Content Survey Live 2021: Back in the Saddle Again.

Welcome to the beginning, of the biggest event in our site’s history. They said, it couldn’t be done.

Veritas on KW, presents the launch of the 2021 edition of Content. Survey. Live.

Vale: Frank Warrick OAM

 

"Have you seen Frank today?"
That line, was used by Nine at one point during the two years Frank Warrick spent there in the 1980s, as both a weeknight co-anchor for Don Seccombe, and a solo act at 6pm, once Don moved to weekends in early 1985.

Yet, it is poignant to say it, in the wake of Frank Warrick's passing on May 11, because a big slice of our visual memories here in Queensland of the late 1970's and 1980's is wrapped up in live crosses, news bulletins, major events, that somehow develop into a visual patchwork quilt: that is also Frank's life in front of the camera.

The beginning:

Photo (from Toowoomba, Remember When on Facebook)

Frank's media career began in radio in the 1960's, with a notable focus on his run in Toowoomba where he rose from young talent, to station management at 4GR (Queensland's oldest provincial station, today a SCA-owned station emulating Triple M: in the 60's, top 40 was 4GR's bread and butter), before coming to Brisbane, but one stunt that Frank did in his formative years at 4GR stands out as the greatest forerunner to his future. Frank did a impressive 4 days straight (nearly 100hrs consecutively) presenting radio in the mid 60's, setting a world record, long since broken.

Frank's Life in Television

The arrival of Frank Warrick to television news from radio, came just as simplified live crosses first came into vogue (thanks to the arrival of electronic news gathering) and what we watched as a news bulletin began to change (from newsreaders reading stories over film, to packaged reporting, while overseas and interstate stories were still being raced up Mt Coot-tha from the old Brisbane Airport), in 1976/77. Frank earned his reputation, in the late 70's as a live reporter: most significantly the Right to March demonstrations in Brisbane's heart in September 1977, before being given the anchors chair (with some reporting) alongside Mike Higgins as the eighties dawned.

(1980 promo for 7's 6-7:30 lineup, from SLQ microfiche)

Warrick and Higgins, the first time around, slowly built a following, as BTQ's news began it's ascent up the ratings ladder, after events such as the Moreton Bay rescue in May 1980 (that won national awards and overseas airing) and the arrival of Glenn Taylor from Nine's Today Tonight to start State Affair not long afterward, all culminating in a significant moment: where Seven's news overtook Nine's news (led by the late Don Seccombe) in Brisbane in 1982, which ultimately led to Queensland regional stations switching their national news relay to Seven from Nine, beginning with DDQ in Toowoomba (who had taken QTQ's news since it's establishment in 1962) in February 1983.

DDQ news switch promo, 1983 from SLQ microfiche.

However: in the gap between when Seven got DDQ and the rest of Queensland (which happened straight after the 1983 federal election in March), Frank Warrick was lured to Nine, and wouldn't debut with his new employer until May of that year.

The ad that signalled the start of the Warrick/Seccombe partnership at Nine in May 1983 from SLQ microfiche

1983 promo for Don/Frank (from Australian TV Fan on Youtube)

The Warrick/Seccombe era of news at QTQ may not have been getting ratings diaries changing in Brisbane homes but one significant event would spark Frank's love of a good doco (something he'd really invest in, come the 1990's). The 1984 QTQ-produced documentary, "A Flood of Memories", a hourlong special concerning the flood of 1974, with both Don and Frank, is a great reminder of a event just 10yrs distant in peoples minds, which also set a very high bar, for people in the future to duplicate.

My favorite line in that doco is one we unknowingly ignored: with Frank, at Wivenhoe Dam's (then) construction site.

"This is the Wivenhoe Dam, as it is today. Still unfinished, and still claimed by politicians to be the answer to our flood problems. The experts don't agree, we haven't learned to stop a disastrous flood."

Excerpt from A Flood of Memories, January 1984.

A Flood of Memories, 1984: from jmoulis on Youtube.

A new owner, for QTQ in 1985, one Alan Bond, led to very significant changes for the news product QTQ was putting out: most notably, splitting the Seccombe-Warrick duo, in favour of a solo weeknight product with Frank, and a solo weekend product with Don. Soon after, Today Tonight was pushed to late nights, and QTQ's news lead-out changed rapidly: first, it was Sale (moving to 6:30 from 7pm) and Daryl Somers's Blankety Blanks reboot, before ultimately moving Willesee to 6:30 in May prior to seeing Today Tonight end it's run in late June.

QTQ's newly rejigged 5:30-7pm lineup from pugsley2005 on Youtube

Various QTQ print advertisements:
"Face Value" early 1985,
"I like Nine" news/current affairs promotion, June 1985
from SLQ microfiche

Within weeks of TT's end however, Frank would be making news of his own.

On July 5, 1985: Frank handed in his notice to QTQ, and re-signed with BTQ (within hours of departing Nine: no gardening leave for Frank): now a emphatic #1 in Brisbane and Queensland, with the big reveal happening at a function at Brisbane's Sheraton above Central Station (now the Sofitel).

"Frank Likes, Um, 7" article Brisbane Daily Sun 6/7/1985

Seven promotional ads, Courier-Mail, July-August 1985
from SLQ microfiche.

The return of Frank to the news desk at Seven, would eventually guide Seven into a era without Mike Higgins, not before the first big story on his return, that proved that he had not lost a step working live.

July 26, 1985: Brisbane Airport. Frank's calm attitude towards a siege involving a hijacked Seaworld helicopter (hijacked over the Gold Coast by a father enraged over divorce proceedings, and somehow had his two children onboard, taken hostage), and a fuel truck (which if it had exploded would have had dramatic impacts on the old Brisbane Airport), that was in turn relayed to the nation, was gripping viewing, in a age where live crosses out of programming for such stories, let alone in daytime viewing hours and taken nationally were rare events. Ultimately, the hijacker gave himself up, literally as the 6pm news went to air.

1986-87 print promos for BTQ's news from SLQ microfiche.

Ultimately in 1987, Frank became the lead newsreader for BTQ's news, after the departure of Mike Higgins for a sojourn at TVQ in January of that year.

The launch night for BTQ's 1hr news: (from Australian TV Fan on Youtube)

The 1987-88 period, was a literal experiment period for 7 and Frank: first being 1hr news, with three at the desk (Frank alongside Nev Roberts and Donna Mekelejohn from April 1987), then back to 1/2hr in 1988 at 6:30pm alongside Simone Semmens (in the same newsroom that also gave a start in the news business to another SS initial, Sandra Sully)...

"The Complete Alternative" print promo, 18/1/1988 from SLQ microfiche.

First 6:30 news, 18/1/1988 (from Australian TV Fan on Youtube)

And, finally, back to 6pm before the end of Expo 88.

1988 Seven Nightly News, Brisbane commercial for 6pm change (from Vintage Ads and TV on Youtube)

However, none of these moves worked ratings wise, as Bruce Paige (brought to Nine when Frank left in 1985) finally led Nine back to the top in Brisbane television news, in 1987 and became a dominant #1 in 1988.

1989 however, dawned with a new hope. Kay McGrath, formerly of TVQ, had been at Seven for around twelve months: hosting a business news product alongside former QTQ TT host John Barton: TVAM, produced in Sydney. 1989 saw Kay come home, and sit in the weeknight chair alongside Frank Warrick.

That pairing, lasted throughout the 1990's, and into the 21st century, as innovations and milestones kept rolling on: beginning with Seven foregoing the weather presenter, and letting Frank present it himself (although some of the weather forecasts were written by some big names on their way up: Sarah Harris, Jillian Whiting just to name a few), the first live crosses out to Moreton Bay onboard new recruit Ken Brown's boat in 1989, Frank travelling overseas for major news (first occurring in 1986, with a trip to Lausanne, to cover Brisbane's 1992 Olympic bid decision), Kay McGrath's major milestone of 1992: returning after maternity leave.

While having a little fun at the same time:

(All three BTQ news promos 1992-96 from Dan Martin on Youtube)

Frank, in 1999 even got to ask some questions: as the host of the first season of 7's Million Dollar Chance of a Lifetime (in reality 7's response to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on Nine)

Episode of Million Dollar Chance of a Lifetime, 1999 (from For The Love Of Broadcast on Youtube)

(1999 BTQ news promo from Dan Martin on Youtube)

As the 20th century ended, Kay and Frank became the longest serving news presenting duo in Queensland: a beacon of stability in a decade where the competition changed presenters often, but all this was to come to a end, as the close of 2001 approached.

It all began with a piece in the Courier-Mail, in July 2001: which questioned Seven's news fortunes in SEQ, and posted a set of yearly news ratings percentages since 1996 (when Seven dropped Brisbane-produced Family Feud, and mucked around with Wheel of Fortune) which pointed to a major downward trend in weeknight news ratings for Frank and Kay: while local management made major attempts to correct it (the original BTQ Gold Coast news service, with Melissa Downes running from 1998-2000, a stripped out Great South East in summer 1999-2000, The "Follow The Flame" series, in June 2000 (which actually beat Extra for the two weeks it was on air) and ultimately, Local Edition: launched out of the Olympics but was gone by 2001's start): big news to common viewers in a era where widescale overnight ratings data wasn't made public as widely as today (e.g. no ratings data available for those outside the industry circle (i.e. television stations and television writers for publications like the Courier-Mail).

But before action happened, Frank and Kay, got to share one last big story together, in September 2001.

BTQ 9/11 coverage, 2001: from pugsley2005 on Youtube

Eventually, 7 acted on the Brisbane ratings issues: with Frank Warrick announcing his retirement at the very end of 2001 (amongst other wholesale changes to BTQ's news, inc. a new news director and Melissa Downes jumping ship to Nine, who is now (with Andrew Lofthouse) very close to eclipsing Frank and Kay's thirteen year weeknight partnership record.)

Just weeks before, his final bulletin, Frank hosted the Brisbane Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols at the River Stage. After a thank you, from then Lord Mayor, Jim Soorley, a unprecedented standing ovation followed suit from the 10,000 people in attendance that left many (including Warrick himself) speechless.

So, it was the 28th of December, 2001, Frank Warrick made the ultimate sendoff: off to retirement or so it seemed at the end.


(Frank Warrick BTQ farewell 28/12/2001 from Dan Martin on Youtube)

It took nearly a year, of travelling by Frank before we got a shock summer fill-in on Nine, which lasted a couple of years, but somehow left his number with the folks at QTQ.



(Frank's QTQ return, 21/12/2002 from Dan Martin on Youtube)

But, it was when QTQ's news was at it's lowest ratings ebb in 20 years (thanks to a now successful BTQ news with Kay McGrath and Rod Young, overtaking Nine for the first time since the eighties) in 2008, Nine thought it'd be novel to bring Frank Warrick back, albeit to do a weather presenting role, which sadly didn't even last twelve months: with the permanent replacement for Frank (after trials with Sami Lukis, even a summer Doug Murray comeback) Garry Youngberry still presenting the weather, until this day.

Frank then eased his way into retirement, before facing a five year dementia battle (a hard fight, for someone who had made his name as a communicator to the public: one he fought valiantly, privately until the very end) before passing away in the early hours of May 11, 2021.

For the love of a good doco.

Frank Warrick, in the 1990s took the Saturday night documentary series The World Around Us, (with a little help from BTQ's doco maestro, journalist Chris Adams) and turned it from a series that was just a wraparound for overseas documentary product, to one with several great local specials, every year. Seven hoped to keep this format going, once Frank left the newsdesk. It sadly, didn't happen.

Here's some of the best. This first one, is on the Gold Coast's history.

"Shadows on The Beach" 1992 (from ThingsNerdy on Youtube)

Brisbane: The Hidden City, was one of the rare specials that got rerun, due to it's popularity.
Frank actually joked in the intro to this rerun, that letters often came in asking for reruns: the response was usually... "no chance in the short term". 


"Brisbane: The Hidden City" 1992 (from TDXAV on Youtube)

Marking the 25th anniversary of the flood of 1974, Seven put together this great story, which culminated in the discovery of some 35mm colour film, thought lost, of Brisbane during the flood. The Gaehler films (shot by Eric Gaehler, who passed away in September 2015) are now important cultural properties of Queensland, and are stored at the Queensland State Library.
The V/O for this, isn't Frank (his intro from Suncorp pre-redevelopment is still stirring, nearly a quarter of a century on): but a young Ross Dagan prior to his stints running 10's news in Brisbane, Seven's news in Brisbane and ultimately 10's news nationally.

The impact The River's Rage had to Seven in Brisbane, is so noteworthy, that the pace of the intro for the 1999 doco, was utilized in the intro for next big Brisbane River flood doco Seven aired... right after the flood of January 2011.


"The River's Rage" 1999 (from FLEMISHDOG at archive.org)

Frank's community impact
You can't start talking about Frank Warrick's community impact without looking at Operation Eagle: a concept dreamed up, not by Frank: but by the late Gary Linaker, BTQ promo king of the 1980's. Quite simply, for over twenty years, Seven used their helicopter to deliver media education en-masse to thousands of Queensland students, through the idea that simply, "capture the minds of children, and you'll have the adults forever": that is, if the child recalled the news service who visited, the parent would in turn watch their news service.

The most famous example, was shown in Frank's farewell: where in 1999 (Operation Eagle's 20th birthday), Seven visited a Brisbane school that was visited in the early days of Operation Eagle. The school sprung a surprise: and brought together some former students who'd taken part when they were kids in 1979 with the class of 1999 and proceeded to cut a cake celebrating the milestone.

In addition, Frank was awarded a OAM in the 1994 Queens Birthday honours list, for service to the media, conservation and to the community, while post retirement for Seven, he became a spokesperson for Kratzmann Caravans at Burpengary, occasionally appearing in their commercials for half a decade.

A life, well lived, a career in both journalism and as a communicator that many could be proud of.

A career, where he gave back, to the next generation coming through in his later years, and watched them forge their own careers in retirement.

Francis "Frank" Michael Warrick, may your journey to the next life now be free of of pain, and suffering: the last five years may have been a struggle, but you are now in a better place.

Frank Warrick, may you rest in peace.
1944-2021.

Thanks to Peter Doherty at Seven for the following concerning the funeral plans for Frank Warrick: as he's been in contact with the Warrick family (through Frank's son, Scott) during this time.  

"Frank’s desire was for a family only send off.
His family will honour those wishes with a private ceremony."

2021: The Three Stream Dream.

Welcome, to our look at 2021. The title says a lot, but to warm you up for the announcements ahead: let's take a moment to remember that a significant milestone is approaching.

2011 Floods: a flood of memories.

On this day, ten years ago: the first signs of what would become the hardest period for the SE corner so far this century (outside the COVID-19 news story that has dominated almost the entire year of 2020) began. The events that led to the Lockyer Valley/Toowoomba flash flood tragedy on January 10, and the 2011 Brisbane/Ipswich flood that followed, will be guaranteed to be revisited by any news service worth their salt (whether it is print, online, radio or television) in the weeks to come.

As I said in mid-2018:

“We know, in 2021 there will indeed be a flood of memories: much like how 1984, and 1999 were for 1974: but one thing must be remembered. Brisbane is a city built on a floodplain. Flooding is a fact of life, you can try and tame it with dams and levees, but the threat still exists: and hopefully, when the next big flood happens: we hope that the lessons of 2011 have been learned by a river city which can end up in the river, once in a while.”

We know there will be limited attendance at services marking the milestone in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley due to COVID-19. It will be a fitting reminder for the families of those we lost ten years ago and for flood awareness in general in Queensland, if the following occurred on January 10, 2021.

- Quite simply: A minute’s silence, at 3pm (co-ordinated by radio and television stations).

In addition, there needs to be serious thoughts about Queensland making January 10 each year, a non-public holiday observance for flood and cyclone readiness (or should we say… resilience), akin to how Japan has commemorated the Great Kanto Earthquake on the 1st of September 1923 (which devastated the nation’s capital Tokyo: due to both the earthquake itself, and resulting fires), every year since 1960 as a national disaster awareness day on the 1st of September.

It is indeed fitting, that we in Queensland begin to observe January 10 as the Jordan Rice Day for Flood and Cyclone Resilience: named for 13 year old Jordan Rice, who made a brave decision to insist that his younger brother’s life was rescued over his own on January 10, 2011 in Toowoomba’s raging torrent.

Now, onto 2021.

The 13th annual Kuttsywood's Couch guide to DST delays.

 Welcome, to the 13th edition of this sites's annual DST guide.

This year, we are dealing with with a pandemic, with the potential to wreak havoc over all the things we hold so dear this summer.

But, I have also not forgotten about a cause that has become our mantra in a post-Kuttsy's Pitch world: the "Wheres The Doco" campaign: now just over a year old, with this years guide coinciding with the significant decision, to exclude Nine's television assets from this guide for a second year, potentially extending it to a third (although, I don't wish to do so, as hopefully this issue can easily be settled by the airing of a doco celebrating Nine's 60 years of TV heritage in QLD on a television frequency, sometime soon).

And, now we begin for the thirteenth time: our DST guide that has become a tradition.

Content Survey Live: Part Five: Melbourne, an Hour A Day

Welcome, to Part Five of a week long mission, that is Content Survey Live. Today, we are now looking at 10 News First's Melbourne bulletin from Friday night.

In case you are reading this series out of order: Our best tip is to follow the links below, and make your way through.

Sydney-Perth-Adelaide-Brisbane-Melbourne

Content Survey Live: Part Four: What Did Brisbane Do?

Welcome, to Part Four of a week long mission, that is Content Survey Live. Today, we are now looking at 10 News First's Brisbane bulletin from Thursday night.

In case you are reading this series out of order:

Sydney-Perth-Adelaide-Brisbane-Melbourne

Content Survey Live: Part Three: Adelaide: News Upon the TorrenS

Welcome, to Part Three of a week long mission, that is Content Survey Live. Today, we are now looking at 10 News First's Adelaide bulletin from Wednesday night.

In case you are reading this series out of order:

Sydney-Perth-Adelaide-Brisbane-Melbourne

Content Survey Live: Part Two, A Day's News Upon The Swan.

Welcome, to Part Two of a week long mission, that is Content Survey Live. Today, we are now looking at 10 News First's Perth bulletin from Tuesday night.

In case you are reading this series out of order:

Sydney-Perth-Adelaide-Brisbane-Melbourne

Content Survey Live: Part One, Harbour City Hangover.

 I thought I was having to wait until November to start this mission.
But thanks to Ten, it's being brought forward.

The decision by 10 to axe local presentation of it's news bulletins outside Sydney and Melbourne is effectively 10 raising the white flag to 7/9 in those markets losing local presence.

Tweet by me, August 11, 2020 in the wake of 10's centralization announcement.

The full series:
Sydney-Perth-Adelaide-Brisbane-Melbourne

Our 2020 Vision

Welcome, to our 2020 Vision.

This year, we will be launching some great initiatives, along with a major project that will return one of our past posts to new life, with new ideas. Let’s introduce the main initative right now.

#WheresTheDoco Lives On?

Why am I writing this?

Shouldn’t the title say it all?

“#WheresTheDoco Lives On?”.

It will live on, but I am hoping to get your support for something that should happen as a result of this.
I stand here, at the beginning of the second score of the 21st century, looking to the future.

The 12th annual Kuttsywood's Couch guide to DST delays.

Welcome, to the 12th edition of this sites's annual DST guide.

This year, we are dealing with yet another major big switch: this time, the race that stops the nation, which will see the Melbourne Cup carnival return back to it’s home pre-2001, Network 10 (and for the majority of WIN’s stations, the first Melbourne Cup airing on their channel since aggregation 30yrs ago). We also have to make mention of a significant decision, we have made, thanks to one Brisbane station’s attitude towards a significant milestone. So, here we go.

Kuttsy's Pitch XI: The Wake.

The hashtag is #kpitchXI

Welcome to the end of a era.

A epoch, a memory of the last decade: soon to be no longer, in the yearly sphere.

This is Kuttsy’s Pitch XI: The Wake.

Vale: Billy J. Smith

This is indeed one post it feels like I am simply writing too soon. When we all heard the news on Wednesday afternoon, that we lost Billy J. Smith, from complications after a severe fall, at the age of 73, I naturally was shocked, as was many people.

This post is simply a celebration of someone who lived their life to the fullest, along with the ride, he all took us on as the sidecar to the motorcycle of his life, a life in the spotlight.

They Said We Wouldn't Make It: 2019 in a nutshell

Welcome to the gateway, to QLD television’s sixtieth. Kuttsywood’s Couch in 2019, will be a cornucopia of wonder, including a major piece being shifted out of 2018, due to the feeling that it would be stronger as a look back this year. But first, let us entertain you with a major announcement, right off the bat and has been promoted since Christmas, and it concerns one post that has been alive and well for 10 years straight in 2019.

The future of Kuttsy’s Pitch.

After 10 years of posts, and three spinoffs to date, Kuttsy’s Pitch as a yearly mainline concept will be rested after 2019’s Pitch Weekend. This has been a tough decision, but it means, the spinoffs can be focused better, and not come out yearly too: after all: Radio and Fare Pitch were received well (because they were spinoffs far removed from the television focus of the mainline series), along with Kuttsy’s Pitch X in 2018: but if the spinoff series is to continue beyond 2019 with some complexity (e.g. get a spinoff post out every two years or so): the TV focused series will have to be rested. The TV landscape has changed dramatically since Kuttsy’s Pitch’s birth in 2009. Perhaps a break, is better than working to the bone.

But before we send Kuttsy’s Pitch in it’s current form, into the grave: let me give you a introduction to what will be the game changer.

Lock in this date:  August 10, 2019. That will be the date (and incidentally, six days out from QLD TV’s sixtieth and six weeks after the tenth anniversary of Extra’s demise), the final (for the time being) Kuttsy’s Pitch in it’s classic form will come onto Kuttsywood’s Couch.

Some highlights:

-The Lost Doug Murray Melbourne Cup Tip for 2010.

-Ten News First… at coming last.

-A historic first: running from Anzac Day to May 22, we will be undertaking a four week local news study: where each network’s QLD evening news service (that is, not just 7/9, but 2/7/9/10) will be studied for 7 days each, and have monitored, items such as local stories, and live crosses: to see who really is the local news king: perfect for news promos or just plain old evaluation.

And finally -Our P.I.T.C.H tips, so you can continue to put the pressure on, after we aren’t around to do just that.

Kuttsy’s Pitch: Stand Up 4 The Northside.

The fourth spinoff, will be coming sometime in 2019.
What is “Stand Up 4 The Northside” you may ask? It’s a intensive look at the issues that will dominate talk at the 2020 LGA elections, along with a few issues that, in our minds should get a look in at the same time: and it’s building off the momentum that #bris3xit should have driven.

Another highlight from 2018, that will be pushed into 2019:

Sargent, Taylor, Carroll, Barton: The 6:30 War.

The renaming, of this post (better recognizing the fact that the compares (Haydn Sargent (Haydn Sargent’s Brisbane/The Sargent Report), Glenn Taylor (Today Tonight/State Affair), Andrew Carroll (Today Tonight/7:30 Report QLD/Carroll at 7) and John Barton (Today Tonight) helped shape the war for hearts and minds just as much as the content did) also allows us to expand the scope: that is, not have it at a dead end in April 1987, but push it out until Hinch’s arrival in 1989.

Main Line Evolution:

Our counter towards the “North Coast Connect” proposal, for a new rail line to the Sunshine Coast.
30 years after the completion of Main Line Electrification, between Caboolture and Rockhampton, and 21 years after the introduction of tilting trains on the Rockhampton-Brisbane route we ask whether it is now feasible to start planning for the future: a passenger-only rail line between Brisbane and Rockhampton that can achieve speeds of up to 140km/h average (cutting Brisbane-Rockhampton travel times down to just 4 hours and 30 minutes: inc. stops in major centres only (with the increased frequency (and better connections), compensating for the removal of Mt Larcom (bussed to Rockhampton), Miriam Vale (bussed to either Gladstone or Bundaberg), Howard (bussed to Maryborough West), Cooroy, Nambour and Landsborough (replaced by a Maroochydore long distance station), and potential shift of Moreton Bay’s QR Travel station to Petrie from Caboolture) which would not only push the potential of narrow gauge rail, but open up opportunities (with the right improvements north of Rockhampton, inc. possibly a Rockhampton rail bypass and electrification) to eventually run a daylight rail service from FNQ to Brisbane (that is, leaving Brisbane at sunrise, getting into Cairns at sunset, with a potential second benefit: development of a regional rail service for North Queensland.)

Network 2021: Northern Region bus network rebuild.

This entails, a critical rewrite and redesign of the bus network implemented with Moreton Bay Rail, alongside a wider scope: evolving the networks that have been existent for forty years or more, and adding more spokes to the Moreton Bay mobility wheel, just when it is needed, with USC at the Petrie Mill site becoming a wider reality.

A salute to 60yrs of QLD TV:

A series throughout 2019, looking back at some of the best stuff relating to our industry from the microfiche archive, on our Facebook and Twitter presences, which will kick off on March 12: our 10th Twitterversery, with a literal throwback to the past almost every week.

The Diamond of Confidence:

Our 60yrs of TV logo, will be attached to the 6:30 War piece, when it is delivered, along with any other significant pieces that come up along the way this year: that have not been announced today.

And, finally: Expo Fever… is running behind schedule.

Lost TVQ: Expo Fever, will be out within two months. The post is at practical completion, bar a few minor touches, and will also include a passionate plea, about making what is rightly “our” Expo 88 audio-visual heritage accessible to all, and preserved before we lose it forever.

And did I say that was all?

Our symbolic project, in QLD’s 60th year of television will indeed be something that I have been vocal about for years. As far back as 2012, I have stated, that the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame deserves to be chosen by the people, along with removal of the immediate posthumous induction rule, that will likely see older women, and some early years legends get ignored in favor of more  recent programs. That thought eventually tied in with the astounding lack of women enshrined in TV Week's hall: which is still a club of three women: Ruth Cracknell, Noni Hazelhurst and Kerri-anne Kennerley: with only Noni and KAK living long enough to continue basking in it’s glow.

I want to change the world, and I want TV Week and the industry to stand up and listen.

Thus, in 2019: the same weekend as the Logies, we will announce a people’s Hall of Fame class, of 2019. Four women, four men inducted as part of the “People’s Australian Television Hall of Fame” and it will be decided by the people, not by a industry that is rapidly losing sight of the past.

The “People’s Australian Television Hall of Fame” will be the one huge legacy we will hope to take out of Queensland TV’s sixtieth year. And, we want our fellow TV reporting sites (e.g. TV Tonight and BlackboxTV) to support the concept, so we can work in concert, to bring this concept to life.
And remember: The P.A.T.H.O.F success is a long one, and it will begin with one small step.

#PATHoF

The 11th annual Kuttsywood's Couch guide to DST delays.

Welcome, to the 11th edition of this sites's annual DST guide.

This year, we are dealing with another major big switch: the "Great Summer Sporting Switch of 2018", which will see cricket and tennis, switch positions on the dial, and see Ten struggle to sell a summer sans sport to a dwindling audience: which incidentally, has plenty of ideas on how to increase it, in the latter part of Kuttsy's Pitch X: the first mainline post in three years to gain traction faster than the spinoff series: probably because everybody is sick of politics after the machinations in Canberra lately. So, here we go.

Kuttsy's Pitch: #Bris3xit

The current municipal debt, shouldered by the Brisbane City Council (just a tidy sum of $1,803,877,465) which would average out to $1495 (courtesy of the BCC budget speech in 2018) for every man, woman and child in the current BCC area in the 2018/19 financial year.

Reason: the investment in the last ten years in toll road projects (whose tolls didn’t recoup the fanciful figures that were predicted early on) to try to unchain the centre of Brisbane’s traffic issues, along with laying the groundwork for another inner city transport project: Brisbane Metro bus tunnels when outer suburbs needed the investment more.

Meanwhile, in the outer suburbs: councils who have become landed gentry due to rapid urban sprawl and council area changes in the last twenty years, are now struggling, to maintain their position, as their local council interactions and the like makes the front page: just ask anyone in Ipswich or Logan, and for that matter: Moreton Bay, as these growth areas are now beginning to forge their own identities, away from the commuter city identity that has risen since the late 1990s.

Thus, it is now time for Kuttsy’s Pitch to look at the possibility of a “BrisExit”: the transformation of the current bloated BCC authority to a much leaner model (along with delivering devolved authority): beginning with the development of five new 21st century strategies which can become acts of parliament, that can be utilized together to deliver a “BrisExit” model, that appeals to all. After all, it’s a natural move to aim for politics: based on the success of Kuttsy’s Pitch’s looks into public transport fares in December 2014, and into the state of 4BC/4BH in October 2017.

Kuttsy's Pitch X

Welcome, to a landmark edition, as part of the second Pitch Weekend (after the surprising success of an unplanned Pitch Weekend #1 in 2017), that marks the tenth mainline edition, of Kuttsy’s Pitch. I’ve had many people say to me, this concept is dead, over the last few years: as the memories of Extra’s demise fade further into the horizon. Kuttsy’s Pitch has as such become the master of reinvention, and this year’s edition, and for that matter the third spinoff, due this weekend, are the shining lights of all this reinvention since 2014’s gamble on counting content and creating a pre-election spinoff: and are hoping to return to the halcyon days of 2012/13, when the mainline series was hitting it’s peak. And it all begins, with a reference to the format this year: imagine if this was a play, and each act was followed by a short intermission… and it begins with the changes Seven made in Brisbane, just weeks before the Commonwealth Games.

Kuttsywood’s Couch’s TENfor10: The 10 biggest QLD TV/Radio stories of our first 10 years.

Welcome, to a post that is celebrating a milestone. 2018, marks Kuttsywood’s Couch’s 10th birthday, and we found it fitting: that we’d visit a formula, this site has made successful twice (first in August 2009 (and still is this site’s highest viewed post) and again in May 2013 as part of digital switchover), lengthy lists: although, this time: it isn’t a top 50 marathon, instead this post is a simple top ten, that has taken over twelve months to collate, and nearly 120hrs of constant finetuning, to get to this point, upload, for all to see and look back on. Sit back, fasten the ol’ seatbelt, as we begin this trip down memory lane, as we go all out… as we look back at the last ten years that we have been around, with the stories of our own home town, both on the box and on radio, while also looking to the future.

Project Ether: Ten years on... and many happy returns.

Transmission… coordinates, 27.4698° S, 153.0251° E: Brisbane Australia, logging into the ride of your life. Hope someone out there can find us, in the cosmos beyond. 3742-4756-6782. CONTACT.

Welcome to Project Ether… A brand new day, a brand new era: at the dawn of Kuttsywood’s Couch’s tenth birthday. The child born of TV Tonight, and one Brett Debritz’s blog is hitting the tin milestone, with many great initiatives, in the year to come. The first of these, has already launched. You are seeing it right now.

Chermside's Crossroads

As you are reading this, Westfield Chermside is inching towards becoming the largest Westfield-owned shopping centre in Australia, in the heart of a increasingly densified suburb. Yet, it’s public transport network is inadequate: part of a greater Brisbane problem. There is a solution, and it doesn’t just include enforcing a network rework. It includes delivering the Chermside “bus solution” envisaged when Chermside Shopping Centre was a fifth of the size, and was promised a decade ago, that would allow for the removal of the existing interchange, for another stage of work at Chermside.

Kuttsy's Radio Pitch

The social media hashtag for this post is #kRpitch.

Kuttsy’s Pitch. A series so enigmatic that it has lasted nearly a decade. Nine editions on television, and a surprisingly popular variant in late 2014: on the broken QLD public transport fare system. But to come back for spin-off #2, it took one decision by a newly merged Macquarie/Fairfax radio network to gut 4BC from almost every shift being done in BNE, to just one/two in April 2015 (along with the afternoon shift moving to Sydney recently, as well as a constant fear that drive may be networked next, leaving no local content outside hourly news for 4BC) and the move to entirely source Magic882 (the old 4BH) playlist and all, from Melbourne in early November 2015 (which flopped hard, even after utilizing 2CH in Sydney: which was waiting to be sold off), eventually leading to the highly tipped conversion of 4BH/3EE to the Talking Lifestyle format (relayed in full from 2UE) in early 2017. The 4BC move however, was the impetus for what you see before you. This is Kuttsy’s Radio Pitch.

Kuttsy's Pitch IX: Ether Road

It’s back for the ninth time. You feel it coming, around 5:30 at night. A hard earned win deserves the best sort of criticism, and the best sort of criticism is from Kuttsy’s Pitch, a long deep pitch…

Wait, how did the VB ad somehow get into this… Welcome to Kuttsy’s Pitch IX: Ether Road. Right now, we are counting down the days until the Ether rebirth of Kuttsywood’s Couch, but there is still issues at hand that can make Seven and for that matter: the industry sweat.

The 10th annual Kuttsywood’s Couch guide to Daylight Saving delays in Queensland.

“Daylight Saving. The great divider, between Queensland and "down south".”

Opening words of our first ever DST guide, October 2008.

Happy 10th birthday, to a institution on this site: and thanks to the DST Update series on Kuttsywood’s Couchcushion from 2011-15, as well as the 2012 Vision post on the subject (on the 20th anniversary of the 1992 QLD DST referendum) our most written about subject. This year deals with the last remains of The Big Switch: Southern Cross losing Northern NSW, for the only WIN Bruce Gordon got this year in the television game of chess. The evolution of this guide, has seen so much happen: Who would have thought in 2008, that in 2017 we’d have no programming involving a home viewer vote, leading into summer? It simply doesn’t have the X-Factor anymore, it simply Danced it’s way off the networks dartboard, like a Idol Big Brother. And of course, we are leading into the Commonwealth Games just under 200 days away. But we have this reminder, that the whole reason why early April was chosen for the Commonwealth Games: so the DST question (either QLD having to adopt it for 2017-18, or eastern states shortening theirs) wouldn’t need to be raised: when it should have been.
Let us begin with the guide for 2017/18.

Vale: Melody Iliffe.

Some sad news to report: Melody Welsh, later Melody Iliffe, left this world, on September 21, 2017. Below, we have this reading from the late Bruce Mansfield (clip from 3AW's Youtube Channel), of a Henry Scott Holland poem: "Death Is Nothing At All" (originally written upon the passing of King Edward VII in 1910) that this site will use, whenever a big name departs us from this life, and heads to the next, along with our tribute.

Melody Iliffe: A pioneer, who blazed a trail for women in television.
Melody Welsh's road to success, began as a production assistant, within the Jim Iliffe-hosted Channel Niner's, in the early 1960's. A major change in her career, would beckon in 1964: being brought in, not just as Australia's first female television newsreader, but to form the first example of a male-female news presenting duo in Australia: sitting alongside Don Seccombe, to read Nine's 6pm news in Brisbane. It was a natural ratings success, and led to a unique Logie being awarded for her newsreading, at the 1965 Logie Awards, in Melbourne: at St Kilda's Palais De Danse, which stated: "Acknowledged Ability, in A Man's Domain". The newsreading career continued on and off, (while eventually marrying Jim Iliffe (becoming Melody Iliffe) and raising a family) until the dawn of the 1980s, with one notable pairing being part of the QTQ weekend newsteam, alongside Ron Markland...

Youtube: FLEMISHDOG
...before stepping away from the newsdesk: just as a new generation of women was stepping up in Brisbane's TV newsrooms: in particular: Kay McGrath, and Robin Parkin (who'd come across to Nine in the late eighties) across the hill at TVQ-0, Donna Meiklejohn (who went from the ABC doing QLD pieces for Nationwide, to Seven, eventually reading the 6pm news with Frank Warrick and Nev Roberts as part of a shortlived three person anchoring combination in 1987, followed by a run as Seven's US correspondent) along with Brisbane-bred Jo Pearson, in Melbourne for ATV-10, bringing the station to the very top of the news ratings.

However, it felt like for a long time, that Melody hadn't disappeared, completely from the TV screen. For the best part of the 1980s, Melody would be the spruiker for Brisbane-based electrical chain Chandlers, as it progressed towards becoming a national chain: with Iliffe selling everything from Bissell brooms:

 to the predecessor to the Commodore 64: the VIC-20:

 even VCR's and stereo systems to a Queensland moving towards the future at a breakneck pace.

Youtube: various Melody Iliffe Chandlers ads, from FLEMISHDOG, retrooldcommercials and pugsley2005. Print ad, Sept 11. 1988, Sunday Mail microfiche at SLQ

Melody and Jim stayed out of the spotlight (except for a few appearances here and there, much like another TV husband/wife pairing, from the early years of TV in Australia: Bob and Dolly Dyer, who: in their twilight years, purposely kept a low profile), in the 1990s, as the Iliffe family was about to expand to a third generation. And then, in June 2005, Jim passed away at 83, after complications from a fall, with Melody becoming the patriarch of the Iliffe family, and would honor both Jim Iliffe and her own combined legacies on the occasion of QTQ's fiftieth birthday in 2009.
Melody leaves behind, three children: Chris, Ingrid and David, and eight grandchildren: Kayla, Dominic, Hannah, Katie, Genevieve, Ryan, James and Benjamin: all destined to take the Iliffe family name well into the 21st century, a family name, for so many years was a household word in Queensland.

Melody Iliffe: May your legacy live forever, in that next room.

Moreton Bay Rail... Reality

So, it’s finally happened: Moreton Bay Rail, has finally got it’s start date: after a century of waiting, two years of construction and a signalling fault that delayed the opening by four months, Queensland’s answer to Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs Railway in terms of mythology is finally completed. Opening  on October 4, it will dramatically change the face of travel on Brisbane’s northside. But how will you survive, and how will you evolve with a modern network. This is what this post is all about. Let us begin, with a motivator for everyone.

Kuttsywood's Couch's 9th annual guide to Daylight Saving delays on FTA in Queensland

Welcome, to the ninth installment of this site's iconic DST guide. This year's guide has been prepared in August, for a mid-September posting, due to issues concerning "The Big Switch" that occurred in July this year, where WIN and Southern Cross traded network partners as well as the addition of HD simulcasts of main channels. This now means that the 9/10 sections will be 50% more complicated, especially as Northern NSW didn't make any changes... as yet: but we will now be referring to SC10 on the Gold Coast by it's former name, NRTV in this and future guides.

Kuttsy's Pitch VIII: #BringRickTo7

Welcome to “the tradition”. Eight years on, and Kuttsy’s Pitch is not dead. It is alive, well, and still giving our take on the industry’s biggest question: “What to do with that Brisbane market?”. Before we start, this year, we’d like to take another pat on the back. Kuttsy’s Pitch’s breakdown of Seven on the Gold Coast (and how little it cared about it, back in 2015) in November last year has achieved one thing: Seven finally returning to the GC (as much as they want to dodge the Melissa Downes question: you can’t hide from your past) with a seven day news service, in early July. So, that makes that three (four if the 7 day news service is listed separately) correct predictions from Kuttsy’s Pitch in it’s eight year history, compared to zero pilots commissioned for a Brisbane (not GC)-specific 5:30 solution by Seven, since Extra’s end in June 2009.

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.

The 2016 Relaunch Spectacular

2016. And with the belated arrival of a new year, we kick off the year soon, with Kuttsy’s Radio Pitch: our look on who could and should shape 4BC once the “Duplicate 2GB” experiment is seen as more failure for a station that has seen too much of it in the last decade.  It indeed is the second spin-off to the Kuttsy’s Pitch brand, but will indeed share the charm that made Kuttsy’s Pitch VII: Unlucky7 so noteworthy.

Kuttsy's Pitch VII: Unlucky7

OFFICIAL SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS: #kpitchVII, #itstimeVII

“Ladies and gentleman, well may we say God Save the Queen: because nothing will save 7 News Brisbane in 2015. #itstimeVII #kpitchVII #1in21” Posted to Twitter upon BTQ losing 2015. 21-1, 25/7/15

Kuttsy’s Pitch VII: what many have claimed is, “Unlucky7” has finally arrived. The 438 days since Kuttsy’s Pitch VI have been remarkable. Seven comprehensively losing 2015: with numbers not seen since Bruce Paige was still dominant in the mid 00’s, ratings figures for the 6-7 hour last seen when Local Edition lead into 6pm in 2000, prior to The Chase’s arrival: only for the new gameshow to face a uphill battle, and most critically: the axing of a news director (with Ross Dagan in September 2014, yes, Kiwi readers, Seven Sharp outlasted Dagan at 7, with Neil Warren installed as a replacement) in Brisbane as well as the installation of a new national head of news/public affairs (taking advantage of Neil Mooney’s retirement) over the top of Rob Raschke (who fell on his sword in late October): former Today Tonight producer Craig McPherson on July 28, before starting officially on October 28.

But, yet, we are here again for the 7^th time, in the mainline series (with the spinoff Pitch series (kicked off with the highly successful Kuttsy’s Fare Pitch): returning in early 2016, this time with one option that stood out from the rest: Kuttsy’s Radio Pitch (4BC as a 25-54 talk station). But this year we are reminded of the reason why the 11^th of November is so symbolic.

Kuttsywood's Couch's 8th annual guide to Daylight Saving delays on FTA in Queensland

Welcome, to the eighth installment of this site's iconic DST guide. As I mentioned earlier this year, the DST Update series has been given a honorable retirement. After all, here it is again:

 "... because of a lack of content to fill it, especially as ratings last year ended with very little first run content to warrant weekly updates: as well as the changes concerning NRL and V8’s, not to mention Queensland’s slowly inching towards the reality that within a year or so live streaming of content online from the southern states will be part and parcel of life: however the DST guide will return in 2015 as well as the long held tradition of horse tipping on Melbourne Cup Day will remain in memory of Doug Murray..."

The bolded/underlined text is one prediction this site has been proud to say we got correct, not due to Netflix, Stan or Presto: but due to Seven announcing it's intentions to live stream all it's channels online from December 1. As for the Doug Murray horse tip, it will be part of Kuttsywood's Couchcushion's new series, that is a tribute to the not so golden ideas of the last 60 years, that would have never ever appeared on David Lyle's Golden Years of Television: simply put... "The Not So Golden Years of Television". There's a new edition each week, and we have ideas until Feburary... at the moment, and there should be a new one up shortly, and we have found the perfect thing to match that very racing tip, along with one clip matching up with Kuttsy's Pitch VII: Unlucky7 on November 11. Now on with the guide with a slight addition at the end:

#Shout2015: a year in preview.

This post looking towards 2015 begins with a throwback 25 years. January 1 1990, kicked off with a new promo for Nine in Brisbane, that would become very useless within days. 

The “Shout” launch with Jermaine Jackson, filmed in Cairns featured the man who led Nine’s Brisbane news service back from the wilderness, Bruce Paige… who was soon revealed to be off contract, and after a legal wrangle, was off to Ten Brisbane, to read their rebooted news. Eventually, Paige was dropped by Ten, after the network went into receivership, along with 52 other positions in Brisbane.
So we kick off the celebration of the “Lifestyles of The Rich and Vocal”, with a preview of the year to come.

Kuttsy's Fare Pitch

The social media hashtags are #offtherails and #kFpitch.

Welcome to something people would have never ever expected. A Kuttsy’s Pitch spin-off: with all the trimmings that has made the concept so great for six years, in being brutally honest about Seven’s woes both at 5:30 and eventually at 6pm. But: there have been some near misses about a spinoff. The GC2018 broadcast piece of two years ago, almost became Kuttsy’s Pitch 4, along with a “Kuttsy’s Pitch 3.5” based on the “Love You Brisbane” campaign, which never made it to full realisation. But the one thing that writing the transport-based sequel to the GC2018 broadcast piece along with a couple of trips to Sydney earlier this year taught me is that QLD’s public transport fares are way too high, especially for distance based travel, compared to the southern states.

The DST Source’s 2014 Daylight Saving Delay Guide

Welcome to the English version of the 2014 DST guide, with delays available in 11 languages (not fifteen, as previously mentioned, due to huge unforeseen translation issues for four character-based languages), beginning with the English version today on this site, and over at Kuttsywood’s Couchcushion soon with a surprise pick. This effort is our tribute to the upcoming G20 meeting in Brisbane, and a link will be available via our twitter feed for any national embassies who request it for their G20 contingents.

Kuttsy's Pitch VI: The Big Time

The social media hashtag is #kpitchVI.

Welcome to the sixth edition, of a tradition. Five years ago this month, Seven last won a week at 5:30 at night in SEQ: (Kuttsy’s Pitch ignores any claim by Seven that this drought was broken in late May this year due to the poor ratings performance both before and after Million Dollar Minute had repeatedly tried to give away their top prize), and most critically, today being 5000 days since the end of Seven’s only major attempt to try and steal Extra’s audience with a original local product in late 2000: Local Edition. Accordingly, this post is published 5000 days to the minute the final episode of LE finished: not August 20, like in past years.