Red Heart was a joint venture between the Seven Network and Granada PLC between c. 1999 and 2001. It brought together all of its Australian parents' TV production resources, except those used for Seven's news and soaps.
One theory states that Granada was looking to buy Seven's core, through it eventually owning 100% of Red Heart. Red Heart may have also eventually controlled Seven's news and soaps. This was a time when "content is king" was a popular idea.
Australia's Broadcasting Services Act 1992 disallows foreign entities owning more than 15% of any TV station licence holder, but owning a company that provides a station with 100% of its content for 99% of its income is fine. (CanWest found another way around the law to own a majority stake of Network Ten).
However, Granada decided to pull out of Red Heart when it realised it could make more money selling Australian programs to other Australian broadcasters than it would just supplying Seven. It has been rare to see Australian-made Granada programs on the screen.
Famous quotes containing the words red and/or heart:
“In writing biography, fact and fiction shouldn’t be mixed. And if they are, the fictional points should be printed in red ink, the facts printed in black ink.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)
“To revolutionize, at one effort, the universal world of human thought, human opinion, and human sentiment.... All that he has to do is to write and publish a very little book. Its title should be simple—a few plain words—”My Heart Laid Bare.” But—this little book must be true to its title.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)