NETWORK OPPORTUNITY

NETWORK 10 PARENT VIACOMCBS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND’S CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT BEVERLEY MCGARVEY EXPLAINS THAT THE BUSINESS OF BEING ON THE BOX REMAINS A POWERFUL FORCE IN OUR ENTERTAINMENT LANDSCAPE.

-  MICHAEL WAYNE

Today’s television landscape would be unrecognisable to viewers from even just two decades ago. The original television model – a boxy, bulky frame built around a cathode-ray tube – has completely given way to the sleek, ultra-slim widescreen displays mounted to living room walls across the world. The fuzzy images of old – at times dependent on wind direction – have been replaced by super-sharp high-definition pictures, which allow viewers to discern even facial pores and individual fabric threads during the nightly news. Even the creaky analogue signals that originally carried the television sensation into unsuspecting homes from the mid-1950s were, in 2013, axed in favour of more reliable digital broadcasts, relegating many of yesterday’s aerial issues to the dustbin of history.

The advent of digital also introduced a deluge of new channels and services that have infinitely broadened the spectrum of Australian television. Those who grew up with just three or four stations to choose from can now essentially choose to watch what they want, when they want. But while YouTube and streaming services have given viewers unprecedented power to program their own entertainment schedules – an unimaginable concept at the dawn of television – the networks continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes, programming their own content and providing free-to-air audiences with variety, substance and structure. Amid the chaos of limitless choice, they are order.

ESCAPE ARTISTRY