This is a list of Australian television events and premieres that occurred in 2015, the 60th year of continuous operation of television in Australia.
Events
January Date Event Source1The ABC's coverage of Sydney New Year's Eve is widely panned for the second consecutive year, with criticism of technical issues, lame skits and awkward interviews. Ratings were however slightly higher than the previous year. ABC New Year's Eve coverage needs a cracker up its clacker* declares Claire Harvey, The Daily Telegraph, 1 January 2015Julia Zemiro thanked God when the ABC's 2014 New Year's Eve telecast was over, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 January 2015 4The City of Sydney announces it will put its 2015–16 Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks coverage to tender, following the conclusion of ABC's two-year contract.NYE Broadcast to go to tender, TV Tonight, 4 January 20159OzTAM reveals final ratings data for the 2014 television year, which takes into account consolidated viewing figures. It shows Seven Network was the most watched network with 30.1% share, Channel Seven was most watched primary channel with 21.7% share and GO! the most watched multichannel with 4.7% share. The most watched program of 2014 was the 2014 AFL Grand Final at 2,828,000 metro viewers. The Nine Network won all three key demographics except 55+ which was won by Seven Network. The most watched non-sport program (and second overall) was the announcement of the winners of My Kitchen Rules with 2,712,000 viewers. The highest-rated multichannel program was day six of the 2014 Commonwealth Games with 582,000 viewers on One, and The Hunger Games movie was most watched non-sport program with 458,000 viewers on GO! The second round semi-final AFL match between Hawthorn Hawks and Port Adelaide was most watched program on subscription television with 479,000 viewers on Fox Footy, and sport made up the entire list of top-20 most watched programs on Foxtel.12Channel Nine airs the global launch of the Fast4 Tennis format, broadcasting an exhibition match between Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt live from Sydney Entertainment Centre.15Foxtel's movie streaming service Presto launches a television spin-off of its movie streaming service entitled Preto TV, as a joint venture with Seven West Media, the first of three major streaming companies launching in early 2015. 16SBS Director of TV and Online Tony Iffland quits the network, replaced by Marshall Heald.20Sky News Australia rebrands its primary channel as "Sky News Live", dropping the "Sky News National" branding. 26Streaming service Stan, a joint venture between Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment, officially launched.The twentieth anniversary of subscription television in Australia, following the launch of the Galaxy service on 26 January 1995.29Channel Ten aired the 4th AACTA Awards.31Channel Seven, Channel Nine and ABC Brisbane, as well as ABC News 24 and Sky News Australia nationally, broadcast coverage of the 2015 Queensland state election. Nine's coverage of 146,000 metro Brisbane viewers outrages other local coverage, with ABC News 24 outrating Sky News in national coverage.
February Date Event Source1Ten's Family Feud began airing on Sundays, bringing its run from five to six times weekly.2Seven aired Super Bowl XLIX for the first time, as part of a five-year broadcast deal with the NFL, shared with ESPN. It would be watched by 354,000 viewers on Seven (up 144,000 viewers on the previous year broadcast on One), and another 94,000 on ESPN.8The official 2015 OzTam television ratings period begins.In a rare programming move, Channel Seven will not air a traditional 6pm Seven News bulletin in capital cities, instead airing a documentary Inside the Siege: The Untold Story, featuring exclusive interviews with Melissa Doyle on the survivors of the 2014 Martin Place siege.9From 9 February until 29 March, Fox Sports 3 features cricket programming exclusively, coordinating with the Australian hosted 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.15The second part of telemovie The House of Hancock goes to air with last minute edits and a disclaimer, following legal action from the series' subject Gina Rinehart, on the grounds of defamation.17Russian based news channel RT (Russia Today) launches on the Foxtel platform on channel 658.Christian-based religious channel Daystar launches on the Foxtel platform on channel 193.
March Date Event Source12The subscription television industry's ASTRA Awards are held in Sydney, hosted by Giuliana Rancic. Sky News Australia wins the major award of 'channel of the year.'15Horse racing subscription channel TVN closes, following a separation agreement between its NSW and Victorian shareholdersAndrew Flintoff wins the inaugural series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.16Millionaire Hot Seat gives away $540,000 to a contestant, a record for both the show and Australian afternoon game shows, eclipsing $535,500 given away by rival show Million Dollar Minute five months earlier.21Sky Racing World will be replaced by Sky Thoroughbred Central, designed to cater to fans of thoroughbred racing following the earlier closure of TVN. Additionally, the channel will be moved to the basic tier of the Foxtel platform.22Nominations for the 2015 Logie Awards are announced, with Andy Lee, Asher Keddie, Carrie Bickmore, Hamish Blake, Scott Cam and Stephen Peacocke all nominated for the Gold Logie. With 32 nominations, the ABC has the most of any network. Home & Away has the most nominations by a TV programme.23Foxtel launches its next generation iQ3 set top box. 24American streaming service Netflix launches in Australia.27Studio will be removed from the Foxtel platform, and its programming will continue solely on SBS One and SBS on Demand. Andrew Skarbek wins $1,016,000 on Million Dollar Minute, a record for an Australian afternoon game show (beating the previous record of Millionaire Hot Seat on 16 March), as well as the largest amount of money given away on Australian television (beating $1,000,000 prizes on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Big Brother and The Big Adventure).28Foxtel Arts will launch on the Foxtel platform, as a replacement for Studio A two-hour timeshift channel for Foxtel Movies Disney launches on the Foxtel platform on channel 415.Channels Seven, Nine and the ABC in Sydney, as well as ABC News 24 and Sky News Live nationally, will provide coverage of the 2015 NSW state election. ABC Sydney's coverage was most watched with 157,000 viewers while Sky's national coverage rated lowest with 49,000 viewers.29A two-week Easter break in OzTam television ratings begins.The final of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup becomes the most watched event of the year to date, with an average estimated 3.81 million national viewers watching the event between both Channel Nine and Fox Sports.31The Seven Network renews its exclusive broadcast rights to the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race until 2021.
April Date Event Source10The ABC's Australia Plus portal becomes the first mainstream western media outlet with a registered portal in China.12Official OzTam ratings resume after a two-week non-ratings period over Easter.It is revealed Prime Minister Tony Abbott will meet in private with the CEOs of Seven, Nine and Ten during the week ahead to discuss possible media reform, which could result in mergers between companies.Fiona Falkiner will replace Hayley Lewis on this year's season of The Biggest Loser. Falkiner was previously a contestant on the program's first season.25Ronan Keating reveals he will not return to The X Factor panel this year. Sister of pop superstar Kylie, Dannii Minogue confirms her return.26The World Game reporter Scott McIntyre is sacked by broadcaster SBS over inappropriate anti-Anzac tweets29Dee and Darren Jolly win The Block taking home 935,000 following the auction, the highest win in the shows' history. Collectively, the four couples took home $3,165,000 making it the most money given away in a single episode by any television program worldwide.NITV make a formal complaint against ACT Police claiming one of its journalists was intimidated while filming a protest march in Canberra.30Ten Network Holdings posts a net loss of A$264.4 million for the six months to March 2015.
May Date Event Source3The Project co-host Carrie Bickmore wins the Gold Logie at the 57th TV Week Logie Awards.It is announced that singers James Blunt and Chris Isaak will join returning judge Guy Sebastian and existing judge Dannii Minogue as judges on the upcoming season of The X Factor.4Steve Flood and Will Stewart win the sixth season of My Kitchen Rules, becoming the first all male team to do so in the series' history.6Residents from the Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt and the Mayor of Blacktown Stephen Bali lead a call for SBS ONE to dump its three part series Struggle Street, labelling it "poverty porn" and saying the series unfairly portrayed participants in the docu-series and stereotyping locals. Blacktown Council stages a protest using garbage trucks outside SBS offices in Artarmon. The series goes to air as planned, winning its timeslot nationally and is the most watched program on television that night in Sydney, with the controversy claimed for the record ratings.Daniel McPherson announces he will quit as host of Dancing with the Stars to focus on his acting career.7Tracy Grimshaw, the host of the Nine Network's flagship current affairs programme A Current Affair is taken to hospital after she fell off a horse in Sydney.8SBS sacks journalist Marion Ives over a post on Facebook. 12The Labor Party announces it will block proposed laws which would allow the partially Government funded SBS to run more adverts during primetime.The Government cuts AU$1 million in funding to Screen Australia, who in turn warn it may result in reduced funding of Australian produced television programs.13SBS quits the Freeview group.20SBS will broadcast the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals and finals live for the first time in Australia, with Australia competing and voting for the first time in the annual event.22WIN Television closes regional newsrooms in both Mildura and Mackay without warning, citing commercial viability.23The Morning Show regular and radio presenter Glenn Wheeler speaks for the first time since awaking from a coma following a motorcycle accident in January.27Sunrise co-host David Koch quits as chairman of the Organ and Tissue Authority after a Today Tonight story questioned the group's spending of public money, and additionally lashes out at Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash for launching an inquiry after being lobbied by a third party lobby group.Both ABC and SBS managing directors Mark Scott and Michael Ebeid face a Senate estimates hearing. Among the topics discussed with Scott were aggressive interviewing during the 2015 Australian federal budget, whether Q&A is biased towards leftist politics and his own future at the ABC. Ebeid was asked about controversial series Struggle Street, the cost of Australia's participation in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, how American sitcoms such as 30 Rock comply with the SBS charter and SBS refusing to air an anti same-sex marriage ad during its coverage of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
June