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= Opal = Outback Opal Hunters is an Australian factual television show which follows opal miners in Australia. The series is produced by Prospero Productions and began on the Discovery Channel on 8 February 2018. The series has been broadcast in over 100 countries including the United Kingdom and United States.

The fifth season concluded on 26 November 2020. The sixth season is set to premiere on 11 February 2021.

Premise
The series follows opal miners in various locations of Australia as they strive to reach their individually set season target (measured in Australian dollars).

Production
In August 2017 it was announced Discovery had commissioned Outback Opal Hunters, a factual series from Prospero Productions which follows opal miners across New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD) and Coober Pedy, South Australia (SA). The eight episode first season premiered on 8 February 2018. In September 2018 it was announced the series had been renewed for a 13 episode second season which would expand into Western Australia (WA). The second season which was filmed in Lightning Ridge (NSW), Opalton (QLD), Coober Pedy (SA) and Laverton (WA) premiered on 31 January 2019. The third season consisting of eight episodes was filmed across Lightning Ridge (NSW), Opalton (QLD), Laverton (WA), White Cliffs (NSW), Sheepyard (NSW) and Mintabie (SA). The season premiered on 17 October 2019. Season four which consisted of 12 episodes premiered on 6 February 2020. The fifth season premiered on 8 October 2020. In December 2020 it was reported as part of Foxtel's 2021 Upfronts the series would return for its sixth season on 11 February 2021.

Broadcast
As of May 2020 the series has been broadcast in over 100 countries.

Ratings
The series has been a domestic and international ratings success. Executive Producer Darren Chau speaking with Mediaweek in May 2020 said "Aussie Gold Hunters has been the #1 factual series on Foxtel for the last three successive years. Outback Opal Hunters is right behind it." Additionally he said in the United Kingdom "Outback Opal Hunters is top five on Quest". The series premiered in the United States on Discovery Channel in November 2019 where its success saw the series roll straight into the second season.

Accolades
The series was nominated for Best Documentary Series at the Screen Producers Australia Awards in 2018.

= Aussie Gold Hunters =

Premise
The series follows gold miners in various locations of Western Australia and Victoria as they strive to reach their individually set season target (measured in ounces of gold). They use a variety of mining techniques including use of metal detectors of surface or excavated soil for gold nuggets; and sluicing, dry blowing or gold cyanidation for gold particles.

Production
The first season of eight episodes produced by Electric Pictures premiered on 15 September 2016. In March 2017 the series was renewed for a 10 episode second season, which premiered on 6 July 2017. In March 2018 the series was renewed for a 13 episode third season, which premiered on 31 May 2018. In September 2018 the series was renewed for a 13 episode fourth season, which premiered on 2 May 2019. In Octobee 2019 the series was renewed for 40 episodes across two seasons. The 20 episode fifth season premiered on 30 April 2020.

Parker's Trails crossover
In 2020, season four of Gold Rush: Parker's Trail featured gold mining in Australia. The season saw former Aussie Gold Hunters' cast member Tyler Mahoney in a main role. There were also guest appearances by former cast members Jake Larsen demonstrating heap leaching, as well as Ted and Lecky Mahoney teaching the process of pegging land leases.

Reception
The series has been a local and international ratings sucess. "For a few years now it has been one of the most successful shows on Foxtel"

- Andrew Ogilvie (Electric Picture’s founder and CEO) In addition, in the United Kingdom where the series is broadcast on Quest Aussie Gold Hunters is consistently the channel's top rating show of the week as well as frequently ranking in the top 10 of non-public broadcasting shows.

Broadcast
As of May 2020, Aussie Gold Hunters has been broadcast in 125 countries with an estimated reach of 40 million viewers.

=Fox Crime Merger=

Fox Crime is an Australian subscription television channel primarily screening crime drama television series. The channel launched on 7 November 2019, replacing TVHits.

TVHits (2014–2019)
In August 2013 it was announced Foxtel had failed to complete negotiations with the TV1 General Entertainment Partnership for a new carriage deal for their channel TV1, an Australian general entertainment channel dedicated to hit television series. As a result, Foxtel planned to replace it with another general entertainment channel once TV1's carriage deal had expired. In October 2013 it was announced TVHits, a channel owned and operated by Foxtel Networks, would replace TV1 on 1 January 2014.

On 1 January 2014, the channel launched on pay television provider Foxtel (which included its streaming service Foxtel Go as well as its IPTV service Foxtel Play) as well as on Australian IPTV provider Fetch TV.

On 1 January 2019 TVHits ceased broadcasting on Fetch TV as the provider and TVHits parent company Foxtel were unable to renew their supply agreement.

TVHits programming
At launch, TVHits' programming primarily consisted of hit American shows from Warner Bros., Carsey-Werner, Sony Pictures Television, CBS Studios International and NBCUniversal. However, following the rebrand of 111 on 1 November 2015, the channel's sitcoms moved to 111 and as a result, the channel became solely focused on dramas.

Fox Crime (2019–present)
In late 2019 Foxtel announced they would launch four new entertainment channels on 7 November 2019, one of which being Fox Crime. Fox Crime was described as offering crime and mystery series such as the CSI and NCIS franchises. This new channel would replace the existing TVHits which offered similar content. These new Fox-branded channels were a means of building and consolidating the Fox brand to combat increasing competition in the subscription television marketplace.

Programming

 * Bones
 * Cold Case
 * Criminal Minds
 * CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
 * CSI: Miami
 * CSI: New York
 * NCIS
 * NCIS: Los Angeles
 * NCIS: New Orleans
 * Without a Trace

As TVHits

 * The 100
 * Blue Bloods
 * Damages
 * Entertainment Now
 * Everybody Loves Raymond
 * Friends
 * Hawaii Five-0
 * How I Met Your Mother
 * Law & Order
 * The Mentalist
 * Mike & Molly
 * The Nanny
 * Seinfeld
 * That '70s Show
 * Two And A Half Men
 * Under the Dome

History
On 8 December 2008 it was announced that an Australian public affairs channel called A-SPAN (an acronym for Australian Subscription Public Affairs Channel) would launch on 20 January 2009. The channel format is modelled on the American public affairs network C-SPAN. The news came after reports the ABC were considering launching a dedicated public affairs digital channel. Prior to launch the channel renamed as A-PAC (an acronym for Australian Public Affairs Channel). A-PAC is a not for profit independent channel funded by Austar and Foxtel, and produced by Sky News Australia.

The channel officially launched on the morning of 20 January 2009, with the inauguration of United States President Barack Obama airing on its first day, using a feed from U.S. cable channel C-SPAN.

Despite originally planned to occur on 26 April 2009, on 17 May 2009 A-PAC began broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, along with sister channels Sky News Business Channel and Sky News Australia.

On 24 May 2012, Foxtel acquired Austar, which saw Foxtel become the sole stakeholder of A-PAC.

In February 2014, A-PAC had an on-air refresh, as well as launched a revamped website and a new weekly newsletter. In addition, Sky News presenter Helen Dalley was appointed as channel host.

On 1 December 2016, News Corp Australia acquired A-PAC in a purchase which saw the company also acquire full ownership of the Australian News Channel.

Programming
A-PAC content features live broadcasts from Australia's Parliament House in Canberra (including sittings of the House of Representatives, the Senate, parliamentary Committee meetings and political press conferences), the parliaments of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland as well as sittings of the United States Congress, live broadcasts of speeches from the Australian National Press Club and a program which provides coverage of the New Zealand and British parliaments. Material from the United Nations and the European Parliament is also aired.

Availability
At launch A-PAC was available via satellite and cable television on channel 607; and was later made available by Internet streaming on its website, as well as on free-to-air digital television in Sydney as a trial.

On 15 November 2009, A-PAC's channel location for Foxtel changed from Channel 607 to Channel 648.

From 1 May 2016, the service's linear channel was replaced by Sky News Election Channel, resulting in the service only being available on the Sky News Multiview service and online. Although the service was originally planned to relaunch as a linear channel on 30 November 2016, this was later postponed, and ultimately the linear channel did not return until 24 January 2017. The relaunch did, however, see A-PAC obtain Sky News Election Channel's HD feed, seeing the channel available in high definition for the first time.

A-PAC content is streamed on the Internet in Windows Media (wmv) formats with a choice of 160 kbit/s and 2 Mbit/s streaming bit rates. However, availability of the Internet-streamed content is limited. The wmv-only format means that A-PAC content cannot be streamed on popular mobile phones such as the iPhone. The audio channel is not streamed separately (as an audio stream), further limiting the potential audience.

Other
In addition to television and film, Working Dog Productions have also ventured into books, stage shows, and podcasts.

Books
Books which have been published by Working Dog include, but are not limited to, mock travel guides. Books published by Working Dog include:
 * Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch, 2003. ISBN 1-58567-619-5
 * Phaic Tan: Sunstroke on a Shoestring by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch, 2004. ISBN 0-8118-5365-9
 * San Sombrero: A Land of Carnivals, Cocktails and Coups by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch, 2006. ISBN 0-8118-5619-4
 * ''Molvanian Baby Names: With Meanings, Derivations And Probable Pronunciations, by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch 2009. ISBN 978-1-74066-859-0

Stage
Working Dog produced the stage show The Speechmaker. The show was written by Working Dog's Sitch, Cilauro and Gleisner and had a sellout season at the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Format
The series sees the host ask questions, of which only correct answers are rewarded with points. In addition to questions regarding the previous week's events, the contestants are also quizzed in various other games. Generally, two of these segments are played in each episode.

Regular segments
Over or Under: Each contestant individually watches a clip from RBT and must guess if the person is "over or under" the legal drinking limit (which is .05 in Australia).

Trash or Treasure: Each contestant individually watches a clip from Antiques Roadshow and must guess if the item the person has is worth under £1000 (trash) or is worth over £1000 (treasure).

Going, Going, Gone: A series of questions about famous items being sold over the past week and contestants must answer what it is famous for, or which famous person used or owned it.

Either/Or: The original variation of the above three and is used primarily to test the contestants' understanding of complicated (or amusing) names in the news.

General subject segments: News events from the past week which can be grouped into the categories of Showbiz or Sport.

Guest Quizmasters segment: Often about ten questions in length at each interval in the program. The questions asked are usually related to the guest quizmaster (e.g. a guest quizmaster who is appearing as they were formally a contestant on The Bachelor ask questions regarding events which occurred on the series).

Celebrity Questions: Added in 2016, a celebrity asks a set of questions based on them or their work. Similar to the Guest Quizmasters segment in nature.

Final Round: Titled Rapid Recall, this is the final segment of the show and sees contestants required to answer as quickly as possible as the segment is timed. This is the only segment during the show where the scores are not readily shown.

Production and broadcast
The series was first commissioned by Network Ten on 25 October 2013, with the first season to consist of 8 episodes which would air over the final four weeks of ratings season and first four weeks of Summer ratings.

In February 2014, it was reported in an interview with host and co-executive producer Tom Gleisner that Network Ten had given the series an "open-ended" run for its 2014 season. The second season premiered on 23 February 2014 in the new timeslot of 6pm Sunday. On 9 April 2014, part way through the second season, it was announced that the show would be moved from the 6pm Sunday timeslot to 9.30pm Monday, and expanded to a one-hour format. The later timeslot would allow the series to include more adult themes. Following a six week hiatus, the show returned on Monday 19 May 2014. Beginning on 14 July, season two moved an hour earlier to 8:30pm as a result of the low ratings of 24: Live Another Day which previously occupied the timeslot.

On 29 September 2014, it was reported that a Year in Review special had been commissioned which would air later in the year. The special aired on 17 November 2014, reviewing the top news stories of the past 12 months.

On 14 November 2014, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on 11 May 2015.

A second Year in Review special aired following the third season, premiering on 23 November 2015.

On 26 October 2015, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on 9 May 2016. In October 2016, part of the set was revamped to include illuminating buzzers and minor changes in graphics.

Filming
The series is filmed at Network Ten studios in South Yarra, Melbourne in front of a live studio audience. The series was originally filmed on a Saturday, but successive seasons saw filming moved to Sundays. Filming the day prior to airing, the series aims to be as current as possible. Due to the potentially offensive or inappropriate answers given by guests, alternate endings are filmed should episode winners change during post-production when such answers are excluded from airing.

Specials
On 29 September 2014, it was reported that a Year in Review special had been commissioned which would air later in the year. The special aired on 17 November 2014, reviewing the top news stories of the past 12 months. A second Year in Review special aired the following year, premiering on 23 November 2015.

Home media
=References=