Nine’s digital-only Gen Y style TV channel GO! is set to launch tonight at 6:30pm but those keen observers who have scanned the digital airwaves would know the station’s been up for about a week already (albeit with just 5 minute promos on loop).
The channel looks to be a mix between Foxtel’s TV1 and Channel V, combining various ‘classic’ sitcoms like Seinfeld and The Nanny with a few contemporary shows they’re obviously not giving enough airtime on their regular channel, such as Big Bang Theory. Mixed in with these there are a few drama shows like Gossip Girl and at night the channel airs celeb gossip shows like TMZ and plays music clips overnight. Thankfully, it appears we’ve been mercilessly spared endless reruns of Two and a Half Men, Nine has left that to their regular channel.
While this all might not look that earth-shattering to people already subscribed to Foxtel, it’s an exciting time for free-to-air television. Apart from what wonderful work the ABC is doing with ABC2 and the upcoming kids channel ABC3, there hasn’t been much in the digital stations for those of us who don’t give a toss about sport. As Ten launched their One sports channel earlier this year and SBS have some form of cycling pretty much on a continuous cycle on their own digital channel.
It’s also an interesting time for Nine. Their old slogan ‘Still the one’ has come to bite them on the arse in recent times as they’ve been consistently runners up in the ratings to Seven. They even dropped to third during the incredible rise of Ten’s reality cook-off MasterChef (which, as Crikey revealed, Nine programming directors passed on). Mostly through unsuccessful reality shows (Perfect Couple is bound to be the next casualty) and their habit of often cancelling shows very early in their run (This Afternoon anyone?). So despite all their current woes, it’s good to see they’re at least trying something different to Seven and Ten by not just making yet another digital sports channel to plug repeats of The Footy Show.
Ultimately, GO! doesn’t seem to be a channel about new content It’s the channel you flick over to watch when there’s nothing on TV. And that’s a good place to start for digital, as it slowly gains momentum in Australia. If anything, maybe in the future Nine will put the cult status shows that rate badly straight onto digital at a reasonable hour rather than the 11pm waits for shows like The West Wing that we’re so accustomed to from Nine. And that would pay for the channel itself. So tune in tonight to see what the fuss is all about, if you can get past the kinks Nine is working out, that is.
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