Damien O'Meara (he/him)

From flickering screens to streaming dreams: 100 years of broadcast TV - ABC listen Free-to-air TV was the original disrupter. Does it have a place in the digital age?

Hear my list of the most iconic moments from Aussie TV on ABC’s Nightlife last night!

What are yours?

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

What would Australian culture look like without broadcast television? | TV Tonight RMIT brings together industry experts from TV production, news, advertising, and policy to tackle a philosophical question.

Lovely to see our upcoming Broadcast TV symposium covered in TV Tonight: tvtonight.com.au/2026/02/what...

Poster listing 17 speakers for the 100 Years of Broadcast Symposium.

Final speaker lineup for the ‘100 Years of Broadcast TV Symposium’ coming up this Friday (6 Feb) at RMIT! www.rmit.edu.au/events/2026/...

Date: Friday 6 February 2026
Time: 9.30am–5.00pm (Networking drinks to follow at The Oxford Scholar)
Location: Kaleide Theatre, 360 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Cost: $50 regular; $25 students

www.rmit.edu.au/events/2026/...

Aussie TV people: Dean Dezius, General Manager of Freeview Australia and Marco Angele, Media and Entertainment Lawyer at Marshalls + Dent + Wilmoth are joining the ‘100 Years of Broadcast TV symposium' to talk about TV Today and Beyond. www.rmit.edu.au/events/2026/...

1oo Years of Broadcast TV Symposium: The impact and future of broadcast TV in Australia RMIT University's Streaming Industries and Genres Network (SIGN) proudly present the '100 Years of Broadcast TV Symposium', which reflects on the impact of the broadcast signal across media and commun...

Further panels to be announced within a week covering TV Advertising, and TV Today and Beyond

Tickets are on sale to cover our costs, join us for an exciting day of discussions. www.rmit.edu.au/events/2026/...

Confirmed speakers include our keynote address by Professor Jock Given (Swinburne), and panellists Amanda Higgs (Matchbox Pictures), Mitch McTaggart (The Last Year of Television), and Jessica Balanzategui (Associate Professor in Media and Cinema at RMIT) discussing Australia’s television history.

RMIT University's Streaming Industries and Genres Network (SIGN) proudly presents the '100 Years of Broadcast TV Symposium', which reflects on the impact of the broadcast signal across media and communication industries in Australia.

Is there a future for Australian news on broadcast TV?

Join Hugh Nailon (Nine National News Director) and Justin Stevens (ABC News Director) in conversation with Professor Alexandra Wake about the history and future of TV news in Australia.

www.rmit.edu.au/events/2026/...

A photo of the book Neuromancer in the foreground, with a dog looking at a window in the background.

Neuromancer by William Gibson inspired The Matrix, birthed cyberpunk, and I realise now has influenced many things I love. Read it while on a NYE tiny house retreat. It was immersive, frenetic, poetic, and gritty. Looking forward to Count Zero (book two) next up.

Okay Bluesky, my 2026 goal is to fill the glaring gaps in my sci-fi reading. Starting this thread to keep a record for accountability, but also feel free to reply with your recommendations.

Join a conversation with Amanda Higgs (Matchbox Pictures), Mitch McTaggart (The Last Year of Television), and Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT) for our first of four panels reflecting on the impact and future of broadcast TV in Australia.
www.rmit.edu.au/events/2026/...

YouTube video by Tara Brabazon Post 127 - Seeing beyond the present (The New Year's Post)

The year after finishing a PhD is tough. How we support early career colleagues remains crucial to our academic future. This week's Post learns from the remarkable Dr Damien O'Meara. How do we build success, inclusion, momentum and meaning? New Post - seeing beyond the present: youtu.be/L-laFC91ptE

Immediately adding to the list!

Dossier: Sites of struggle: Television’s cultural and economic value - Amy Boyle, Alexander Beare, Robert Boucaut, Marion McCutcheon, Damien John O’Meara, Sue Turnbull, Elke Weissmann, 2026 In the age of the Anthropocene, television can play a key role in shifting ideologies. However, achieving this is difficult when television continues to operate...

Excellent start to 2026! I contributed to this roundtable dossier, led by Dr Amy Boyle: “Sites of struggle: Television’s cultural and economic value.”

My section examines queer authenticity and publicity in Australian TV drama.

doi.org/10.1177/1749...

An Academic Affair The Love Hypothesis meets The Hating Game in a new standalone rom-com from New York Times acclaimed author and romance academic Jodi McAlister.   S...

If you're in Australia - the ebook version of An Academic Affair is currently $4.99 on all platforms! It's got academic rivals,* a marriage of convenience, and staunch unionism, and I'm quite proud of it.

*written by me, an academic

A poster with the question “What happens if we switch off broadcast TV?” At the top. A television is sitting in a paddock.

Switching off broadcast TV is already being debated in various markets. But what do we stand to lose?

RMIT’s 100 Years of Broadcast TV Symposium reflects on the impact of the broadcast signal in Australia. www.sign-research.com/cfps-events

If there was ever a case for the urgent funding of humanities education, it’s this. Surely the editorial leadership of a magazine had to complete an intro to media studies course at some point in their education, right?

Loved getting the chance to talk about streaming, corporate takeovers and the need for diverse content and funding in Australia with Grace McKinnon at ABC.

🥲 we had a good run.

The speed at which the face scanner verified I was old enough to be on social media felt like an insult.

Apparently I’m so expressive that there’s no way to get a screenshot of my recent appearance on BTN without this face. More importantly, it’s the first time I’ve had a TV interview since I added Stella’s portrait to my media shelf! www.abc.net.au/btn/classroo...

New laws will force streaming giants to invest in local content – but it’s too soon to celebrate Much remains uncertain about how the legislation will practically affect streamers such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+.

Insightful analysis from my RMIT colleague Alexa Scarlata in @aunz.theconversation.com about the Aus gov’s newly announced streamer regulation. theconversation.com/new-laws-wil...

A Protein Antibiotic Inhibits the BAM Complex to Kill Without Cell Entry Many antibiotics are ineffective against Gram-negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa because they cannot penetrate the bacterial outer membrane. Here, we show that protein antibiotics calle...

Check out our preprint in which we determine how a class of potent protein antibiotics specifically kill P. aeruginosa without a need to enter the cell.

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

This is work from my PhD in the lab of @rhyswg.bsky.social and many collaborators who contributed amazing data!

Absolutely stoked to have been part of the team to deliver the 14th Australian Media Traditions conference last week. So many highlights, but here are a few pics of some exciting moments!

A look into the decades of labour that helped bring LGBTQIA+ stories to Australian TV

Australian TV has changed significantly over the past 15 years, with a boom in queer stories since the 2010s. New research sheds light on how these changes happened.

A look into the decades of labour that helped bring LGBTQIA+ stories to Australian TV Australian TV has changed significantly over the past 15 years, with a boom in queer stories since the 2010s. New research sheds light on how these changes happened.

Have you ever thought about the hidden labour behind queer representations on our screens? theconversation.com/a-look-into-...

#NewPublication (Media, Culture & Society): ‘Interviewing out lesbian, gay and bisexual creatives and executives about getting queer stories in mainstream Australian scripted television’.

A huge thank you to all the Aus television creatives and executives who took part.

doi.org/10.1177/0163...