Yeah. You’re right. City Homicide started two years before Packed to the Rafters.
2007, actually.
Blue Heelers ended in June 2006 as an indirect result of Seven regaining the AFL broadcasting rights, as well as some disappointing ratings (which dragged the network’s figures down) and repetitive storylines towards the end of its run.
Who thought it was a good idea to move the show from its Wednesday 8:30pm slot to the lower-rating Saturday night slot, up against the AFL on 10 and The Bill on the ABC?
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I believe it was moved from Wednesday nights due to falling ratings. The show was treated poorly in the end by Seven. It was a rating powerhouse in the 90s.
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28 August 1967: ABC premieres serial drama Bellbird. Set in a fictional country town of the same name, Bellbird went on for ten years, becoming a popular evening viewing habit particularly in country areas.
28 August 1990: Beyond 2000 presents a 90-minute special edition, 20th Century Syndrome, looking at some aspects of our modern-day lifestyles and whether they are actually killing us.
28 August 2002: SBS debuts weekly drama series Twentyfourseven, based around the editorial offices of a magazine of the same name. Each episode was scripted and produced within the same week and allowed viewer interaction in determining the future of storylines. The concept was largely adapted from the previous SBS series Going Home, which operated to a similar production model but on a weeknightly basis.
28 August 2008: As the 16th anniversary of the infamous special Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos was approaching, Nine had Bert Newton host a largely uncensored screening of the show that Nine chairman Kerry Packer abruptly ordered to be pulled off air midway during its original airing in 1992.
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They only moved it to Saturday night for the final episodes. Ratings dropped after they announced its axing. They just decided to play them out on Saturday and build a new line up on Wednesdays.
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Nearly the same thing befell All Saints towards the end of its run - I think it was in the penultimate or final season the show moved to a 9:30pm timeslot (from its traditional 8:30pm timeslot) on Tuesday nights.
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Nine must’ve been desperate that night.
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I think I remember this. was this version they aired that was pulled off air abruptly and replaced by cheers? I watched this the Night it was on.
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I wouldn’t call it desperate. It was an incident that is etched in TV history. I’m just surprised Nine held off airing the full show as long as it did. Packer died in 2005 but it was 2008 before it got shown.
The version aired in 2008 had a new introduction by Bert Newton. The moment Kerry Packer blew his stack | thetelegraph.com.au (archive.org)
As far as I know, the rest of the program was shown in full (with some edits to Mulray’s dialogue), but with added commentary by Newton. I thought the second airing was on YouTube, but all I can find are copies of the original airing being pulled off air.
Didn’t they Show a documentary version of it a few years later about the whole saga behind the scenes that explained the way things played out?
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It featured in 20 to 1, and also The Amazing 90’s as far as I can tell, but no full-length documentary according to my research.
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not that I am aware of, other than the 2008 re-screening
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I thought that was what they actually did with the 2008 screening. Not a huge amount they could say with it really (how much can you really make of K. Packer yelling down the phone?) but I seem to recall them having two or three minutes or so explaining what happened, just before they showed the then-unseen part. That sound about right? My recollection may be totally wrong.
Obviously, as mentioned, it was probably re-hashed on 20 to 1 at some point too.
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Maybe it was. Tbh i can’t recall.
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30 August 1998: Prime Television began broadcasting to New Zealand and free-to-air from its Albany studios on Auckland’s North Shore. Its first programme, at 6.30pm, was Two Fat Ladies.
In July 1997 the Australian based (and now defunct) Prime Television acquired 34 UHF licences in New Zealand. Licences covered all major cities and towns and were purchased from United Christian Broadcasters International for approximately A$3.6 million.
When Prime began it promised an entertaining mix of lifestyle programmes, documentaries, international sports, classic comedies and quality dramas, as well as regional news out of Hamilton and Christchurch. In 2002 the network entered into a joint venture with Australia’s then leading broadcaster, the Nine Network.
Prime was acquired by Sky Network Television in 2006 and after nearly 25 years on air, Prime became what is now known as Sky Open.
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Had they been operating on those UHF channels?
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30/8/2004 Seven’s Martin Place studios in Sydney open for business, with Sunrise and Seven News Sydney both broadcasting from there for the first time.
That same night, Seven News relaunched with a brand new graphics set and musical theme, moving away from the disco theme which IMO was symbolic of their ratings struggles in the previous five years.
But while Seven News in Sydney started to make significant ratings progress, it continues to struggle in Melbourne and Brisbane, while it was already dominant in Adelaide and Perth.
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30 August 1980: ATN7’s telethon for the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Sydney features guest appearances by personalities from all three commercial networks — including stars from Skyways, Cop Shop, Kingswood Country, Shirl’s Neighbourhood, The Sullivans, The Young Doctors, The Restless Years, Sale Of The Century, Eyewitness News and Simon Townsend’s Wonder World.
30 August 1993: Ten’s late night sports round-up Sports Tonight begins.
30 August 2010: The Seven Network revives reality music franchise The X Factor, following a single season on Ten in 2005. The new series was hosted by Luke Jacobz with judge/mentors Kyle Sandilands, Guy Sebastian, Natalie Imbruglia and Ronan Keating.
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