Odyssey Channel
Encyclopedia
The Odyssey Channel was an award-winning documentary channel
that was previously available on Optus Vision
in Australia
.
It was one of the few channels on pay TV
in Australia that had a large amount of Australian content available. During the channel's existence, it won major awards at numerous international conferences.
Due to the CSA (Content Sharing Agreement) between Optus and Foxtel
, it was closed in 2004. Foxtel wouldn't allow it on their platform due to it competing with their license of the Discovery Channel
brand, and Optus decided it could no longer fund it.
-winning content providers and recipients of major prizes at prestigious documentary film festivals. They had a reputation for quality and diversity and were well received by viewers and the media alike. The programming, some of them having never been seen before on Australian television, covered eight genres:
Some content shown on the channel was sourced from the American
and Canadian
television network
Home & Garden Television (HGTV).
Documentary channel
A documentary channel is a specialty channel which focuses on broadcasting documentaries. Some documentary channels further specialize by dedicating their television programming to specific types of documentaries or documentaries in a specific area of knowledge. DOC: The Documentary Channel and The...
that was previously available on Optus Vision
Optus Television
Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.-History:Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between, Optus and Continental Cablevision with small shareholdings by media companies Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and Seven...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
It was one of the few channels on pay TV
Pay TV
Pay television, premium television, or premium channels refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television...
in Australia that had a large amount of Australian content available. During the channel's existence, it won major awards at numerous international conferences.
Due to the CSA (Content Sharing Agreement) between Optus and Foxtel
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....
, it was closed in 2004. Foxtel wouldn't allow it on their platform due to it competing with their license of the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
brand, and Optus decided it could no longer fund it.
Programming
Odyssey Channel's programs were sourced from the world's best distributors, prominent independent filmmakers, Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning content providers and recipients of major prizes at prestigious documentary film festivals. They had a reputation for quality and diversity and were well received by viewers and the media alike. The programming, some of them having never been seen before on Australian television, covered eight genres:
- Issues
- History
- People and Places
- Science and Technology
- Popular Culture
- Nature
- Arts and Entertainment
- Lifestyle
- NOVANOVA (TV series)Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
Some content shown on the channel was sourced from the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
Home & Garden Television (HGTV).