2017 in Australian television
# 2017 in Australian television

This is a list of Australian television-related events, debuts, finales, and cancellations that are scheduled to occur in 2017, the 62nd year of continuous operation of television in Australia.

## Events

### January

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 1 | The ABC's coverage of Sydney New Year's Eve is mostly panned for the fourth consecutive year, described as "dull" and "tedious," with presenters Ella Hooper and Jeremy Fernandez forgetting to start the countdown. |
| 12 | Leaked video of Nine News Now presenter Amber Sherlock goes internationally viral after she insists colleague Julie Snook change to a different coloured outfit ahead of a segment. |
| 27 | It is announced that American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful will film episodes in Australia. |
| 29 | The Seven Network airs the 2017 Australian Open – Men's singles final recording the highest ratings of a Men's final in 11 years, with 2.67 million metro viewers and 3.62 million total viewers. Channel Seven earned a 54.5% primetime viewing share. |

### February

| Date | Event | Source |
| - | - | - |
| 12 | The official 2017 OzTam television ratings period begins | |

### March

| Date | Event | Source |
| - | - | - |
| 13 | Casey Donovan wins the third season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! | |
| 23 | Justin Milne is appointed new ABC chairman. | |

### April

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 9 | A two-week suspension in OzTam television ratings begins for the Easter break. |
| 23 | Official OzTam ratings resume after a two-week non-ratings period over Easter. |
| 23 | The 59th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were held in Melbourne. |

### August

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 13 | The Seven Network claims the television ratings season for the eleventh consecutive year. |
| 24 | MTV Australia and its sister channels, MTV Music, MTV Dance and MTV Classic, suspend broadcasting for a 12-hour period to get the channels' core audience to vote for marriage equality. During the suspension, MTV's test pattern displayed the Moonman holding the pride flag. |
| 28 | CBS Corporation announces its intent to purchase Network Ten, pending approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board. This comes two-and-a-half months after it went into voluntary administration. CBS had already maintained a long-term program and news-sharing agreement with Ten involving its namesake U.S. broadcast network, and was cited as a major creditor for Ten in the administration filing. In conjunction with the purchase, CBS Corporation also announces plans to launch an Australian version of its CBS All Access over-the-top service. |

### October

| Date | Event | Source |
| - | - | - |
| 27 | The Seven Network will broadcast the 2017 Rugby League World Cup | |

### December

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 2 | The last day of the official 2017 OzTam television ratings period. |
| 11 | SBS announces that established singer Jessica Mauboy, the first indigenous Australian to have a number one in the ARIA Charts, will represent Australia at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. |
| 15 | Tim McMillan and Emmy Kubainski are sacked as the newsreaders of Nine's Perth news bulletin. |

## Television channels

### Channel closures

* 23 January – Sky News Election Channel
* 28 February – 31 Digital; succeeded by online streaming service Hitchhike TV

### Renamed channels

* 4 December – ABC2 to ABC Comedy

## Premieres

### Domestic series

List of domestic television series premieres :

| Program | Original airdate | Network |
| - | - | - |
| Bride & Prejudice | 30 January | Seven Network |
| Murder Uncovered | 8 February | Seven Network |
| Newton's Law | 9 February | ABC |
| The Real Housewives of Sydney | 26 February | Arena |
| Million Dollar Cold Case | 15 March | Seven Network |
| Seven Types of Ambiguity | 13 April | ABC |
| The Aussie Property Flippers | 26 April | Seven Network |
| True Story with Hamish & Andy | 5 June | Nine Network |
| Australian Ninja Warrior | 9 July | Nine Network |
| Yummy Mummies | 9 July | Seven Network |
| Little Big Shots | 27 August | Seven Network |
| Blue Water Empire | TBA | ABC |
| The A List | TBA | Nine Network |
| Cosmetic Coffee | October | Seven Network |

### International series

List of international television series premieres :

| Program | Original airdate | Network | Country of origin |
| - | - | - | - |
| Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian | 13 January | E! | United States |
| Beyond | 17 January | FOX8 | United States |
| Let it Shine | 22 January | BBC UKTV | United Kingdom |
| Lethal Weapon | 29 January | Nine Network | United States |
| Rillington Place | 8 February | BBC First | United Kingdom |
| Legion | 9 February | FX | United States |
| Detroiters | 13 February | The Comedy Channel | United States |
| So Cosmo | 14 February | E! | United States |
| APB | 16 February | FOX8 | United States |
| On Thin Ice | 18 February | BBC Knowledge | United Kingdom |
| Training Day | 26 February | Seven Network | United States |
| First Family of Hip Hop | 27 February | Arena | United States |
| The Moonstone | 3 March | BBC First | United Kingdom |
| Married to Medicine: Houston | 4 March | Arena | United States |
| Bull | 5 March | Network Ten | United States |
| Crime Watch Daily | 6 March | FOX8 | United States |
| The Collection | 14 March | BBC First | United Kingdom |
| Under Arrest | December | Crime + Investigation | Canada |
| Mighty Magiswords | TBA | Cartoon Network | United States |
| Trial & Error | TBA | Seven Network | United States |

### Telemovies and miniseries

List of domestic telemovie and miniseries premieres :

| Program | Original airdate(s) | Network | Source |
| - | - | - | - |
| Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story | 12 February | Seven Network | |
| House of Bond | 24 April | Nine Network | |

List of international telemovie and miniseries premieres :

| Program | Original airdate(s) | Network | Country of origin | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - |

### Documentaries

List of domestic television documentary premieres :

| Program | Original airdate(s) | Network | Source |
| - | - | - | - |

List of international television documentary premieres :

| Program | Original airdate(s) | Network | Country of origin | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - |

### Specials

List of domestic television special premieres :

| Program | Original airdate(s) | Network(s) | Source |
| - | - | - | - |

List of international television special premieres :

| Program | Original airdate(s) | Network(s) | Country of origin | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Random and Whacky | 4 June | Eleven | Australia | |
| Fanshaw and Crudnut: Attack Of the Slug Santas | 16 December | 9Go! | Australia | |

## Programming changes

### Changes to network affiliation

Criterion for inclusion in the following list is that Australian premiere episodes will air in Australia for the first time on a new channel. This includes when a program is moved from a free-to-air network's primary channel to a digital multi-channel, as well as when a program moves between subscription television channels – provided the preceding criterion is met. Ended television series which change networks for repeat broadcasts are not included in the list.

List of domestic television series which changed network affiliation :

| Program | Date | New network | Previous network | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - |

List of international television programs which changed network affiliation :

| Program | Date | New network | Previous network | Country of origin | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bottersnikes and Gumbles | 25 September | ABC Me | 7TWO | United Kingdom | |

### Free-to-air premieres

This is a list of programs which made their premiere on Australian free-to-air television that had previously premiered on Australian subscription television. Programs may still air on the original subscription television network.

List of international television programs which premiered on free-to-air television for the first time :

| Program | Date | Free-to-air network | Subscription network(s) | Country of origin | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |

### Subscription premieres

This is a list of programs which made their debut on Australian subscription television, having previously premiered on Australian free-to-air television. Programs may still air (first or repeat) on the original free-to-air television network.

List of domestic television programs which premiered on subscription television for the first time :

| Program | Date | Free-to-air network | Subscription network(s) | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Long Lost Family | 6 March | Network Ten | LifeStyle You | |

List of international television programs which premiered on subscription television for the first time :

| Program | Date | Free-to-air network | Subscription network(s) | Country of origin | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| State of Affairs | 26 January | Seven Network | Universal Channel | United States | |

### Returning programs

Australian produced programs which are returning with a new season after being absent from television from the previous calendar year.

List of returning domestic television series :

| Program | Return date | Network | Original run | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| The Biggest Loser | 14 March | Network Ten | 2006–2015 | |
| Hi-5 | 15 May | 9Go! | 1999–2011 | |

### Endings

List of domestic television series endings :

| Program | End date | Network | Start date | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| House Husbands | 17 April | Nine Network | 2 September 2012 | |
| Love Child | 4 July | Nine Network | 17 February 2014 | |

## Celebrity deaths

| Name | Date | Age | Broadcast notability | Reference section |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Auriel Andrew (OAM) | 2 January | age 69 | Indigenous Australian county music singer, appeared on numerous television shows including The Reg Lindsay show, as well as guest roles on Australian soaps like A Country Practice and Blue Heelers | |
| Richard Divall (AO, OBE) | 13 January | aged 71 | Australian conductor, composer, scholar and Knight to Malta, known for his association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as a music director | |
| Sandy Gandhi | 28 January | age 58 | Indian Australian comedian and newspaper columnist | |
| Ritchie Yorke | 6 February | age 73, | Music journalist, author, historian and broadcaster, contributed to numerous television documentary films, including John and Yoko's Year of Peace and wrote The Real Patsy Kline | |
| Joy Hruby (OAM) | 21 February | aged 89 | Actress, comedian, TV presenter, filmmaker, author and celebrity agent, with a career spanning over 50 years, best known as the hostess and interviewer on show Joys World on Community Television | |
| Fred Parslow | 26 February | aged 84 | Australian actor of television, film and theatre, appeared in The Sullivans, best known for film role in Alvin Purple and his long association with the Melbourne Theatre Company | . |
| Frances Hargreaves | 3 March | age 62 | South African born Australian actress, best known for serial Number as comedy character of wayward teenager Marilyn McDonald,. | |
| Chelsea Brown | 5 April | aged 74 | American-born star, best known for native production comedy Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, of the latter Australian actress who appeared in Graham Kennedys Blankety Blanks, Number 96 and E Street | |
| John Clarke | 9 April | aged 68 | New Zealand-born entertainer, portrayed character Fred Dagg, best known as an actor, comedian, writer and satirist in Australia | |
| Val Jellay| | 8 May | aged 89 | Australian actress of stage, television and film best known for roles in The Flying Doctors as Nancy Buckley, also appeared in guest parts in Prisoner and Neighbours as Connie O'Rourke | . |
| Lou Richards (MBE) | 8 May | aged 94 | AFL player and coach who transitioned to a successful media career, with appearances on The Footy Show and The Sunday Footy Show | |
| Lyn James | 11 May | aged 87 | Welsh-born actress, who started her career in Britain, before emigrating to Australia and becoming best known for her role in serial The Young Doctors an original cast member who featured for the entire series run as receptionist Helen Gordon | |
| John K. Watts | 3 June | aged 80 | Australian Rules Footballer, radio and television presenter and personality | |
| Jill Singer – | 8 June | aged 60 | Melbourne-based journalist and current affairs personality, hostess of The 7.30 Report and Today Tonight | |
| Les Murray | 31 July | aged 71 | Hungarian-born Australian sports broadcaster, known for program The World Game. | |
| Harry Beitzel | 13 August | aged 90 | Australian football umpire and broadcaster. | |
| Drew Morphett | 25 August | aged 69 | Australian sports broadcaster, from the (ABC). | |
| Alan Cassell | 30 August | (aged 85) | Australian actor (Special Squad). | |
| Peter Luck | 6 September | aged 73 | Australian journalist and television presenter (This Day Tonight) | |
| Judith McGrath | 20 October | aged 70 | Actress of theatre and television, best known for her roles in Prisoner as Colleen Powell, A Country Practice as Bernice Hudson, Round the Twist as Matron Cecilia Gribble and All Saints as Von Ryan. | |
