The Current State of Australian Television

 So it is Sunday.

An afternoon to turn to trivial things.

Eatery reviews these days are within an environment post Covid that has to deal with rising rentals, lack of staff, increasing costs of electricity and ingredients and a shrinking eat out market that has to grapple with continuing inflation.  Definitely not trivial.

So I shall turn my attention to the devastating state of free to air television across Australia these days.   Shrinking numbers watch such screens, as wi-fi induced streams and portable anytime diversions attract the competition.

Commercial stations have become more obviously the advertising behemoths that they essentially are.   Ad time is longer and more often.   Proper programmes are definitely after thoughts in these wagons of on screen sales inducers.   And the ads lack imagination, creativity and finesse.   Becoming more uncouth, do ads reflect the mindsets of evolving society in general, or just of the paid creators themselves?

Channel 10 Australia is wholly owned by CBS, part of the American Paramount group, which has merged with Bytedance.
Channel 7 is owned by Kerry Stokes based in Perth.  Channel Nine is part of Nine Network Holdings, owned by the Australian Packer family, the Murdochs and Bruce Gordon of WIN television.

Advertorials are blatantly put down our viewing sensibilities as if they underestimate the intelligence of whatever audience tv still has.   The morning and breakfast shows have followed a formula for over fifty years, first tried in the USA.

Peculiar obsessions of Australian television  are game shows, quizzes and participants driven by cash prizes.   The British and American dominance on the presentation and styles of such shows is evident even in the separately produced Australian versions.  At times, people can watch the foreign version in the early afternoon, followed by the Aussie set in the early evening.

And this leads to the next point.  The domestication of tv programming in Australia has reached one of the lowest points. We are being overswamped by American and British content every day and every night.  At times, I mistakenly think I reside in Leceister or Ohio when I tune on to "Australian" television.

Road accidents, shootings, weather episodes and more are generously sprinkled in news bulletins here - but they are all happening in the UK, Canada and the USA.  By a quirky coincidence, I do however find that very little is reported about New Zealand, a neighbour of Australia.

Although Australia geographically is situated in the Asia Pacific, there is relatively little content about Asia on Australian tv.   The exception is when Asia is mentioned littered with negative matters - a flood, a protest, a collapse, a political quake or a problem.   Rare these days on Australian tv are broadcasts of improving infrastructure, standard of living and cultures of the Asian region ( which is economically the fastest growing in the world).

In recent years, on the other hand, there has been wider presentation of television by SBS addressed to the interests and sensitivities of Indigenous Australians.

Live telecasts of key sports events have been a key landmark of free to air Australian television, but these have been eroded by pay streaming apps.

Australian tv in the past thirty years has achieved successes like her versions of imports like Masterchef - or in originals like Bluey.   Do not even remind me of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Neighbours and other classics from a forgotten past.
What happened?   Australia has become location wise a much cheaper place to produce American movies and that has had implications, especially when Aussie talent has moved Stateside as well.

Moving on, the expanded number of HD channels relegated to each Australian free to air station did not translate into more quality offerings.   Quantity did not translate into quality.   There are more repeats, shows dredged from the past and a startling absence of live presentations.
Having 24 hour transmissions has brought in endless shopping shows that drains us of meaningful watching.

An interesting trend of flagging audio only radio channels on television is only diluting the magic and uniqueness of television's future.   More news bulletins on television from  noon to dinner time has not had much return, especially when anyone can read the latest news readily anytime from the internet.

There is a declining availability of live music shows.  Food themed cooking shows in 2025 are mainly imports.   And the strong television obsession with weather updates is most intriguing.

On to the taxpayer funded tv channels.
Financial cuts by the Coaltion ruled Canberra Federal Government from around 13 years ago  has seen evident
deterioration in programming of SBS and ABC.    Both channels have resorted to providing streamed in news bulletins around the world, but seemingly of USA allied nations, as time fillers especially overnight and during  mornings.  

There is a high propensity of documentaries, detective dramas and politically compliant presentations on both ABC and SBS.   Bright spots perhaps can be in the continued funding for 4 Corners on Monday nights, satirical Charlie Pickering's The Weekly,  Gardening Australia at the end of the working week, the very observant Media Watch, Podcast styled If You're Listening and two servings per week of  Planet America on ABC News.

I recall the days when Aussies living abroad could follow up on things happening back home on the ABC tv service overseas - but has that gone too?

Certain quarters across Australian society have remarked upon the increasing politicisation of news bulletin content across both commercial and tax payer funded channels.   It depends on who calls the shots behind each station.

I try to be realistic that television is a trivial matter - but is it truly?  

#yongkevthoughts

Wheels of Change

 

The wheels of change keep on turning, even for simple routines in daily life.

There is no longer the past pleasure of visiting newsagents in Australia.  The quality and variety of print has reduced, with persistant rise in prices.  Such outlets still arw shelves for stationary - although they still sell greeting cards, that again is a shrinking industry.  Many newsagents now serve Australia Post functions in banking services.  Many customers tend to be older and visit the newsagent for lotto purchases and claims.
Newsagents can now be flooded with souvenirs and be collecting centres for dry cleaning.

Supermarkets sell insurance on site or online.   Their aisles are domimated by processed food with a common emphasis on high sugar, salt and preservative levels - and there are those confusing stickers on prices.  They are coralling us to self checkouts while not fully believing our integrity to do the right thing to properly pay.  We provide the revenue for their executives and shareholders - and yet are disrespected and mistrusted.

Who watches television any more?
Owners of such media fill up their propanganda and agenda to bombard our minds and sensitivities, instead of providing us with more balanced menus.
The alternatives can be no better.  Advertisements illustrate the reality that there is no such thing as a free lunch.  Streaming services force us to
lap up commercials - and even the creativity of ads has gone down in standards.

Politics in any society these days can reek of the dearth in leadership, uniqueness and care for the public.  It is obvious a lot of taxpayer funds are used for more selfish purposes than for what ideal principles call for. Parliamentarians reveal more of their streaks in self preservation, self entitlement and egoistic drives.  The use of increased political labels confuses the ordinary voter of what each political party stands for.  Politics can be hijacked by powerful foreign agents to serve overseas demands rather than to have governments "by the people, for the people and through the people".

Political correctness in various forms can also be manipulated by niche groups to reinforce emotion, support and wins for themselves, rather than for the general good of society.  Individuals and groups who are most vocal can shout down the other viable needs of others.  Those who choose to remain silent or not participate can truly lose out.   The so called democratic way of politics can be hijacked by non democratic forces.  The system of majority decisions to enforce questionable measures for a country assumes that every voter is informed, intelligent and rational - when the reality is not.

Corporate and institutional misbehaviour is not sufficiently punished.  Deterrants are miniscule in personal or financial implications for breachers, offenders and recalcitrants, when compared to the illegal rewards. Compliance policies and standards are increasingly  meant for show and not implementation.  Offenders know that in practice their existence is dependent only on a narrow band of key support - and they can really point their nose to the rest.

There definitely has been a spike in our expectations.  Food, products and other consumables are delivered so fast.  We no longer pour over traditional sources of knowledge or research but tend to rely on software, AI and digital systems to add to our personal knowledge. There is a corresponding loss in the value of patience. 

As the population increases, supply and logistics crumble under reinforced demands for services in many areas. 
Where aging infrastructure has not been improved, renewed or rebuilt, weak points develop but often ignored or denied by the authorities. 

Thank goodness, Nature still assures us in the cycle of growth, bloom and renewal. Most dogs have not changed their personalities and penchant to connect positively with our human needs.  When there is rain, sunshine will follow.  Colours still appear in hues and intensity wgen day changes to night - and vice versa.

#yongkevthoughts

Deja Vu

I hardly watch tv anymore, but just for the memories, here are my best delights:
- Slumped down on the sofa with the family watching Cantonese-language soap operas;
- Getting entranced and absorbed with Discovery Channel documentaries, especially those with eye-captivating graphics and well portrayed historical re-enactments;
- Enjoying the Red and White New Year musical stage performances from Japan's NHK or the suave and smooth live shows from Hong Kong's TVB;
- following intently with Mum on the exact recipe measures given out on Malaysian television cooking shows;
- Literally double-tasking with both the images and subtitles on Euro movies screened late night on Australia's SBS channel;
- Sitting through three hours of Hindi-language movies that cover the whole plethora of issues under a life, from dancing around trees to having sumptuous feasts; and
- Soaking in my first cosmopolitan arts programme on the telly box from Singapore's Channel 5.