What’s it called? Monorail!
There’s a reason why this photograph may look familiar. Plus, the local implications of Stephen Colbert's sacking.
Sydney may have closed its monorail down, and The Simpsons certainly gave them a bad reputation, but this “futuristic” form of transport is still a big thing in many parts of the world.
Of course, Brisbane had its own monorail for a very brief period of time — during World Expo 88. But like so many of the attractions that made Expo great, it was packed up once the carnival was over and never seen again.
Except if you are reading this, you’ve just seen it. Former Gold Coaster Evan Davis, who is now living in England, took this photo in Rust*, Germany, and kindly allowed me to publish it here.
It’s a centrepiece of the Europa-Park report, which seems to be Europe’s answer to Disneyland (if you don’t count the actual Disneyland Paris).
Evan also took this video of the monorail arriving at a station:
Evan tells me: “I tried to look inside for anything that may have referenced Brisbane/Expo, but didn’t see anything.
“The inside does look a little dated, but the air-conditioning was obviously quite modern (driver came past with a remote control and I saw the digital display… pretty sure that tech wasn’t around in 1988).”
Do you have some fond memories of World Expo 88? Let me know via the comments or by email.
*I was going to make a joke about it being a place that never sleeps but feared nobody would get it.
Colbert connection
What has the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the United States got to do with Australians other than those who watch the show (or segments of it posted online)?
Well, it offers an insight not just into the political situation in the US (where, itis alleged, there are strings attached if you want a favourable decision from the administration), but also the way television is heading globally.
Despite being no.1 among the network late-night programs, Colbert’s show is — officially at least — being cancelled (effective May next year) for financial reasons.
Whether the show makes a profit is hard to tell, because there is no official breakdown of numbers. But financial data tends to suggest that the CBS television network is making money, even if its parent company, Paramount, is not.
The argument goes that, since Paramount is seeking a merger with Skydance Entertainment, which the US Government must approve, it needs to present the best possible set of financial figures it can.
The fate of Paramount is directly linked to the future of its Australian offshoot, the Ten Network, which has seen its own cost-cutting lately (most obvious via the axing of The Project, which was replaced by the cheaper, but ratings-averse, 10 News+).
More generally, though, the situation with Paramount speaks to the fact that free-to-air (FTA) broadcast television ain’t what it used to be — and that’s a big issue for all commercial networks in Australia.
The future will see further cutbacks, big programming changes and, eventually, fewer FTA stations until everything on TV comes via the internet and is on a pay-for-view basis (or stuffed so full of ads that it is barely watchable).
Broadcast television in Brisbane was just over a year old when I was born. It has, with the exception of the nightly news, long ceased to be “local”. Now it seems likely that I will outlive it altogether.
Thanks to Big Bro, Paul, Cate, Dee, Brian, Rocky, C, Bob and others who’ve supported this blog and my other projects. If you wish to do so, you, too, can buy me a coffee.
P.S.
Rumours doing the rounds at one Brisbane media HQ is that an on-air personality was still a little merry from the night before during a recent broadcast. Either that or their unusual giggling was caused by something else the audience didn’t know about.