The Big Switch.

Social media hashtag is #thebigswitch.

So, July 1 is approaching. The biggest affiliation shuffle in Australian history, is about to take place, with Southern Cross moving from Ten Network programming, in three aggregated markets (along with three joint ventures that previously carried Ten), to Nine Network programming and Win moving from Nine Network programming in three aggregated markets + some others to Ten Network programming. This is simply, a switch of programming, not channels, but will come with it’s own problems which we will get into, in a bit. However, the Southern Cross/Win change for QLD, at least, isn’t the first time a “shuffle” has happened.

Shaking Up The Dial

The hashtag is #shakingupthedial

Dedicated to Hec Lindsay (the art director that created the TV0 logo in 1983, we have very few details on Hec unfortunately: let us know at the Lost TVQ Facebook page, if you do have any information at all) and David Jull TVQ's first face, (1944-2011)

This post is a journey. A long journey. It starts in the early 1960’s less than three years after television was introduced to QLD, and culminates in the lead-up to Expo 88. Welcome to the conclusion: for now, of what we started on September 10 2013. We moved up the dial then, now it’s time to see how it was shaken up, at the very beginning of the 50^th year for TVQ and the national 50^th celebrations… On behalf of this site, and Lost TVQ on Facebook: this is Shaking Up The Dial.

Moving Up The Dial

Dedicated to Mike Lattin, former publicist, and station manager at TVQ who passed away in July 2012, and Peter Clark, TVQ helicopter pilot, who passed away in a tragic helicopter accident on Mt Coot-tha in August 1998.

Welcome to a fantastic look, at the last 25 years of TVQ being on Channel 10. As we move towards the fiftieth birthday of TVQ-0/10 in July 2015, this is the first part of a two-part series. As with all tales, it has a magnificent beginning: just as the media landscape in Australia was changing.

50 Great QLD TV Moments: in Analogue

This post has been nearly six months in the making. Today we celebrate the end of a analogue era: one that has been full of it's ups and downs, and technological changes. This is simply...

This countdown, has been widely sourced: and is a look back down memory lane, for those who can remember the change to colour, or QLD's Commonwealth Games win just two years ago. This is a countdown that is as historic as it is lengthy. This will easily be the longest post you've ever read on this site, but it has to be long to do it justice.
We now begin the countdown, at #50: when how we got interstate and international news in QLD changed forever, with one major event, 35 years ago.

Ten-demonium

The Twitter hashtag for this post is #tendemonium.
This site often asks the hard questions. Now here's one that could have titanic shifts in the Australian media, and could possibly spark a rash of changes throughout the television industry. What would happen if the Ten situation got worse, and what is the remedy? It's this question that is now simply a case of Ten-demonium... It's the Ten-demonium that could see the Ten we all know head towards another 1990-style situation: when the network underwent costcuts but couldn't prevent it going into recievership. But it is a tale that has taken many turns, especially as Ten's demographics keep changing, all while their bread and butter for so many years, the youth: are increasingly turning to the internet first. This Is...

The 2012 Vision: the explanation...

Happy new year, and welcome to our 4th birthday, at Kuttsywood's Couch. The gift? The return of a regular longform blogging series, for the first time in two years, starting in February, called: "The 2012 Vision". What is "The 2012 Vision", you may ask: read on, to see the upcoming highlights (our preview reel if you will) for the beginning of 2012...

The ten moments that shaped a station: TVQ 0-10 45th.

Memories, that define a station's legacy... Ten in Brisbane has had many moments, in the last 45 years, but culling them to a fine list of 10 was hard. Included in this, are some happy, some sad moments, and some moments that live in the psyche, for years to come: This is a record, of what Ten should be remembering on July 1 2010, to set a course, to be Brisbane's voice.

Save QLD TV... for the future.

What I am about to say may stun Brisbane viewers.


In the eyes of Sydney executives, Brisbane TV production is a commodity, that can be bought and sold at a whim. Cheap to produce, cheap to run, all while our industry is dying, not by the fist of viewers, but by bean counters, and those who favour centralisation of production back to Sydney/Melbourne.


What are we going to do, when there is no pathway, for which tomorrow's Kerri-Anne or Jackie McDonald to tread in our home town, let alone our great state but instead being repeatedly told by a guy at a desk, that the best way to get a foot in the door in TV, is to live in Sydney or even live in Melbourne and be where the action is. This also runs rings around our film industry, which has to compete with Sydney and Melbourne for shoots, and film and TV studio space, which Brisbane lacks, general studios for television production (i.e not controlled by 7, 9 or 10), but has a abundance for film production just sixty minutes down the highway.

TVQ-0/10 45th... What should occur.

We are, less than a day away from 2010. Brisbane TV's fiftieth, was a glittering event, even though it was let down a little bit by the Extra axing, but it has invoked a new spirit in Brisbane viewers, to look for what's different, for it is this search, that has caused Deal Or No Deal to bottom out.

But there was another group of people, who were also watching these good events with interest. The R.A.T.S. (Radio and Television Survivors, a group of former Brisbane TV and radio personalities) were at some of the fiftieth events put on by 7 and 9, and recently, there was a reunion function for some TVQ-0/10 staff at a notable Brisbane hotel, which got me wondering...

Should Ten have a local 45th special, in July 2010?

Kuttsywood's Couch's 10 defining Queensland TV moments of the 00's

Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana from "The Life of Reason" published in 1905.

As we exit this decade, this blog aims to present the 10 defining moments of the last decade (a first of a series leading to the end of 09... and the beginning of the tenn's), in the Queensland industry, that one way or another is following that saying, possibly many southerners who have moved up here (and some locals too) are to learn from in order for the saying not to become a self-fullfiling prophecy for our industry. I must also inform you of my favorite paraphrase of this saying...

Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors, are destined to repeat them.

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part 12-The future: Where will we be in fifteen years time...

As we march to the conclusion of the 50 Years of Brisbane TV series, I thought it would be timely, to end it with a look into the future. After all, the book that detailed the first twenty-five years of the Brisbane industry, On Air, 25 Years Of TV in Queensland, ended with a similar look entitled "The Sky is The Limit", by former Pick A Box champion and Labor politician, Barry Jones. In that look, it predicted things like interactive television, cable TV's emergence, early predictions of digital television, even DVD recorders. People back then, couldn't imagine what the next twenty-five years of technological advances would have turned out, from the early days of the internet, to Web 2.0's massive growth in the late 2000's, they would have still thought of a "Jetsons" future for the 2000's, with flying cars, tube elevators and robot maids back then. But now, as we close the book on Q150, we look forward, to another big celebration, which will bring the state together, fifteen years from now.

Note: This post is a theoretical prediction of the future, and may not represent a true picture of the future.

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part 11-Brisbane's Own: Fifty Years of Channel 7 Brisbane

Dedicated to Tony Gordon 1955-2001.

If one, is to realise the genesis of the Brisbane TV industry and it's "downfall" in recent years, you must take a look at both sides of the commercial coin. Nine may have done some things wrong, but Seven's turkeys are usually singled out. Why singled out? Simply, because of the legacy the station built, from day one as being the creative force in Brisbane's industry.

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part 10-The curtain rises: Brisbane TV Variety

Dedicated to the fallen stars of Brisbane TV variety, in particular: George Wallace Jr (1918-1968), Brian Tait (1927-2007) and Paul Sharratt (1933-2009).

Welcome to another great instalment of 50 Years of Brisbane TV. This month, we are focusing, on what was the lifeblood of our local content for nearly forty years, local variety television.

Local content & (Super) Saturday morning fun.

Seven... It's due.

I am personally fed up, with Seven and it's lack of action on local content.

Local content keeps Queenslanders in jobs, not pretaped advertorials, not 1/2hr long local events, not successful news, not successful programming.

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part 9-Kids TV and how it changed the Brisbane industry

Welcome to Part 9 of this blog series, This month, it's all about the kids.

Children's television, has literally been a part of the patchwork quilt of Brisbane telly, since day two of television. That's right day two, August 17, 1959 when "The Channel Niner's" debuted.

50 years of Brisbane TV: Part 8-Still The One: 50 Years of Brisbane's Channel 9

The wait is over... A golden anniversary is being marked. Welcome to Part 8...

The genesis: TV is coming to Brisbane, a case of when, not if.

When television began in this country nearly fifty-three years ago, it was a purely Sydney-Melbourne medium. Brisbane waited it's turn, until 1958, when the first two licences in Queensland were up for bids (alongside two in Adelaide, what became NWS-9 and ADS-7, later ADS-10 and one in Perth, TVW-7). Of these prized Brisbane commercial TV licences, one was sold to Queensland Television Limited, (what became QTQ-9) and the other to Brisbane TV Limited (which became BTQ-7), and the planning began...

50 Years Of Brisbane TV-The fifty icons of Brisbane TV

It's time to blow out some birthday candles, But that's tomorrow. Welcome to the 50 Years Of Brisbane TV "Super Saturday" where we honour the greats of our industry, and look back on those decisions that define our city's industry. We'll give a promo treat, and some programs that we loved from our home town. And of course, those "Only In Brisbane" moments! The idea for the top 50 (originally a top 20), came from the recent Q150 Icons poll, except, ours was personally selected by this blog's sole editor, Kuttsywood. We start now with the ten greatest personalities from Brisbane, over the last fifty years:

Becoming 10 TV Australia: 20 Years On.

Where were you, on July 23 1989?

You were most likely sitting down, to watch National Nine News over dinner, then flick over to see something on 7 or 10 (Disney or in league mad states, the replay of that Sunday's afternoon game as Ten had shared TV rights back then), then watch either 60 Minutes on 9 or The Comedy Company on 10. Those who chose the lighter option noticed a "new Ten", something that had been promoted for weeks on TV and with full page ads in Sunday newspapers, As the slogan stated... "Something's Going On Around Here..." and then the ID played, and a new era had begun, which eventually led Ten to recievership just over a year later, and ratings hell all at the same time.