Discussion of Nine network programming for 2019 year.
2019 will be a year of change (at least on the sporting front) for Nine, with the network picking up the rights to Australian Open tennis and warm-up tournaments, plus the NBL. Add to that the NRL, ICC World Cup in England and Wales, Ashes tour of England, US Masters golf, and netball tournaments (including the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England), Nine will dominate the sporting calendar for most of the year.
Married at First Sight and The Block will definitely return next year, although there is a question mark on the future of both AFL and NRL Footy Shows.
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The headline star of a major new Nine drama has withdrawn from the series due to health issues.
Not sure if mentioned elsewhere but The Australian yesterday reported Nine’s Upfront as being on 17 October
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That’s only one week away!
I think Nine will take the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude to general programming in 2019. MAFS, The Block, True Story and The Voice should all return, while it was confirmed on Sunday that Ninja Warrior season 3 would be filmed in Melbourne this December. The renewal of Family Food Fight (which has been sold to the US) will depend on the ratings of the upcoming season.
It will be interesting to see what kind of NRL-themed program will be shown on Thursday nights next year after the axing of NRL Footy Show.
It appears that was already announced by Nine - nothing, as there will be an extended post-match instead.
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Interested to read the next 50 posts about the chances of a new logo for Nine 
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You think they should drop their balls?
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Isn’t the aim of becoming the No.1 network more important than dropping their balls (again)?
If you read the Ten 2019 topic it seems that that glossy 3D logos are out of date and logos that have been around for 20 years are stale 
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Wasn’t there a rumour not too long ago that the numeral was being dropped and the logo would consist of the balls only?
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Nine has had was is essentially the same logo for about 48 years. It’s ancient!
balls and the word Nine, same as their corporate logo
Rumour has it they are going back to the box 
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Upfronts seem to be getting earlier and earlier every year .
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And none of them are getting better. Every year we get the same trash from Nine (and tbf, all the networks). Apart from a few shows (Ninja, Block), everything else is just about unwatchable.
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Difficult to win the race if your balls get in the way. 
I laughed hard at this
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But seriously. The boxy logo does look really dated now. I would consider a refresh.
Keep the balls and 9 but update them. Think circles. Put the balls into a circular configuration. Change the 9 to a rounded shape that would fit in a circle.
Let’s be realistic here: Nine will NEVER completely dump their current logo because of the debacle that was 2006-08 not just in branding, but also programing/ratings.
Maybe Nine could do with an On-Air Presentation refresh next year to keep things fresh since their current branding is almost three years old, but any speculation about a logo change at Nine (or Seven, the ABC or SBS for that matter) is a non-starter IMO. Just not going to happen.
On a programing note, I think we’ll see a mostly unchanged lineup except for things like the non-return of The NRL (and possibly also AFL) Footy Show. Probably the last year for The Voice due to declining ratings. The upcoming 2nd season will be a crutial one for Family Food Fight. If FFF rates like it did last year, it won’t be on our screens in 2019.
The sporting lineup is reasonable enough, but the questions that need to be asked most about Nine in 2019 are related to news & current affairs:
*Does Karl Stefanovic need to be shown the door?
*Does Georgie Gardner enjoy her role on Today or would she prefer to be the 2nd in-line presenter for Nine News Sydney again?
*Will 2019 be Peter Hitchener’s final year? If so, who’ll be the lead presenter of Melbourne’s #1 news in a new decade?
*Does Nine News need to appoint a meteorologist as their lead forecaster in Sydney & Melbourne if the 6pm bulletins are to remain #1 in the long run?
*How much of an effect are the “Sponsorship” segments (Officeworks, Vodafone, Suncorp, Industry Fund Services) having on the credibility of the Nine News brand?
*Does Tracy Grimshaw need to be doing more regular interviews for A Current Affair? Despite the promises made in previous years, you could probably count on one hand the number of major interviews (which to be fair, are generally of a higher standard that ACA’s usual content) we’ve seen Trace do in a year.
*Is the current promotional strategy for Nine’s news/current affairs department effective enough? Nine have long been very good at promoting their news & current affairs lineup, but we haven’t seen the same amount of “major promo launches” that we did even a few years ago. Sure, the “chatting up Peter Overton” series of promos (the spots with Brian Henderson were a stroke of genius) for Nine News Sydney which aired back in February was great, but there hasn’t really been much else since. You’d think with Overton marking 10 years in the Sydney newschair next year, TCN would be smart enough to capitalise on this in their “Peter Overton Returns” Promos for 2019?
And perhaps most importantly…
*Is Nine at risk of losing any of its best news/current affairs talent (whether it be veterans or up and comers) to a rejuvenated Ten?
Those points (and more) are things I’d be bringing up if I was in a Nine Network board meeting and the subject of news/current affairs came up.
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