An official announcement was made earlier today that the Nine Network has finally bitten the bullet and sold the first run rights of niche shows: Chuck, Privileged, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Pushing Daisies to Foxtel. So you may ask, why did Nine sell them to Foxtel instead of Network Ten or Seven. The main reason is Nine do not want to see their rivals benefit from their own loss, every year the ratings race is a tightly fought out battle and Nine do not want to give their rivals any fire power which might come back to bite them. But where does this leave viewers who don’t have Foxtel? This will only drive people towards piracy and given Australians already top the list in downloading illegal TV shows, these numbers will only sky-rocket. This output deal notion is flawed and should be overhauled to allow networks to bid for shows that target their audience or perhaps trading of shows between networks?

Chuck season one premieres on FOX8 January 2009.

Privileged season one premieres on FOX8 early 2009.

Pushing Daisies series premieres on W early 2009.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles season one premieres on FOX8 January 2009.

So for all you couch potatoes who want to sample great drama and haven’t downloaded the aforementioned shows, I’d highly recommend them all. If you don’t have enough time to watch them all, after thinking long and hard here is how I would rank them (Hopefully it makes it a lot easier):

1. Privileged

2. Chuck

=3. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

=3. Pushing Daisies

Press Release:

FOXTEL announced today it has secured a range of exclusive new U.S. programming for its Owned & Operated Channels following an agreement with Channel Nine and Warner Bros.

The new series, Chuck, Privileged, Pushing Daisies and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, will all screen exclusively on FOXTEL from early next month. Under the deal terms, Channel Nine has relinquished its first run window to FOXTEL, which will have exclusive first run rights to all series.

FOXTEL Executive Director of Television and Marketing Brian Walsh said: “In obtaining these compelling, quality U.S. programs, FOXTEL reinforces its robust commitment to provide our subscribers with more exclusive and first run programming.

“We continue to deliver the premium programming across a range of genres to our viewers – ahead of other television networks – and the new Warner Bros series add to the already impressive line-up of first run series screening on FOXTEL this summer including the hit shows Gossip Girl, Entourage, America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway and American Idol, as well as Australian programs An Aussie Goes Calypso, and new series The Phone.”

Chuck
Season One Exclusive Australian Premiere in January 2009 on FOX8 (as seen on U.S. network NBC).

When Chuck Bartowski opens an email subliminally encoded with the government’s most precious secrets, he unwittingly downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain. Now the fate of the world lies in the unlikely hands of a guy who works at a Buy More Electronics store. Instead of fighting computer viruses, he must now confront assassins and international terrorists.

Privileged
Season One Exclusive Australian Premiere in early 2009 on FOX8 (as seen on U.S. network CW).

Megan Smith is having a bad day, her New York apartment burned down, she just got fired from her job at a tabloid magazine and she accidentally dyed her hair an unnervingly bright colour. Things start to look up when she is offered a position in Palm Beach, working as a tutor for 16-year-old twin billionaires. In exchange for getting the girls into Duke University, Megan will get to live amongst the rich and fabulous, and have the remainder of her college loans covered. Privileged is based on the book How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls by Zoey Dean.

Pushing Daisies
Series One Exclusive Australian Premiere in early 2009 on W. (as seen on U.S. network ABC).

As a boy, Ned discovered that he could return the dead briefly back to life with just one touch. Now a pie maker, Ned puts his ability to good use touching dead fruit to make it ripe with everlasting flavour, and working with a private investigator to crack murder cases by raising the dead to name their killers. But the tale gets complicated when Ned brings his childhood sweetheart, Chuck, back from the dead – and keeps her alive. Life would be perfect for Ned and Chuck, except for one cruel twist – if he ever touches her again, she’ll go back to being dead and this time for good.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Season One begins January 2009 followed by Australian Premiere of Season Two on FOX8 (As seen on U.S. network FOX).

At the end of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” Sarah Connor vanquished the Terminator sent from the future to kill her 15-year-old son, John. Sarah and John now find themselves alone in a very dangerous, complicated world. Fugitives from the law, they are confronted with the reality that still more enemies from the future and the present could attack at any moment. John knows he may be the future saviour of mankind, but he is not yet ready to take on the mantle of leadership that he’s told is his destiny.

These exciting new programs add to the stellar line-up for the 2009 season, including 15 local productions such as Australia’s Next Top Model Series Five, Project Runway (Australia) Series Two, Football Superstar Series Two, and new comedy programs The Pam Ann Show and 30 Seconds.