Seven Network 2020

Television Seven Network
21

Yikes, really doing all they can to avoid having to come up with original concepts (Nine is just as guilty too with Seachange mind you!)

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22

Packed to the Rafters really suffered the Mcleods daughters curse. Too many key cast wanted to move on and it was too hard to replace it because it was about that family.

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23

I hear that the multi-channels are going to be re-named (excluding 7food Network) and also more specific genre based also that 7 SD is being switched off , part of the bandwidth will go to the new “sports/movie/general entertainment” based channel the rest will go to the existing multi-channels on a variable split.

Seven are gonna push all these changes after “the summer of cricket” (so end of February) and will make the changes once the Olympics and Paralympics have completed (so start of September).

My guess is that 7mate (which will be renamed) will be the 2nd HD MPEG4 channel.

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24

So announce the channel names in February, promo the changes for six months then change the names in September?

If as you hear Seven SD MPEG-2 is being switched off leaving Seven HD MPEG-4 (?), then Seven may as well make all their channels MPEG-4.

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25

They better be careful.

They don’t want a 10 Boss/Bold debacle or to pick a rubbish name like 10 Peach. :face_vomiting:

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26

I would’ve thought that the 7mate & 7Flix names were generic enough for them not to need a rethink?

7TWO on the other hand…I can understand why the network might want to get rid of that one because “channel number” brands have been on the way out for some time now with Foxtel about to go down that road and the other FTA networks having already done it (although Nine’s multichannel names were never channel number based).

With the main channel only being available in MPEG4 HD?

Fair enough if it makes sense in five years time but if something like that happened now (or fairly soon), surely a not insignificant proportion of viewers would be without Channel Seven?

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27

bit early for a new packed to the rafters

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28

Agree.

I don’t know why they’d want to mess with changing 7mate. It resonates with viewers and the ratings aren’t bad. So why bother?

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29

I don’t think doing Packed is a bad idea if they get all the cast back maybe as a more limited series run. Good family dramas are good to see, I’d prefer to see a Always Greener reboot though. The next generation kids with kids and the grandparents.

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30

If what you’re hearing is correct, I would also guess that HD channel will be the new sports/movie/general entertainment channel you’re referring to. It would mean Seven would be able to show the AFL (& other sports) in HD across the country whilst solving a few logistical headaches (eg; not having to flip/flop their HD channel in Perth between 7 and 7mate for certain AFL games).

However, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t use the Olympics/Paralympics to introduce the new HD channel instead of waiting until afterwards. It would be the perfect platform to launch a new service/channel whilst allowing Seven to have their flagship events of the year air across 2 HD channels (along with their 7Plus streaming offering)

Looking forward to the Popstars and Who Dares Win reboots then!

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32

Maybe this has given Seven the idea, including 10 Bold’s resurgence to be one of the top multi-channels this year?

7Two definitely needs a re-fresh, 7food Network a re-think.

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33

That’s the million dollar question.

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34

I don’t believe it. I just can’t see all of Seven’s multi-channels being rebranded. Seven’s channels have always been the most successful, well defined and best targeted. It is the other networks that have followed their lead by closely aligning these extra channels to the main network brand. They could all do with some fresh programming but they’d be mad to dismantle something so well established and familiar to their viewers. The multi-channels aren’t the problem for Seven, anyway. It’s their tent pole programming that requires urgent attention.

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35

If it is true, then Seven should obtain as many HD copies of shows and movies as possible, to fully utilise the channel’s HD capability.

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36

I’m pretty sure Seven are already doing that, since they’ve now got 720p online streams of all their channels after the playout switched to NPC.

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Not anymore. During that test phase they were outputting 720p on all their channels, but since the official switch all but 7food (for some odd reason?) are back to good old 504p. :frowning:

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38

Oh…well that’s disappointing.

Even so, surely it’d seem likely that Seven are getting all their programs and movies in HD wherever possible? Because they’re even producing program promos (which one would presume, are a lower priority to have in HD than the actual shows) for their SD-only channels in HD!

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39

Yeah at the bare minimum they have the gear to go all-HD, and I can’t recall seeing any upscaled SD stuff during that brief period other than the Border Security filler during AFL.

I’m hearing Seven will do 720p HD again but charge a fee for it.
(^ Bullshit, but throwing around random ideas as fact seems like the trend these days!)

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40

I was live streaming 7mate the other day (AFL pre game some night I think - as Seven don’t cut that off anymore) and the quality was awful, even looked worse than before, IMO.

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41

I haven’t really noticed a drop. I think the progressive framing and the MPEG-4 compression makes it look a bit crisper than FTA overall, despite being slightly lower in resolution. Sports fans will tell you that 720p is better than 1080i, for example. It could have just been your internet? The quality selection is automatic on 7plus, so if your internet slows down for whatever reason during a stream, it will switch to a lower resolution (like 360p or 280p) which does indeed look awful.

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