Source: Karl Quinn, Sydney Morning Herald

Television broadcasters have been roused from their slumber by a flurry of innovations. But will technology save them or signal their end?

Yesterday, Australia got its newest free-to-air television station when Kevin Rudd flicked the switch on ABC3. The just-for-kids station will broadcast 15 hours a day,and brings to 12 the number of free-to-air channels Australians with a digital television or a digital set-top box can receive – a tripling of free viewing options since 1980, and a doubling since 2005. But it’s just the beginning.

The TV broadcasting landscape is changing so quickly that predictions about what shape it will take are no longer flagged as coming soon but happening now.

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Writing this blog has been an amazingly informative experience for me. What began as a small site dedicated to the media in and around the Hunter Valley (hence the actual reason for the name Media Hunter) quickly grew to tackle national media issues. Then, as the media landscape began changing rapidly with the convergence of digital technologies, I began musing on the implications for traditional media and marketing organisations.

Researching and writing Media Hunter helped me tap into a realisation that we are experiencing one of those rare revolutionary periods in history. Old powers are falling, new technologies are rising. And the changing media landscape has become one of the most important battle grounds of the 21st Century.

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Source: Lara Sinclair, The Australian

ONLINE video viewing and social networking are set to dominate internet use over the coming year, according to two studies into new media and technology.

But whether — and how much — Australians will pay for the privilege remains a vexed question.

Four out of five Australians now watch video online, compared with just 25 per cent three years ago, according to Universal McCann’s annual Wave report that tracks internet usage.

Over the same period, creating a profile on a social networking site tripled to about 60 per cent, making it the second most popular activity, the research showed.

The data coincides with the findings of a Telsyte study into digital content that found social networking was the fastest-growing online activity, although email remained the most common reason for using the net.

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Source: MediaSpy

The Seven Network’s first attempt at a multichannel, 7TWO, has commenced broadcasting in the Tasmanian and Darwin television markets.

The channel is being carried by local broadcaster Southern Cross Television, who already operate the Seven Network affiliate in both areas. Southern Cross announced their intention to broadcast the channel from the beginning of December, soon after its metropolitan launch last month.

As of 7:30 PM local time, viewers in these areas received the first broadcasts of the new service after a localised countdown to the launch concluded.

This marks the first of the free-to-air multichannels being broadcast in the Darwin region. Tasmania, however, now enjoys the same television variety as the mainland capitals, as the area has received both Go! and One HD for some months already.

This move has only further infuriated viewers in the Regional New South Wales and Victorian markets, who are still yet to receive any notification of when their local Seven Network affiliate, Prime Television, will commence broadcasting the new channel.

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