-Louise Theile's thoughts from the year 2000...




And the apology that followed...




Credits go to the (proud) uploaders.
(Note: I have whited out the reference to Part 1. It is undergoing a major rewrite at this time and will be posted in the future.)

ten-9-08 Flashback-The 1988 Seoul Olympics...

As we countdown to September 10, I thought it would be novel to go back in time... to the event (other than the Expo 88 closing ceremony) that was the biggest selling point for Brisbane residents in 1988 to "come across to Ten", the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Because Brisbane moved from 0 to 10, for the first time Network Ten could provide proper national promotion of programs, i.e promos didn't need changing for TV0 or completely new promos be produced for the Brisbane market. But it also meant that they could drop the "Eyewitness" from their news brand as all five metro stations (4 O&O, and the Ten affiliate in Brisbane) were on the same channel. Network Ten picked up the rights for Seoul in the early 1980's, as part of a deal which saw Ten screen the 1984 LA Olympics via satellite. But in 1988, Seoul was only a hour behind Sydney allowing live broadcasts as they happened (at a reasonable time) for the first time (as the previous two Olympics close to our timezone, Melbourne in 1956 and Tokyo in 1964 either had the disadvantage of no national coverage (in 1956) or no satellite links (in 1964).) We are very fortunate to have had two Olympics since Seoul, Sydney in 2000 and the recently completed Beijing games in 2008 that have not cost Aussies precious sleep.

As this blog is short, we will be using embedded videos rather than links to them.

Promo- "The World Is Coming To Seoul"

12/9/88-Week to go, a promo featuring Ten's Olympic commentators and a movie preview for the week ending with a Olympics promo.

17/9/88-A opening to remember, and the "Eyewitness" is dropped in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth to become "Ten News" (Brisbane kept the "Eyewitness" brand due to their commitment to Expo 88. The night after the Expo closing ceremony, Brisbane dropped the "Eyewitness" to come into line with the O&O's.)

Ten's Olympic schedule allowed room for their two nighttime hits, Perfect Match and Neighbours to continue unabated (unlike Seven's in 2008 which put Deal or No Deal and Home and Away on hiatus during the Olympics, while Today Tonight aired live from Beijing)
Credits go to aussiebeachut at Youtube!

Expo. Brisbane Style. Part 3- "I've been to the River Stage too..."

(if you have missed Part 1, Click Here!) (If you have missed Part 2, Click Here)

In case you have not been following along, I said "hopefully" on May 6 for a part three. Two things have happened to make this possible, first has been the establishment (not by me but by a another Brisbane resident) of a Expo 88 Youtube channel with snippets of the Closing Ceremony, as well as descriptions of life on the Expo site. This channel will eventually also go in depth about the rebirth of South Brisbane post Expo as South Bank Parklands. But the channel is a world to itself so check it out! The second thing is the increase of concert clips from Expo on Youtube, in particular from the main concert venue, the River Stage. Then I realised, could the River Stage concerts be effectively part three instead of a standalone segment? Yes it could.

Part 3- "I've been to the River Stage too"

3.1-River Stage specifics

Most people know the term "River Stage" in Brisbane these days for the stage in the City Botanic Gardens (which hosts concerts too), but twenty years years ago The River Stage was a "floating" stage in front of the Queensland,Universal Telecasters(i.e TVQ-0/10's Eyewitness News studio inside the Queensland Pavillion) and Australian Pavillions which could seat 10,000. This capacity was often overtopped by people standing for popular concerts like John Farnham, John Denver, "Brisbane's Band" Wickety Wak and Aussie folk band Redgum. At the heart of the facility was a tower sponsored by FM-104, Brisbane's (then) only commercial FM station (the station is today part of Austereo's Triple M network and the "FM104 RockTower" stands at the gateway to the Stradbroke Island ferry network at Cleveland harbour, 20 km from the Expo site.)

This venue also hosted the opening ceremony by the Queen and the teary closing ceremony with the legendary 1960's Australian performers, The Seekers performing "The Carnival Is Over" to close the exposition...

3.2-River Stage Concerts

The first concert we will bring you is a flashback to the Expo host broadcaster's corporate day on May 6, with the Ten Network's present for Universal Telecasters corporate day being "a live concert of Ten's Young Talent Team from Young Talent Time" on the Corporate Day and a live broadcast of YTT on the Saturday night. We bring you the Young Talent Team, with a focus on Australia's Got Talent judge, and Kylie's younger sister, Dannii Minogue.

Dannii and Natalie Miller duet on the River Stage-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=e65biJM7GMM

Dannii and Vinnie del Tito duet "Time of My Life"-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ht1j1b7zf0w

The Young Talent Team doing some team performances-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=g6IEclrhbGg

Dannii performing solo-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EVy49tsLSkM

Now we fast forward to June 22, with Australian band Redgum taking centre stage...

Running with the Hurricane-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DU9RzDUJ2Dc

Spirit of the Land-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=kFIgEIvnL-E

Diamantina Drover-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=icrI8tHZWFc

And before we get to the final Redgum song, which is "I've been to Bali too!" was not only was lampooned by FM104 as "I've been to Expo" but it represents a innocent time before the masses of security after 9/11, where Bali was thought of as a safe hideaway from the worlds troubles by Australians.

I've Been To Bali Too-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=iuvP8vuHB2Y

The Australian National Day at Expo culminated in what else but a two day concert series featuring Aussie band, The Divinyls (which is featured here) and Joe Cammilleri and The Black Sorrows (which did a encore performance at the 20th anniversary celebrations on May 10 this year)

The Divinyls-Pleasure and Pain/Only Lonely-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=37fQV0DsB9E

The next part?

Wait and see. Brisbane's finest hour may have more tales to tell.

What's coming up on the blog, soon!

Here is a rundown of what's coming up at "Kuttsywood's Couch"!

• I said it was coming on May 6, Part 3 of the Expo 88 Playlist which will be centered on the theme "on stage", the stage being some of the Expo River Stage's memorable concerts will be up sometime during the Olympics.
• Speaking of the Olympics, there will be a Olympic flashback to 1988 and Network Ten's promotion of it's coverage of the Seoul Olympics (incidently Ten's last Olympics coverage) and tieing in of a news brand change from Ten Eyewitness News to Ten News (which was changed back to Eyewitness News in July 1989) around Riverfire with a comparision to Seven's coverage of Beijing.
• On September 10, we have a tribute to 20 years of Ten, Brisbane Style and Toowoomba's Vision TV with a look at the rocky road for Darling Downs Television from the purchase of TVQ-0 in 1987 from Qintex to the 1990 10/9 affiliation war that cost DDQ (with it's Central Queensland partner RTQ in Rockhampton) the Ten Network affiliation (as Star Television) in favor of Nine Network affiliation (under the same brand as owners of both stations, Wollongong based WIN Television) and also a look at the lighter side of 20 years of Ten in Brisbane.

More will be coming your way soon, so stay tuned...

"This bridge be nameless says I"

Today, the Department of Public Works here in Queensland has announced a public naming competition for our newest footbridge over the Brisbane River which will be finished in 2009. I have gone to the effort of naming some suggestions

Ian Skippen Bridge.
Named after the notable Brisbane TV and radio personality, this would be the ultimate honour for a man who is as Brisbane as the Story Bridge.

"Come Across" Bridge
Named for the slogan Ten used to drive people to change their TV's in mid 1988 from Channel 0 to Channel Ten in preparation for the switchover in September that year.

Bruce Paige Bridge
Named for the Channel Nine newsreader, and more specificely Nine Brisbane's fiftieth in 2009 Paige and his newsreading skill are a Brisbane institution.

and finally,
"Love You Brisbane" Bridge
Named for the slogan that Channel 7 used in Brisbane from 1982 to 1987, this commemorates Seven Brisbane's fiftieth in 2009, and the slogan is fondly remembered by Brisbane residents to this day.

Leave a comment if you have any more suggestions.

TV0 Memories...

"After 23 years TV0 becomes part of history, we shared a lot of memories and a lot of great moments. As we farewell TV0, we launch our brand new Brisbane Ten with new power and new goals. We want you to be part of a exciting new time in Brisbane television. Brisbane Ten , part of Network Ten, welcomes you to a brand new era. Our launch into the future includes the highlight of television in the world this year, the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Join us now as we turn to Brisbane Ten." Rob Readings (TV0/Ten Eyewitness News lead male Brisbane newsreader 1988) the last voice ever heard on Channel 0 in Brisbane, September 10 1988



And thats how a era ended in September 1988. What would be peoples memories of Brisbane's third commercial station, pre 1988? If Network Ten has their way, Brisbane viewers would just get a rehash of Sydney and Melbourne's 50th special in 2015 just like Seriously 40 in 2005? Just because we may be a bit laid back here in Queensland doesn't mean that our television legacy is ignored. I see promos on Nine flagging Queensland made children's program, The Shak in recent Brisbane-only promos as much as part of Queensland as, the Broncos, Lions and Titans. As much as part of Queensland as the sun, surf and sand. Yet Ten produces most of it's childrens programs in Queensland and they are scarsely promoted as "Queensland made".



Which brings me back to September 10,2008 which is a very special date for Network Ten in Queensland, being that on that date 20 years ago, Ten in Brisbane was first broadcast on VHF channel 10 (like it's brethren interstate) rather than VHF channel 0. Ten has to respect this date as one of major significance for the station, which not only proved that Brisbane could pull this off (as the last 0 to switch to 10, ATV in Melbourne in 1980, had a simulcast period, Brisbane did not- as the channel 0 frequency was being immediately reallocated to DDQ (who dropped the 10 so TVQ could move frequencies) in Toowoomba who rebranded themselves as Vision TV.) as well as being done during Expo with the masses of national and international media in Brisbane watching, none the less and was the second big sign (the first big sign was Expo itself) to the naysayers down south, that Brisbane meant business.

Expo. Brisbane Style- Part 2 A Worldly View.

(if you have missed Part 1, Click Here!)
This is Part 2 of the Playlist which will be actually divided in to three "mini parts". The first is "Expo through The World's Eyes" which talks about the international media and Expo (and gives you a look at what Australia is through the eyes of a Alaskan news crew which has never been to Australia, who came down to Expo for Alaska's "National Day") The second mini-part is "Expo Memories- Advertising, Pavilions and World Expo Park" The third mini-part is "Expo Remembered- Retrospectives on the Exposition" But lets start first with Alaska's contribution.

Part 2.1- Expo Through The World's Eyes.

World Expo 88 was a televisual spectacle just as much as it was a spectacle to visitors. This event showcased to Australians new television technology (in this case Japan offered the Australian debut of HDTV) which has become part of our lives in the 21st century. 800 million people were estimated to have watched the opening ceremony on April 30 1988. Australia showed the world that we could host large groups of overseas media, some for the entire six months of Expo and some for the "national days" in which we would prove again twelve years later in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics. On September 20 1988 it was Alaska's turn for its national day.
Alaska Day Special opener-> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=nhQJDhKTwkU
Alaska Day Part 1 ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ivE0SJqWWfQ
Alaska Day Part 2 ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KCVUt_iB_Ug
Alaska Day Part 3 ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EyEqqX2Kgjo

Part 2.2-Expo Memories-Advertising,Pavilions and World Expo Park.

One of the official sponsors of Expo 88 was Fuji Film (which brought to Expo a state of the art photo studio for processing 1 hour photos). They ran a competition in early 1988 with a trip to Expo as first prize. Fuji Film Expo commercial ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DziHYHgi04A

Another Expo memory was the British Pavilion, which had a live show performing some hits from cockney musicals from London's West End, in particular, Me and My Girl.
British Pavilion Show -> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=seeo_ITfllo
Lambeth Walk from same show ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=gWzw6gCjPng

The USA Pavilion had a gymnastics team flown in (to go with the Expo's theme "Leisure In the Age Of Technology") , this is a trial performance before they left for Brisbane on the "The Bozo Show" (a childrens program) in Chicago, Illinois.
Illinois World Expo Gymnastics Team on "The Bozo Show" -> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4BnqmfBTUs8

Finally, World Expo Park was the Expo's theme park which had three rollercoasters and was intended to be a permanant attraction, but World Expo Park shut down in late 1989 with Centrifuge (a suspended coaster) and Supernova (a indoor coaster) being sold overseas and Titan stayed in the country for 15 years longer. Titan was a Vekoma boomerang coaster (meaning that it goes up and through the inversions and the station twice before stopping and it was not a complete track), Titan was eventually sold to Australia's Wonderland in Sydney and in 1992 was reborn as "The Demon". As the Demon it stayed in Sydney until 2004, when it was moved after Wonderland shut down to Alabama in the US and was re-christened, "Zoomerang".
Titan/The Demon/Zoomerang computer-generated onride footage
->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=FguBAfvEswU

Part 2.3 Expo Remembered-Retrospectives of the Exposition

Expo 88 will be remembered for so many reasons, whether it was the fun, the monorail, the free concerts, the pavilions or even the infamous Bavarian "pavilion". The first retrospective came just a year later from QTQ-9, during it's 30th birthday celebrations as part of a segment on Brisbane events.
QTQ 30th Birthday Brisbane Events segment 16/8/1989 -> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=b2F9mlz5grQ

Quest Newspapers put together this photo montage for the 20th anniversary which is very relevant.

Thank you to the various Youtube uploaders of this footage, hopefully we may get some more for (hopefully) a Part 3!

Expo. Brisbane Style- Part 1 TVQ-0/10 and Expo 88.

Ensemble We'll Être visible Les Mondial!-Together We'll Show The World! The promotional slogan for the only world exposition in Australia during the 20th Century in the two official languages (French and English) of the BIE-Paris (the governing body of world expositions).
If you understood what I said, I was referring to the event which brought Brisbane on to the world stage, World Expo 88.

As today is the twentieth anniversary of the Corporate Day for host broadcaster, TVQ-0 (now TVQ-10) I am presenting a visual record of the exposition from the host broadcaster as Part 1, and some video memories of various Expo participants, overseas media, and something you could not do in 1988, a computer generated on-ride video of one of the rides at World Expo Park as Part 2. Lets start the blog with the host broadcaster- TVQ-0/10

Part 1- TVQ and Expo, Hosting the World.

1987 was a year of great change in the Queensland media. The official Expo newspaper, The Courier Mail, became part of the News Limited newspaper stable when the Herald and Weekly Times group which owned amongst other things Channel 7 Melbourne and Queensland Newspapers, was sold to Rupert Murdoch, what would become the official Expo radio broadcaster FM104 (now Triple M Brisbane) was sold to the owners of TVQ-0, Universal Telecasters a division of Christopher Skase's Qintex and TVQ-0 itself would be sold to Darling Downs Television in Toowoomba (the first and only time to date that a TV station in the "big 3" east coast markets was owned by a regional TV operator.) TVQ had announced its involvement subtly by adding the Expo logo to bumpers and ID's like below

But by the time the start of the 1988 ratings season rolled around, TVQ launched a new campaign "My Town"

Another My Town ID -> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=sSdW93LC5gM
The station even moved its 6pm news to the Expo site and let people be "eyewitnesses to Eyewitness News"


Story on the RAAF Mirage Fighter->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6Ul4CoKSM
But all things come to a end eventually, so on September 10 1988, TVQ-0 became TVQ-10 when Network Ten Brisbane switched channels with Darling Downs Television in Toowoomba.
Advertisement for TVQ switch-> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2wXRteTSPzA
The actual switch->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2W0azFijCrs

Next-Part 2 A Worldly View

Countdown to the Expo 88 Youtube Playlist reveal has now begun.

The Youtube playlist I have been working on since December concerning the Expo 88 20th anniversary will be revealed on the 20th anniversary of the Corporate Day for the host broadcaster TVQ-0 on May 6 (which was offically called Universal Telecasters [then parent of TVQ-0]Corporate Day.) There will be a countdown up here soon. Here is just a snippet of what to expect...

Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com

What to do with an old university campus?

In today's Courier Mail it was stated that QUT's Carseldine Campus may close, with students and staff being moved to the other main campuses at Gardens Point (on the southern edge of Brisbane's CBD) and at Kelvin Grove (five minutes from the Brisbane CBD). With the 45 hectare campus on Brisbane's northern suburbs going to be vacant soon I thought I would give some of my suggestions.

• A large scale water park (by world standards, as the largest in Australia at this time is around 15 hectares, and the largest in America is around 30 hectares.) The site is a lot more accessible than the "big two" on the Gold Coast as the North Coast rail line runs along the eastern boundary and Carseldine railway station/bus interchange is a short walk away.
• A office park (similar to Springwood on Brisbane's southside), transport is not the issue, but a "mini Norwest" (Norwest is a business park in the fast growing northwestern suburbs of Sydney.) could emerge from this.
• Offer the site to the universities based on the Gold and Sunshine Coast for a Brisbane campus. This option would be more aimed at Bond University (based at Robina on the Gold Coast) rather than Sunshine Coast University (which is based on the Sunshine Coast).
• And finally, create a new university similar to UWS (University of Western Sydney in Sydney, New South Wales) which would be the Northside's equivalent to Griffith University

These are some of my suggestions, feel free to add your own!

Save A Brisbane Icon-The Regent Theatre

Thirty years ago a icon stood. The "old" Regent on Queen Street. A single theatre was inside. Cinemas, theatres, picture palaces call them what you will they all have a sense of granduar. But in 1978 the first fight occurred. People marching, waving placards, blowing trumpets trying valiantly to save The Regent. The people lost and won. They lost the gigantic picture palace for four smaller cinemas but the entry was retained for heritage reasons. But now a second fight must begin. The children of those who protested the original Regent demolition, now have their own Regent to save. The spirit of "the old Brisbane, the big country town" should re-awaken in the eyes of a new generation. Brisbane is in danger of losing "itself" in a sea of southern influence. Stand up and tell people that if we take away our icons, Brisbane will not have it's own identity. If we lose our identity we will never gain it back. Brisbane, It's time to Save The Regent one more time. We are ready to fight like it is 1978 once again.

For more information go to www.savetheregent.com

Bringing Back Love You Brisbane......

One of the most popular Australian TV idents on Youtube is an little promo originally produced in 1983 which aired in one market only. Love You Brisbane is that ident and it has had multiple variations produced for Seven affiliates in Perth and Regional Queensland and for Channel Eight in Darwin (today owned by PBL and screens Nine Network programming).

But 7 have recently brought back one of the variations, which was originally produced for 7 affiliate Sunshine Television (now owned by Seven as Seven Queensland) at the start of aggregation in Queensland in the early 1990's. That variation was called Love You Queensland. When Love You Queensland was originally shown in 1992 it was more regional Queensland specific.

But when it was revived to spearhead 7 in 2007 it not only aired in regional Queensland but in the capital, Brisbane as well. Thats when the first Love You Brisbane promos (which featured well known singer Kim Durant) from twenty five years earlier started to appear on Youtube. and people started comparing the original 1982-83 promos with the revived version, a lot of people (especially those who grew up with the promo in the 80's) preferred the original over Love You Queensland 2007 style. When six months later the Sunshine Television version of Love You Queensland from 1992 appeared on Youtube, the same comparisons were made.

Seven, listen to this blogger. Bring back Love You Brisbane before people switch to Nine and its myriad of local personalities (who still go out to shopping centre openings and local events to MC, who still sponsor local events like the EKKA and Queensland Day, who still produce innovative programming with Brisbane produced childrens program The Shak airing in various countries,and Nine in Brisbane still produce the best local television in Australia.)

When I was ten years old in 1999, Seven was still knowing how Brisbane ticked (they even showed the Brisbane millenium fireworks). But Nine was catching up thanks to Brisbane Extra.
Now Nine is the one in local programming.
Bring back the slogan old and bold, Seven.
Seven should start to "Love You Brisbane" again. Before it is too late......

Below are some links to the promos-Credits go to the uploaders of these promos as they trace the 25 year history of the "Love You" branding.
Love You Brisbane-1982 original promo-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wZuet58-DFw
Love You Brisbane-1983 launch-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DppbJwxOoYk
Love You Brisbane-1983 Kim Durant solo-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1rRQxpyQ2X0
Love You Brisbane-1985 featuring Wickety Wak-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAfwdqP2_Q
Love You Perth-1985 Kim Durant solo-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=NJOqD0EbGG8
Love You Darwin-1988-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4AiBqTMZY8w
Love You Queensland-1992 Kim Durant solo-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKZ0eVgOpco
Love You Queensland-2007 60 sec version-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=inNC5rfc2eY
Love You Queensland-2007 30 sec version-http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=0OxPMbD1ZM4

My first post...

I thought that now would be the right time to setup a proper blog, as this is New Years Day and this year my New Year's Resolution is to be more blog-friendly. Some more features will be coming up soon. Stay Tuned In.