There is no money in it.
As the revenue pool continues to shrink, no doubt the likes of WIN and SCA will look to run large slabs of the day as 100% pass through dirty feeds including ad breaks and possibly only concentrate on running ad breaks and mandated local quota content where applicable late afternoon and into primetime only.
As the costs of scheduling, playout and transmitters no doubt outweighs the actual amount of revenue coming in for many services now, including some 9, 7 and no doubt most 10 services. What is occurring in Mildura is only the start.
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We know the writing is on the wall for regional TV and to a larger extent TV as a whole. What we donāt know is if the elimination of a specific cost could have kept MDT going for another few years or at least until some sort of feasible solution was devised to either help transition viewers to newer tech or change broadcast legislation as a whole.
Thereās part of me thatās glad this is happening as we need to move away from old platforms and this is just the kind of push that will see some households get with the times. But Iām still devastated that for the first time since digital began there will be a chunk of Australia that doesnāt get the same choice in free no-strings-attached TV as the rest of us.
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And we all said MDT wouldnāt do a proper farewell just before midnight!
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Your point is exactly why the ACMA need to have an inquiry into the television industry in Australia and ask the networks questions like how can centres like Central Coast NSW, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast can sustain both metro and regional feeds, but yet regional channels are losing money.
I think such an inquiry would reveal that these duplicate feeds are propped up by national advertising, and whilst regions such as Mildura might not be these advertisers target areas, perhaps the broadcasters need to adopt a national advertising plan to try and push advertising revenue across the entire broadcasting area and not just where they are making money
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The biggest problem for 10 is that it has very few significant sporting events and since the late 1980s it has been mismanaged and run into the ground and hasnāt clawed its way back. When Nine snatched the NRL away from Ten, that was the beginning of what we are now seeing.
The fact that a former member of Cricket Australia referred to Ten as bottom dwellers (if you look up what that means, itās not very nice), it isnāt a good sign. The loss of the Melbourne Cup is another sign itās not doing very good reputational wise
I think all stakeholders need to look at whatās in their best interests and as far as Ten goes, it needs to look at the old adage, you need to spend money to make money and whilst they arenāt spending, it will not improve its position any time soon.
And on that note, I will say although some of what we have spoken about is overlapping with this thread, perhaps some should be on an alternate thread
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Just spoke to my friend out at Walpeup they have It set up to record on two TVs to make sure It hopefully records their reception can be a bit dodgy but at least we are trying to get the shutdown, Iām also going to record It with my phone no doubt there will be people waiting up until after 12 midnight to see If a video has been posted which I intend to do once the shutdown has happened.
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Thank you for your service 
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I know this is slightly off topic but I wonder if Northern Territory had become 1 market instead of 2, would the situation been any different if Imparja Television was the Ten affiliate facing a similar fate or whether (further) government funding would be made available
As it stands I donāt think they can, saying that if Ten had a strong will and money to burn, regulations could be changed by government and regulators to allow it to happen but would expect WIN & 7 might to try and block it.
Does Ten Central (VAST) now have any rights to the area? Could they start up rebroadcasting in Mildura. Guess we will never really know as with no money is in it nothing will happen.
The government has allowed viewers In Mildura to access VAST but itās not cheap $800 to get a dish & set top box decoder.
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The Remote Central & Eastern market is a different kettle of fish. SCA and Imparja will likely never have an issue as they are required to provide a service of last resort to the rest of Australia. Govt will likely prop them up for as long as needed.
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Tonight kind of reminds me of the time I stayed up to midnight on 30 December 1991 (32.5 years ago exactly) to see NRTV start broadcasting into Newcastle for the very first time.
But sadly it is now shutdowns we are seeing, not start ups.
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You could ask a similar question in Victoria - what if Mildura was aggregated along with the rest of regional Victoria? Also, people have talked about The Ten Network taking over the licence. What about Southern Cross Austereo who operate Ten Victoria in the rest of regional Victoria?
I think itās a safe bet SCA would have no desire to commit to the cost/losses of taking on the Mildura signal
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If there is a takeover of Southern Cross would that owner want to take on a market like Mildura the company is still In takeover talks but the TV part of the deal fell through & another offer was rejected.
Terrestrially? I doubt it. The govt could allow for it and provide funding for CDT to take over transmission in that market but then that would create more issues. The biggest one being a struggling market of 60k people goes from a 2 station market to 3 which would be worse for Seven and WIN.
The only way I can see CDT entering the market is making Mildura part of Remote Central & Eastern. If it canāt sustain a joint-venture, then palm it off to SCA and Imparja who can sustain it through govt assistance.
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Yes - at that point itās cheaper to get a smart TV or a device such as a Chromecast and stream 10play if you want to watch 10 in Mildura.
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I think that the broadcasters are pushing people to the metro apps.
Seven and in particular, WIN are really not considering the bigger picture. If people are downloading the 10Play app and donāt already have 9Now or 7+, it could lead to those viewers downloading all three apps.
Didnāt WIN take legal action over the Nine app prior to losing the 2016 affiliate deal with Nine?
Provided you already pay at least $70 per month for internet to begin with.
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Given that if CDT was allowed terrestrially, then it would just be a relay of 10 Central South, which means it wonāt be taking away local advertising dollars from Seven and WIN (unless businesses decide to buy ads on 10 Central).
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