No dramas, sadly
If there’s a time that Foxtel’s marketing machine outdoes itself, it’s when it comes to reveal its future year’s programming.
Last night Foxtel made the most of having its hands on the Sydney Opera House for the Australia’s Next Top Model final and announced its plans for 2012 too.
It was a glitzy upfront, attended by media agencies and trade journalists, plus plenty of Foxtel personalities.
But comparing it to last year’s affair, the emphasis appears to have shifted away from local drama.
A year ago, the excitement was around local dramas including Spirited and Slide.
Foxtel’s 2011 upfronts (August 2010):
http://youtu.be/BaJwdDrGj-s
Neither Spirited or Slide made it into this year’s presentation, which suggests they haven’t got new series.
I suspect that the high costs of the 2012 Olympics (Rove McManus being part of the commentary team was a big part of last night’s proceeedings) may be a factor.
For local productions in other genres, a couple of the big announcements also had something a familiar ring
Both The People Speak Australia and Got To Dance were first announced in the Foxtel upfronts of 14 months ago.
However, all is not quite lost for local drama on subscription TV. Foxtel’s director of TV Brian Walsh did tell the room that there would be an announcement of a drama commission early next year.
Hopefully it’ll be a big one.
Tim Burrowes
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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