The Sci Fi Channel – A Brave New World for Australian Television
It’s been announced by Foxtel that an Australian Sci Fi Channel will be launched on December 1st. This is exciting news for Australian Science Fiction fans, even if the channel will only be available to Foxtel Digital subscribers. Sci Fi is seen as somewhat of an outside genre here; The Powers That Be seem to condemn the production of any Australian content with these sorts of themes. Even Science Fiction books by Australian writers have difficultly making it to the shelves.
As for any Sci Fi shows that come our way, Free to Air usually throws a few scraps to the viewers, airing episodes in late night spots, often out of order and sometimes skipping episodes entirely. Foxtel up until now has offered a splattering of the genre, mostly between the channels Fox 8 and TV1. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the TV1 General Entertainment Partnership will be operating the channel. It will be a new era in Sci Fi for Australia – dedicated broadcasting 24 hours a day.
As for the content shown on the new channel, it will be a mixture of the classic and new generation Sci Fi shows. If it is anything like the American Sci Fi Channel, it will begin by airing programs once they have had their run on FTA. Eventually, if the channel proves successful they may branch out into exclusives and maybe even Sci Fi created series. We can only hope.
So, ultimately, what does the Sci Fi Channel mean for Australia? I’m hoping that it will mean an acceptance of the genre by Australia at large. It will mean that Australian Sci Fi fans will have a dedicated channel and will actually get to see these shows, perhaps even at a decent time slot. And, most shocking of all, it won’t just be repeats of Star Trek! What a brave new world…
As for any Sci Fi shows that come our way, Free to Air usually throws a few scraps to the viewers, airing episodes in late night spots, often out of order and sometimes skipping episodes entirely. Foxtel up until now has offered a splattering of the genre, mostly between the channels Fox 8 and TV1. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the TV1 General Entertainment Partnership will be operating the channel. It will be a new era in Sci Fi for Australia – dedicated broadcasting 24 hours a day.
As for the content shown on the new channel, it will be a mixture of the classic and new generation Sci Fi shows. If it is anything like the American Sci Fi Channel, it will begin by airing programs once they have had their run on FTA. Eventually, if the channel proves successful they may branch out into exclusives and maybe even Sci Fi created series. We can only hope.
So, ultimately, what does the Sci Fi Channel mean for Australia? I’m hoping that it will mean an acceptance of the genre by Australia at large. It will mean that Australian Sci Fi fans will have a dedicated channel and will actually get to see these shows, perhaps even at a decent time slot. And, most shocking of all, it won’t just be repeats of Star Trek! What a brave new world…
