TV production: small screen, big hits
Networks are still thinking big and spending bigger for quality television. Laine Lister questions the sustainability of the model.
Despite the endless talk of belt-tightening in Australian television, it was hard to notice the recession during 2009. Thrifty networks did economise by downsizing production crews and switching to up-to-the-minute technology. But it was the year that big production values reigned supreme: Network Ten unsheathed its mega-hit MasterChef, while Seven and Nine triumphed in the ratings with their respective high-end dramas Packed to the Rafters and Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities.
The public broadcasters didn’t exactly skimp either; the ABC completed a second series of East of Everything and commenced shooting yet-to-be-aired, self-funded children’s drama My Place, while SBS wrapped production on the second series of acclaimed dramas East West 101 and The Circuit.
And though people have been predicting a wane in television for more than a decade, everyone still wants to hitch a ride on the old dear; advertisers, producers and even celebrity-seeking viewers.
