9Gem

9Gem
Launched 26 September 2010
Network Nine Network
Owned by Nine Entertainment Co.
Picture format 576i (SDTV) 16:9 (Metro)
1080i (HDTV) 16:9 (Regional)
Slogan Characters Belong
Country Australia
Language English
Broadcast area Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin
Regional QLD, Southern New South Wales, Regional Victoria,
Tasmania, Northern New South Wales, Eastern South Australia, Riverina M.I.A. New South Wales
Formerly called GEM (2010–2015)
Replaced by 9HD (HD Channel space; 2008-2010, later relaunched on 26 November 2015)
Sister channel(s) Nine
9HD
9Go!
9Life
eXtra
Website 9now.com.au
Availability
Terrestrial
TCN Sydney (DVB-T) 1058 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)[1]
GTV Melbourne (DVB-T) 1073 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
QTQ Brisbane/Sunshine Coast (DVB-T) 1152 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
NWS Adelaide (DVB-T) 1112 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
STW Perth/Mandurah (DVB-T) 1030 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
Freeview Nine metro (virtual) 92
Freeview WIN/NBN/SCA regional (virtual) 82
Freeview Imparja regional (virtual) 92
Satellite
Foxtel metro
(virtual)		 192
VAST Imparja (virtual) 92
VAST WIN (virtual) 80
Cable
Foxtel metro
(virtual)		 192
Foxtel regional
(virtual)		 092
IPTV
Fetch TV (virtual) 092
Streaming media
9Now (from February 2016)

9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am. The launch, originally planned for 24 September at midday,[2] was rescheduled due to "technical issues" at Nine's playout centre.[3] It is a General Entertainment and Movies channel, the phrase from which the original name "GEM" is derived.[4]

The channel is transmitted in regional and remote areas of Australia by the Nine Network's affiliates, WIN Television, NBN Television, Imparja Television and Southern Cross Austereo.

History

Nine Network CEO David Gyngell stated "GEM is part of Nine's strategy to create a cluster of complementary channels to cover all key audiences." The channel is aimed at everyone, including lifestyle programs and movies, with additional programming drawn from a combination of new shows and other shows previously aired on its sister channels Nine and GO! (now 9Go!).[5] The launch of GEM followed the success of GO!.

2015 rebrand

On 26 November 2015, the Nine Network introduced a network-wide rebrand of all of its digital channels with GEM being renamed "9Gem".[6] Additionally, due to the rebroadcast of 9HD on channel 90, 9Gem was moved to channel 92 and converted from HD to SD.[7] On 16 December 2015, 9Gem's on-air theme was changed for a continuous design across all of its channels. This included a new look for program listings, program advertisements and promos.

Programming

The channel targets a broad range of viewers, broadcasting programs from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, and complementing existing programming on Nine and 9Go!.

Programs aired on the channel are female-skewed, but also range from a mix of genres, including crime, lifestyle, drama, classic sitcoms, comedies, live sport and repeated high definition or silver screen films. The launch of the network is led by Showtime programs, The Big C and a new series of Weeds (currently airing reruns on Nine's primary channel). Other imports include Airport, Allo Allo, Animal Emergency, Birds of a Feather, Bless This House, The Closer, Cold Case, Conan (moved to GO!), the CSI franchise, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Embarrassing Bodies, Friends, The Golden Girls, How Clean Is Your House?, Law & Order, Mary Queen of Shops, Murder, She Wrote, The Nanny, Neighbours at War, The Partridge Family, Rizzoli & Isles, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Secret Millionaire, Southland, Wife Swap, The Zoo, and more. Australian programs include Alive and Cooking, Random Acts of Kindness, McLeod's Daughters, What's Good For You?, Amazing Medical Stories, Sea Patrol and Getaway, The Taste, The Great British Bake Off.

Feature classic films broadcast on 9Gem are sourced from its studio-output deals, including DreamWorks, Lions Gate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros..

Current

Past

News

News programming is generally not carried on GEM, but it has previously aired Nine News at 7 from August to October 2013. The bulletin was launched in response to the launch of Seven News at 7.00 on 7Two. On previous occasions, GEM aired replays of Nine's Newsbreak that air on the main Nine channel and from 9Go!.

Sports

GEM has also aired live sporting broadcasts in various markets including various Rugby Union World Cup matches in 2011, as well as portions of Nine's Cricket telecast (whilst the 6pm news airs on the main Nine channel). GEM will also televise live NRL into Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania as of Round 5 of the 2012 NRL season,[8] thus putting it head-to-head with Seven/7mate's live AFL coverage in those states, and eliminating the need for Melbourne Storm fans, especially in Victoria, to have to wait until after midnight to watch their local team play. Starting in Round 4 of the 2014 NRL season, for yet unexplained reasons GEM stopped showing the NRL on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons live into Adelaide, with the coverage for all games on Nine reverting to the after midnight 'graveyard shift'. As the change was unannounced and in Adelaide only (the rest of South Australia still receives the live coverage), this has angered many fans in the city, both South Australians and those who have re-located from NSW or Qld.

In 2011, Nine also showed both matches of the Bledisloe Cup live on GEM into Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania whilst in New South Wales and Queensland it was live on Nine. GEM simulcast Nine's coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games live in High Definition, with the exception of Friday nights between 7.30–9.30pm where NRL will be telecast nationally. On rare occasions, Nine's Newsbreaks were also occasionally simulcast in HD with the main channel, while Gem is off air.

GEM broadcast the 2013 Ashes series for the first time on Australian television in HD. The broadcasts were hosted from Nine's Sydney studios by Tim Gilbert and former Australian captain Mark Taylor, with pictures and commentary provided by host broadcaster Sky Sports. During Gem's telecast of The Ashes, the NRL is shown on sister channel GO! in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Tasmania on Friday nights when the cricket is scheduled. GEM showed all matches of the 2015 World Club Series.

In 2015 GEM broadcast 17 matches of the 2015 Rugby World Cup including every Wallabies match and all the finals. 2013 until 2015 GEM has broadcast cricket matches of the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup. In late 2015 GEM also started to show 1 weekly NBL game on Sunday Afternoons, being hosted by Bill Baxter.

Logo and identity history

When GEM was launched on 26 September 2010, it was given a "glassy" logo inspired by Nine's logo at the time with a purple colour, in contrast to Nine's trademark blue. Its slogan, Welcome to GEM, was also another nod to its parent channel and its slogan Welcome Home. Following the channel's rebrand as "9Gem" on 26 November 2015, the channel received a completely new logo, with its appearance inspired by sister channel 9Go!'s previous logo, featuring the famous "nine dots" from Nine's logo.[6]

Identity history

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.freetv.com.au/media/Engineering/Australian_Digital_Terrestrial_Television_Broadcasting_Service_Information_Register_-_Issue_4_-_January_2011.pdf
  2. ↑ "Nine to launch GEM for women". David Knox (TV-Tonight.com.au). 13 September 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  3. ↑ "GEM's start-time reschedules to 6am Sunday". David Knox (TV-Tonight.com.au). 24 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  4. ↑ http://freeview.com.au/channels/view.aspx?channelId=53
  5. ↑ "Nine announces GEM HD". Media Spy (The Spy Report). 13 September 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  6. 1 2 Knox, David (28 October 2015). "Nine Upfronts 2016: Nine goes HD, new lifestyle channel - and Daryl Somers returns". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Claire, Reilly (29 October 2015). "Nine Network to live stream all channels and revamp HD". cnet.com.au. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Government approves NRL on GEM outside NSW, Qld. | TV Tonight
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