"A Dark Day for Aussie Expats" screams the SMH headline earlier in the week, announcing the formal closure of the Australia Network TV service later this month (28 September to be precise), thankfully four hours after the AFL Grand Final.
The Managing Director of the ABC, parent of the Australia Network has done a good job of politicising the closure in light of the recent budget cuts. The move is seen as rather unpopular back home, largely by armchair experts who's only exposure to the general programming is the odd AFL game while travelling in Phuket of Bali.
Many of the armchair experts would like to think the Australia Network is broadcasting daily enlightenment into remote villages in Fiji, earth-shattering education into Vietnam, and the highest quality Australian-made regional news into China.
As an expat of quite a few years now, I feel I can confidently say the Australia Network has delivered on few of these aspirations. On weekends there is a lot of Australian Football, during the week using tomorrow's TV guide as an example shows a morning full of children's entertainment, followed by some English tutorials around midday, My Kitchen Rules at midday, more children's programming in the afternoon, some news, and repeats of ABC documentaries into the evening.
Its hardly ground breaking stuff, especially in an age where children's entertainment, news and language tuition courses are widely available on other channels, or via the internet, without the Australian taxpayer having to subsidise it.
The news offering is often highly Australia focused, often including regional state weather updates, which is hardly going to appeal to an international audience. Worse still, the network shows talk shows which broadcast the worst of Australia's political dirty laundry (think Q&A on a Monday night) directly into Asia, which might not be the best approach in a region where saving face is everything. I'm not sure too many villagers in Indonesia appreciate spikey-haired inner-urban coffee swilling hipster's views of the world being shoved down their throats, and are probably much more likely to be watching their local TV networks.
Personally, I'll miss the Australia Network for the free football, once the season resumes next year. I think I can speak on behalf of most expats when saying the Australia Network was largely forgotten during the off-season between October and March anyhow.
On the upside, I can pay the annual subscription for the digital service afl.tv, and carry on watching to my heart's content (again without the Australian taxpayer having to foot the bill). I hear some content will be available via a regional internet viewing platform, which may prove useful. The remainder of the service however, I won't miss quite so much. It was good while it lasted, but its time to move on.
Comments