2008 in Australian television

Events

• 14 January – The Nine Network undergoes a major revamp in its production and logo and on-air graphics as a part of a new network re-launch, and after a two-year absence, returns the famous "Nine Balls" logo, except instead of balls, they use discs. It will see an overhaul of news and current affairs graphics (news graphics revised, not current affairs) and studios sets (also didn't happen) and a general on-air look.
• 1 February – Former The Great Outdoors host Shelley Craft quits Channel Seven and moves to Channel Nine to join the team of Domestic Blitz and take over from Toni Pearen as host of Australia's Funniest Home Videos.
• 7 February – Veteran television king Ray Martin quits the Nine Network after 30 years with the network.
• 8 February – ABC TV is rebranded ABC1, which is visible on on-air graphics from 12:00 pm.
• 8 February – Long running Australian soap opera Neighbours airs on the BBC in the UK for the very last time after being shown for 22 years. It will switch over to air on Five on 11 February.
• 12 February – The Supreme Court of Victoria places an injunction on the broadcast and exhibition of the Nine Network's drama series Underbelly in Victoria, following concerns that the series, which depicts Melbourne's gangland wars, could prejudice an ongoing murder trial.
• 14 March – A Current Affair broadcasts its 5000th episode and celebrates its 20th anniversary.
• 30 March – Today introduces a three-and-a-half-hour format, starting at 5.30 am and finishing at 9 am.
• 3 April – Kate Ritchie (Sally Fletcher), one of the original 1988 cast members of Home and Away, leaves the series after twenty years.
• 7 April – The Nine Network makes the first episodes of the new series Canal Road available for download over the Internet, ahead of its television broadcast on 16 April.
• 27 April – Jack Chambers wins the first season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia.
• 4 May – Kate Ritchie wins the Gold Logie Award for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television for the second consecutive year at the 2008 Logie Awards.
• 7 May – SBS TV launches a revamped version of its logo, as well as a new slogan: "Six Billion Stories and counting".
• 27 May – Nine Network revived the series Wheel of Fortune under a new title of Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune and its production company Sony Pictures Television (the same company used in the US flagship counterpart, and offers a top prize of AU$1,000,000. The series shortly cancelled after five weeks of air on 27 June due to low ratings, while the same format would later be adopted in the US version three months later, with the first top prize win occurred 14 October 2008.
• 2 June – The Seven Network apologises after airing an episode of the hospital drama All Saints in which it is suggested that a child born of an incestuous relationship is likely to result in the child having Down's syndrome.
• 1 July – 16-year-old guitarist Smokin' Joe Robinson wins the second season of Australia's Got Talent.
• 18 July – Hi-5 celebrates its 400th episode.
• 21 July – The final episode of Network Ten's baddie reality show Big Brother Australia airs. The eighth and final season was won by 52-year-old grandmother Terri Munro.
• 25 July – The final episode of the Nine Network's late-night news program Nightline airs after 16 years of broadcast.
• 26 July – Peter Cundall's last appearance on Gardening Australia before retiring from Australian Landscapes. It goes to air on ABC1.
• 3 August – The final episode of the Nine Network's flagship news and current affairs program Sunday airs. Sunday was axed by the network after 27 years of broadcast.
• 26 August - Australian dramedy series Packed to the Rafters premieres on Seven Network, which broadcasts every Tuesday at 8:30 pm.
• 28 August – Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos, a revival of the spin-off to Australia's Funniest Home Videos, rebadged on the Nine Network. It last time played on the network is when the late CEO, Kerry Packer banned the spin-off for life 16 years ago.
• 10 October – Today Tonight draws with a final goodbye with Anna Coren in the hot-seat before heading to CNN in Hong Kong. Matt White replaced by Coren the following Monday.
• 20 October – National Nine News changes its name to Nine News when it launches a new-look – losing viewers to Seven News.
• 9 November – McLeod's Daughters actor Luke Jacobz and his partner Luda Kroiter win the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars.
• 23 November – The sixth season of Australian Idol was won by Wes Carr.
• 1 December – The Seven Network wins the ratings year for the second consecutive year, and its third overall, with a record ratings share of 28.7%. The two other commercial networks, the Nine Network (27.2%) and Network Ten (21.0%), came in second and third place respectively. The two public broadcasters, ABC1 and SBS TV, managed a ratings share of 17.5% and 5.6% respectively.
• 5 December – Heather Foord presents her final weeknight bulletin on Nine News Queensland. Her final appearance wraps up a year of poor ratings for the once-leading bulletin, which lost all 40 weeks of ratings to the rival Seven News Brisbane in 2008.

Celebrity deaths

New channels

• 7 January – Sky News Business Channel
• 17 March – Nine HD
• 28 April – Channel Ten Darwin
• 22 June – BBC HD
• 22 June – Discovery HD
• 22 June – National Geographic Channel HD
• 22 June – Fox Sports HD
• 22 June – ESPN HD
• 1 November – CBeebies
• 1 November – BBC Knowledge
• 1 November – 111 Hits

Ratings

Main article: List of Australian television ratings for 2008

Premieres

Domestic series

Main article: List of Australian television series premieres in 2008

International series

Main article: List of international television series premieres on Australian television in 2008

Telemovies

Domestic telemovies

International telemovies

Miniseries

International miniseries

Documentary specials

Domestic documentary specials

International documentary specials

Specials

Main article: List of television specials on Australian television in 2008

Programming changes

Main article: List of programming changes on Australian television in 2008

Sports broadcasting rights

• A-League – Association football : : The A-League broadcasting rights were held exclusively by subscription television network Fox Sports for the 2008–09 season. Fox Sports broadcast every match of the season live-to-air, and also screened a weekly "highlights" program.

• Australian Football League (AFL) – Australian rules football : : The Australian Football League (AFL) broadcasting rights were jointly held by two free-to-air networks, Seven Network and Network Ten, and one subscription television network, Fox Sports, for the 2008 AFL season. Generally the eight matches per round were divided as such: Fox Sports aired four games all live-to-air (a Saturday afternoon match, a Saturday night match, a Sunday afternoon match and the Sunday twilight match), the Seven Network aired two matches delayed (the Friday night match and a Sunday afternoon match), and Network Ten aired two matches, one live-to-air and one delayed, which consisted of a Saturday afternoon and a Saturday night match respectively. The broadcast of matches may vary between networks, and broadcast times may change depending on the area of broadcast. The 2008 AFL Grand Final was broadcast live-to-air by the Seven Network, whilst Network Ten broadcast the 2008 Brownlow Medal and the 2008 NAB Cup Grand Final.

• Olympic Games : : The primary broadcaster of the 2008 Summer Olympics was the Seven Network, whilst complementary coverage was provided by SBS TV.

• Paralympic Games : : The 2008 Summer Paralympics was broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) via ABC1 and ABC2.

Notes

References

References

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2. Knox, David. (8 February 2008). "Welcome ABC1..... bye bye ABC TV!". tvtonight.com.au.
3. [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23200542-29277,00.html Underbelly blocked by murder trial judge]{{dead link. (September 2016)
4. [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23496341-1702,00.html Nine downloads series ahead of TV launch]{{dead link. (September 2016)
5. Cubby, Ben. (28 April 2008). "Jack the top dancer". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
6. Dubecki, Larissa. (5 May 2008). "'Home and Away' is far and away viewer favourite". [[The Age]].
7. Knox, David. (7 May 2008). "New look SBS launches". tvtonight.com.au.
8. Ricketson, Matthew: [http://www.theage.com.au/national/seven-apologises-for-incest-episode-20080602-2kw0.html Seven apologises for incest episode], ''[[The Age]]'', 3 June 2008.
9. Molloy, Shannon. (22 July 2008). "Big Brother reaches 'ugly' end". tvtonight.com.au.
10. Knox, David. (25 July 2008). "Axed: Sunday, Nightline". tvtonight.com.au.
11. [http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/blooming-marvellous/2008/07/23/1216492518262.html Blooming marvellous], ''[[The Age]]'', 24 July 2008.
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59. Knox, David. (2 November 2008). "ABC jumps into summer". tvtonight.com.au.
60. Knox, David. (2 December 2008). "Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf & Death". tvtonight.com.au.
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64. Knox, David. (7 September 2008). "24 pauses for 18". tvtonight.com.au.
65. Knox, David. (25 October 2008). "Jack Bauer in Redemption". tvtonight.com.au.
66. Knox, David. (14 November 2008). "24 about to have its Redemption". tvtonight.com.au.
67. Knox, David. (18 November 2008). "24: Redemption". tvtonight.com.au.
68. Knox, David. (26 November 2008). "Check your 24 watch". tvtonight.com.au.
69. Knox, David. (16 December 2008). "Airdate: The Curse of Comedy". tvtonight.com.au.
70. Knox, David. (10 January 2008). "First Review: The Line of Beauty". tvtonight.com.au.
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74. Knox, David. (5 February 2008). "'Jihad Sheilas' accuse ABC of deceit". tvtonight.com.au.
75. Knox, David. (25 April 2008). "History Channel kicks goals with Hird". tvtonight.com.au.
76. Knox, David. (12 July 2008). "First Review: Miracle on Everest". tvtonight.com.au.
77. Knox, David. (19 July 2008). "First Review: Walk Like a Man". tvtonight.com.au.
78. Knox, David. (30 June 2008). "Airdate: Spirit of Australian Sport: Swimming". tvtonight.com.au.
79. Knox, David. (25 August 2008). "Airdate: Roller Derby Dolls". tvtonight.com.au.
80. Knox, David. (26 August 2008). "Airdate: 100 Years of Rugby League". tvtonight.com.au.
81. Knox, David. (1 September 2008). "Kokoda from both sides". tvtonight.com.au.
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84. Knox, David. (23 September 2008). "Airdate: No Way, Get F*#ked, F*#k Off". tvtonight.com.au.
85. Mangan, John. (23 October 2008). "TV highlights, October 28". [[The Age]].
86. Knox, David. (25 September 2008). "Airdate: The Intervention". tvtonight.com.au.
87. Knox, David. (3 October 2008). "Bumped: The Intervention". tvtonight.com.au.
88. Knox, David. (11 October 2008). "Airdate: Spirit of Australian Sport: Horse Racing". tvtonight.com.au.
89. Knox, David. (12 November 2008). "Searching 4 Sandeep". tvtonight.com.au.
90. Christopher, Lissa. (10 November 2008). "What lies beneath". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
91. Knox, David. (6 February 2008). "John Wood makes The Cut with ABC1". tvtonight.com.au.
92. Knox, David. (23 August 2008). "ABC and SBS brawl over Howard years". tvtonight.com.au.
93. Knox, David. (14 October 2008). "Sneak Peek: The Howard Years". tvtonight.com.au.
94. Knox, David. (30 October 2008). "Airdate: The Howard Years". tvtonight.com.au.
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96. Knox, David. (3 December 2008). "Olivia our Most Popular Aussie?". tvtonight.com.au.
97. Knox, David. (18 February 2008). "When TV is sheer murder". tvtonight.com.au.
98. Knox, David. (26 February 2008). "First Review: The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody". tvtonight.com.au.
99. "the lifestyle channel – March 2008". [[XYZnetworks]].
100. Knox, David. (21 March 2008). "First Review: Once Upon a Time: Walt Disney". tvtonight.com.au.
101. Meacham, Steve. (19 May 2008). "Oh, The Humanity". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
102. Knox, David. (13 June 2008). "Airdate: Calling All Aliens". tvtonight.com.au.
103. Knox, David. (3 July 2008). "Airdate: J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life". tvtonight.com.au.
104. Knox, David. (21 July 2008). "First Review: Jamie's Fowl Dinners". tvtonight.com.au.
105. "the lifestyle channel – July 2008". [[XYZnetworks]].
106. Knox, David. (31 July 2008). "First Review: Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors". tvtonight.com.au.
107. "the lifestyle channel – August 2008". [[XYZnetworks]].
108. "The Lifestyle Channel – September 2008". [[XYZnetworks]].
109. Knox, David. (6 October 2008). "Airdate: The K-Tel Story". tvtonight.com.au.
110. Knox, David. (31 October 2008). "US Presidential Election: your guide". tvtonight.com.au.
111. Knox, David. (3 November 2008). "Airdate: What Really Happened to Michael Jackson?". tvtonight.com.au.
112. Duthie, Kate. (13 November 2008). "The Mystery of the Mary Celeste: Revealed". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
113. Knox, David. (24 November 2008). "TEN summer adds in Plain Sight". tvtonight.com.au.
114. Knox, David. (15 December 2008). "Airdate: The Empire State Building Murders". tvtonight.com.au.
115. Meacham, Steve. (24 December 2008). "What became of the little princes?". [[The Age]].
116. Enker, Debi. (29 December 2008). "TV highlights, Monday 29th". [[The Age]].
117. Knox, David. (4 April 2007). "Seven and SBS in Olympic deal". tvtonight.com.au.
118. Knox, David. (8 July 2008). "ABC launches Paralympic Games". tvtonight.com.au.