Totally. Instead of an inclusive line-up for all Australians (which is what the ABC should be providing), seems we have another niche, sneery line-up full of Triple-J type wankers.
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Main channel line up for 31 December
7:30pm The Yearly With Charlie Pickering Rpt
8:30pm New Yearâs Eve: Family Spectacular
Join the ABC as we celebrate the biggest night of the year & enjoy the world famous Sydney Harbour NYE Fireworks. This four-hour family friendly spectacular features an incredible line-up of comedy, music & entertainment.
9:00pm New Yearâs Eve: Family Fireworks
9:15pm New Yearâs Eve
Join the ABC as we celebrate the biggest night of the year & count down to the world famous Midnight Fireworks. Includes the 2016 Pub Quiz, music from Falls Festival in Lorne & special guests around Sydney Harbour.
12:00am New Yearâs Eve: Midnight Fireworks
12:15am rage: New Yearâs Special
Pub Quiz is being filmed Friday night.
JOIN THE ABC AS WE COUNT DOWN THE BIGGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR ON NEW YEARâS EVE!
Join hosts Ella Hooper and Jeremy Fernandez as they count down the biggest night of the year with the New Yearâs Eve 2016 spectacular event broadcast, available this year for the first time in brilliant HD on ABC TV and ABC iview with the fireworks also streamed live on ABC TV Facebook.
Presented from outside the Sydney Opera House and inside the Lord Mayorâs Party at Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, the pair will take us through an evening jam packed full of unmissable entertainment, comedy, and music, the Family Fireworks at 9pm and culminating in the world-famous Sydney Midnight Fireworks.
The evening events will commence with a Welcome to Country. Then under the direction of Play Schoolâs Jemima and Little Lunchâs Debra Jo, Giggle & Hootâs Jimmy Giggle and his sidekick Hoot will attempt to put on the Best Show Ever for our younger viewers. What could possibly go wrong with this team at the helm?! Theyâre joined by ABC MEâs Tim Matthews and Grace Koh live from Sydney Harbour, as well as some very special guests including, Justine Clarke, The Wiggles, Dan Sultan and the Bananas in Pajamas.
At 9pm, the winner of ABC MEâs Design your own Firework competition, 10-year-old Georgia from Perth, will pull a giant lever that will set the Sydney sky alight with the Family Fireworks display featuring her own unique firework design.
Then, live from the Lord Mayorâs Party, Ella and Jeremy will take us through to midnight with an extravaganza of entertainment, including the comedy panel show The 2016 Pub Quiz, hosted by Lawrence Mooney and featuring panelists and special guests including Rhys Nicholson, Denise Scott, Miranda Tapsell, Peter Helliar, Anne Edmonds and Tom Tilley who will look back at the year that was. This will be interspersed with specials from David Stratton, The Katering Showâs Kates and Sammy J who will share their cultural, comic and candid perspectives on the year.
Weâll give you front row seats to the best musical event in the country when we cross live to The Falls Festival in Lorne, Victoria throughout the evening, to bring you the best of its bill, including Bernard Fanning, Violent Soho, Broods, Catfish & The Bottlemen and Alison Wonderland. In the climatic lead up to the midnight pyrotechnics, The Hoodoo Gurus will perform live. Itâs guaranteed to provide the best countdown soundtrack to celebrations everywhere.
RUN DOWN HIGHLIGHTS (exact times subject to change):
7:30pm: The Yearly
8:35pm: New Yearâs Eve 2016 commences
8:38pm: Welcome to Country
8:41pm: ABC Childrenâs NYE commences
9.00pm: Family Fireworks
9.16pm: Jeremy and Ella take us through until midnight with entertainment including The Pub Quiz, live crosses to the Falls Festival in Lorne and much more
11:44pm: Live cross to the Lord Mayorâs Party for The Hoodoo Gurus performance
12:00am Sydney Midnight Fireworks
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It sounds like a good lineup, bar the Charlie Pickering smugness at the beginning of the evening. I have a feeling that Jeremy Fernandez will do a good job, though Iâve never heard of Ella Hooper before so Iâll have to seeâŚ
Gosh Iâm old and even Iâve heard of her 
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The City of Sydney has announced the Welcome to Country ceremony, the 9pm fireworks and the midnight fireworks will be live streamed on Facebook, YouTube and the Sydney NYE website.
Oh boy. Talk about being stuck in a liberal elite bubble.
Is this a main event that people are hanging around for to tune into on the night, such that it be referred to as a highlight of the night? Is it even the sort of event that any individual in Australia is interested in on New Yearâs Eve at 8:30pm?
Further, what are we being welcolmed to? The Sydney Harbour bridge? The main made modification to the land known as Bennelong Point?
Imagine the BBC trotting out someone in traditional Roman costume to the banks of the Thames, to âwelcome to countryâ people who intend to watch NYE fireworks from Westminster. Or France2 doing the same to welcome people to the Eiffel Tower. Itâs just so loopy and lacking intellectual rigidity as to defy belief.
It payâs respect (a word as a society I think we could explore more - just as I respect your opinion), recognising the cultural significance of the land in which it is performed. Importantly, its presence offends or hurts no one but can help others. I personally do not have a problem with its presence.
I think youâll find that even something as working-class and down to earth like a Rugby League Grand Final will have a Welcome to Country ceremony, so if youâre triggered by the presence of having a short indigenous ceremony at the beginning of the evening, you shouldnât be pinning it on the ABCâs âliberal elite bubbleâ.
The whole thing is being run by the City of Sydney anyway. The ABC are just broadcasting the proceedings because itâs part of their contract. If a commercial network still had the rights, they likely would have had to broadcast it as well.
Federal Parliament still goes through the motions of making two Christian prayers at the beginning of every session. That seems to âlack intellectual rigidityâ, to me.
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Who the hell says I think this is a good idea? Of course it lacks intellectual rigidity. Itâs stupid. Iâve always thought so whenever Iâve caught Question Time.
Further, if this parliamentary Christian prayer was then promoted as a âhighlightâ of New Years Eve coverage, I would think whoever responsible was totally bonkers.
Youâre confusing consumers of NRL - those people interested in rugby league - with the individuals responsible for crafting âon-pointâ NRL branding.
What youâre saying to me is essentially âno, the individuals responsible for this scheduling are not living in an ABC liberal elite bubble, because Ethel, a working class pensioner from Geelong, tunes into the ABCâ. In other words, nonsense.
This is an ABC produced guide of their broadcast highlights - it includes the ABC Pub Quiz, for instance, which has nothing to do with the City of Sydney anyway. In fact, the immediately following item is âABC Childrenâs NYE commencesâ - so the âwelcome to countryâ is not even part of the 9pm fireworks put on by the City which the ABC is contracted to be showing.
These are cliches. Paying respect means nothing. Who exactly is paying respect? The ABC broadcast signal? The cameras? The ABC presenters? The viewers at home getting trashed while the TV is on in the background?
What is being paid respect in this instance? Iâve already addressed the nature of the man-made land and structures in this instance from which the fireworks are being displayed.
Further, if generally you are talking about the area in which this is being conducted (and not the land) - does this area, as the birthplace of European settlement in Australia, or the site of modern Australiaâs largest city, not also have other cultural significance? Why are we cherry-picking a cultural significance?
I donât personally have a problem as I wonât be tuning in at 8:30pm to watch this in a million years, and so whoever the morons are watching it can bother themselves with it, but that does not mean scrutiny should not be applied.
It is twee. It is patronising. It is intellectually dishonest.
Interesting that no-one can argue on the substantive issue, instead focusing on incidental asides such âoh, it doesnât bother anyoneâ and âbut parliament includes a prayerâ.
While the act of welcoming to country has had different functions throughout Indigenous history, it essentially recognises the movement into another land in a time pre-boarders, fences etc, welcoming visitor is and wishing them safe passage. Today in circumstances such as the NYE Fireworks it serves a very different function, though with a similar sentiment. So in pay respect, it is acknowledging the reality that the land on which these events is taking place is, to some, considered sacred and holy land (regardless of man-made structures such as the bridge or Opera House).
I dont think we are necessarily cherry picking cultural significance. A few weeks ago it was the venue for a Crowded House concert also broadcast on the ABC. The Opera House was the destination chosen for the Australian revival of My Fair Lady. The Harbour Bridge beamed photos of Sydney Swans AFL players onto its pylons during the AFL Finalâs series. A QLD flag is raised when they (again) win the State of Origin. It is a location of the Vivid Festival which has a huge media presence in the city. As a city we celebrate and recognise (with respect) Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, there is a Catholic Christ the King procession through the city, St Patricks Day, lighting of Christmas Trees in Martin place. All culturally significant.
A welcome to country does not make any of those less significant to whomever chooses to attend. It simply recognises the reality that in the not too distant past (in comparison to countries such as Britain and France which you cited in an earlier post) this was not a European settlement. And why canât a modern city have historical roots?
I personally am not one who advocates for âInvasion Dayâ rather than âAustralia Dayâ. But I do advocate for a relationship built on understanding - an understanding which can enrich everyone. If that makes me intellectually dishonest or patronising (or a moron) so be it. I donât know you own reasons that underpin your opinions on this particular issue but I do agree scrutiny should be applied to everything (even prayer in parliament). But perhaps it should be done in a manner of dialogue rather than a slinging match. I for one wonât be watching the ABC coverage anyway - but thats because I will be nowhere near a TV anyway 
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Well at least it wonât be as pissweak as this:
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WowâŚthe Channel Nine Launch Ident that aired afterwards (which is one of the best IMO) was almost longer than the fireworks display.
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I use to love waiting for the channel 9 launch each year post midnight fireworks. They use to be brilliant. Now the stupid networks advertise their new line ups in November.
Free to air tv has gone to the shit these last 10 years.
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A tad dramatic? FTA has lost its share of power but not sure that can be blamed on them not rolling out a showreel at 0005 on New Yearâs Day.
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Donât worry.
Most likely 7 Melbourne will air an ident at about 12:15 like what they did in 2016.