Though it’s interesting how frequently what is ‘modern’ changes. If you got the late 90s graphics from the ABC, and had their current ones side by side, it’s not hugely obvious which one is more technically advanced.
Obviously something very 3D like Nine’s current package is obviously newer - but then there’s a huge move to simple flat colours again.
Or for example this - ignoring picture quality, could you really tell which of these is a decade newer than the other?
Television ad for Southern Cross’s defunct website MyTalk.com.au from 2007. (reuploaded by me from Dailymotion)
I quite like the opener that was used in Melbourne in 2003, however the 2004 look was a massive step up. The opener for 2004-2006 actually still looks good today.
However I prefer Seven’s look from 2004, the helicopter/presenter opener still looks excellent. I consider it better than what Seven use today!
Just by looking at still images, yes. But when you see both the Late '90s graphics for ABC News and the current stuff in full motion it’s not difficult to pick the more technically advanced version IMO.
I agree with this though. IIRC someone on the old Media Spy forums did an amazingly close recreation of those Late 2000s Seven News supers on Powerpoint, showed how basic they really were! 
If I’m not mistaken, the (presumably Melbourne-produced) “National Nine Newsbreak” Sponsor Billboards were the only element of that look which made it to Sydney.
Even though Nine News’ current/recent On-Air Presentation packages are obviously more technically advanced than the 2004-06 look, I agree.
If anything, I personally think the quality Seven News’ On-Air Presentation has actually gone backwards during the past decade or so! By comparison the 2004 relaunch graphics could probably still look good on-screen now if the time was taken to update them for HD, etc.
It would normally take around 30 - 35 seconds for the ball to be retrieved and shunted up to the centre to be bounced, and the umpire held off bouncing the ball until he saw the light extinguished. Don’t know for sure, but I would have to think a DA in the control room would operate the light in conjunction with the count-back from Pres, remembering that that ground’s game would not be likely be airing live in that city, but interstate. It would be unwise and impractical to burden the umpire with the banter from the control room, they’ve got other things to worry about, it’s a generous concession by the AFL that they pay attention to the light. Also be aware that the commentators continue commentary even when the network is in a break, they pause momentarily going into the break, and again at the end of the commercial. Commentary is continued for the purposes of replays, archiving, international telecast etc, or a station failing to take an after goal break for whatever reason.
Showtime Australia: Promos/Transitions/Ident/Classification Warning.
A fairly important Australian TV branding milestone which seems to have gone unnoticed: Today marks 10 years since the “National” was dropped from Nine News, with the new graphics launching with the then-national 4.30pm afternoon bulletin IIRC.
I don’t know if this has been discussed before, can you spot the inaccuracies in this so called retro lineup?
Yes. It looks more like what some 22 year old graphic designer thought what a Channel Nine Lineup looked like back in the 1990s…compared to what Nine actually used on air during the 1990s!
1991 Lineup & ID upload from FlemishDog’s corner of archive.org - hopefully the link works!
OK so this isn’t an example of every Nine lineup style used that decade, but still a fairly decent mix.
Channel 9 used these idents in the metropolitan stations during 1997-98 and I find it great. The 1998 version was different to the 1997 one with music tweaks and the Kuala Lumpur 1998 Games ident.
What about the music!
That’s from the 80s idents…not the 90s.
It’d be really sad if this was indeed the case, but one can only presume that the tapes featuring any clean graphical/music elements from Nine’s 1980s/1990s On-Air Presentation packages have long been thrown in the bin.
No…one presumes that who created it failed in doing their research. If you’re going to do something retro…make it accurate.
I seem to recall some datacasting channel being broadcast based on this MyTalk thing, but it’s very fuzzy. Anyone know the deets?
Yep - here’s a screenshot I have of it -
Ran as a datacast channel on SC10 stations for a while - I think it died shortly after this cap. Ran a loop of State Focus, rather than a small picture of the main channel which most VPGs did.
Also note the mouse cursor in the corner - that was how this was broadcast…
Seemed to have a very short life on Southern Cross Tas from memory too, once it finally came along it was axed not long afterwards.
For those also too young to remember, the VPG’s were used by the networks as a Video Program Guide, Seven, Nine, Ten and Southern Cross (MyTalk) all had them. They were initially used instead of the 7 day EPG. For many years all people had in their EPG was now and next which was always inaccurate (tied to the half hour - same as the TV guide) as it didn’t factor in over runs.
If people had the Topfield set top box which could run additional programs, they could use a program to scrape the TV guide for all channels from ninemsn and then upload it to the box in a readable format which filled the guide as well as skinning the GUI. Having a full guide actually made recording programs so much easier as without that it was no different to programming the VCR.
“Ran a loop of State Focus”
Might’ve been a State Focus promo on the screen since it actually ran a promo loop (according to other sources).
Considering they reach for youtube every time they need some historical network footage I have my doubts on how much archival content they actually have stored.
Also a bit ironic when Nine has been known to ask YouTube to remove content uploaded by others based on copyright grounds.
