2020 in Australian television

This is a list of Australian television-related events, debuts, finales, and cancellations that are scheduled to occur in 2020, the 65th year of continuous operation of television in Australia.

List of years in Australian television
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Events

February
Date Event Source
17 Following low ratings in Adelaide, Nine switches Millionaire Hot Seat and Nine News Adelaide's timeslots around. The first episode of Hot Seat in its new 4 pm timeslot is watched by just 5,000 viewers, easily beaten by Seven News in its 4 pm timeslot. [1]

March
Date Event Source
17 Nine News suspends their regional 6:00 pm bulletins indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with reporters redeployed to the metropolitan bulletins in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Their news bulletins were to return on August 10 at a 5.30pm timeslot. [2]

May
Date Event Source
24 Seven West Media announces that they will be reducing the amount of advertising shown across their free-to-air channels. [3]

June
Date Event Source
1 Seven News United States correspondent Amelia Brace and freelance photojournalist Timothy Myers were assaulted in Washington DC while covering the George Floyd protests on Sunrise. [4]
3 In two separate incidents, Nine News European correspondents Sophie Walsh and Ben Avery were attacked while covering the George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom. Walsh was assaulted by a bystander during a live-cross to Nine's Adelaide evening news bulletin, while Avery was attacked while covering the story on the Today show. Neither were harmed. [5]
19 The Seven Network axes its afternoon talk show The Daily Edition due to economic pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [6]
22 The Daily Edition host Ryan Phelan is sacked by the Seven Network after being charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault following a complaint made to police by his girlfriend. [7]
30 Pay television provider Foxtel ceases operations of its locally owned music television channels [V], MAX, Foxtel Smooth and the Country Music Channel. They were replaced by a new suite of music video networks operated by ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia, which operates MTV, Nickelodeon, and free-to-air Network 10. [8]

July
Date Event Source
20 Emelia Jackson from Melbourne, Victoria wins the Back to Win Season of Masterchef Australia. [9]

August
Date Event Source
9 TNT-9, the station of the Southern Cross Austereo-owned Seven Network affiliate Seven Tasmania, goes off air during a Snowstorm on Newsreader's Rachel Williams' final bulletin in Nightly News 7 Tasmania.
10 Ben Polson of Perth, WA wins the Fourth Season of Australian Ninja Warrior and First Ever Champion taking home $400,000. [10]

September
Date Event Source
11 A slew of Network 10 personalities bid farewell to viewers after the network makes them redundant and moves to centralise studio production of its individual state editions of 10 News First to Sydney and Melbourne while also changing the format of its morning program, Studio 10. Studio 10 panelist Kerri-Anne Kennerley and, newsreaders Natarsha Belling, Georgina Lewis, Rebecca Morse and Monika Kos, sport presenters Tim Gossage and Will Goodings and weather presenters Tim Bailey, Mike Larkan and Michael Schultz are all made redundant. Joe Hildebrand resigns from Studio 10 and Network 10 and signs up with Sydney radio station 2GB. [11]
14 New editions of 10 News First, including pre-recorded local segments for Brisbane and Adelaide, begin airing on Network 10. Sandra Sully, Matt Burke and Josh Holt commence presenting the Sydney and Brisbane editions from the TEN-10 studio in Sydney while Jennifer Keyte, Stephen Quartermain and Kate Freebairn start presenting the Melbourne and Adelaide bulletins from the ATV-10 studio in Melbourne. Narelda Jacobs and Josh Holt present the Perth bulletin from the TEN-10 studio in Sydney with the sport presented from the NEW-10 newsroom in Perth. [12]

November
Date Event Source
23 The first ever Today, Today Extra and A Current Affair are broadcast from the Nine Network's new North Sydney studios. On the same night, Nine News has a new studio set of its Sydney bulletin.

December
Date Event Source
7 In Perth, Nine News follows Adelaide's lead back in February and switches timeslots with Millionaire Hot Seat heading to 4:00pm While the Afternoon News moves to 5:00pm in order to boost ratings of its 6:00pm Bulletin.

Television channels

New channels

Channel closures

Premieres

Domestic series
List of domestic television series premieres
Program Original airdate Network Source
The Gloaming 1 JanuaryStan[13]

Deaths
Name Date Age Broadcast notability Reference
Tom Long, 5 January aged 51 United States-born Australian actor best known for serials East of Everything, The Dish and SeaChange
Ron Haddrick 11 February aged 90 Actor, former sportsman and narrator known for Home and Away as Gordon Macklin [14]
Hutton "Red" Gibson, 11 May aged 101 Father of actor Mel Gibson and American sedevacantist best known in Australia for his six-figure win on Ford Superquiz [15]
Louise Pajo 23 November aged 79 New Zealand-born Australian actress, who appeared on Doctor Who, before numerous roles in Australia [16]

See also

References
  1. Knox, David (17 February 2020). "Update: Nine News". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  2. Knox, David (17 March 2020). "Nine News suspends regional bulletins". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. "Seven is cutting the amount of advertising it will run". 24 May 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  4. Knox, David (2 June 2020). "Police strike Sunrise crew in Washington, DC". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. Knox, David (4 June 2020). "Nine News journalists attacked in London clashes". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  6. Knox, David (19 June 2020). "Axed: The Daily Edition". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  7. Marsh, Stuart (23 June 2020). "TV presenter Ryan Phelan charged over alleged domestic violence incident". Nine News. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  8. "Channel [V], MAX & CMC: 25 years of unforgettable TV moments". The Music Network. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  9. "EXCLUSIVE: MasterChef winner Emelia Jackson reveals the contestant she was most intimidated by this season".
  10. "History is made with Ben Polson crowned Australia's first Ninja Warrior". Nine Entertainment Company.
  11. Knox, David (10 September 2020). "Farewell to 10 faces". TV Tonight. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  12. McKnight, Robert (10 September 2020). "EXCLUSIVE: OLD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS AS BUDGET CUTS BITE AT 10 NEWS". TV Blackbox. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  13. Buckmaster, Luke (30 December 2019). "The Gloaming review – shades of Twin Peaks in fog-swamped crime drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  14. "Cricketer and actor who worked with the biggest-names-in-theatre". 2 March 2020.
  15. Gill, Alan (November 22, 1986). "Critics Say a 'Real' Pope Would Stay at Home; The Papal Tour". The Sydney Morning Herald. Apart from siring Australia's highest-paid movie star, he recently won $100,000, plus a luxurious car, in a TV quiz program.
  16. "Doctor Who Guide: Louise Pajo".
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