Category Archives: news

Watch Hulu (and others) from outside the US

A few weeks ago I talked about how Brett’s Special Fancy (the internet proxy and not the biscuit) didn’t really work so well anymore and how there was a new option.

It took me a while to hunt through my notes and find what I was talking about but here is a tutorial about using proxy system Hotspot Shield to view Hulu and it may also work for other sites.

Let us know in the comments if this works for you or if you have other ways around this problem.

via Tinkernut

Mia Cross has started to Twitter. That’s right. The fictional, plagiarising Lolita from Californication is now also pretending to be a real person in the lead-up to the new series of the show that disappointed everybody with its final episode.

Showtime, the cable network in the US that produces Californication has been using viral marketing on the web quite well for some of their programmes. Most notable is the video/SMS campaign for the second season of Dexter.

The thing is, Mia Cross is totally the kind of character who would start on Twitter because their agent thought it was a good and quick way to get a profile without them even understanding the concept of the community or how it works.

Meanwhile, Lost‘s ?ber-invasive conspiracy body, The Dharma Initiative, has been seeking and testing new recruits. Fans of Lost, me included, are excited to get an insight into the organisation that harnessed the magical island’s magnetic energy and ran tests on humans and animals alike. Actually, some of us, me included, are excited just to get a Dharma Initiative ID card.

The question that comes to mind, though, is what are the marketing people thinking this does for a show? Will it build audience directly? Will it strengthen the brand in a viewer’s mind so that he or she becomes an evangalist for the programme? Or is it just throwing crap at a wall and hoping it sticks?

Breaking News

The Australian reports that Sunday and Nightline have both been axed by the Nine Network.

Two news and current affairs programmes that once stood tall in the jungle of commercial network reportage are now gone. Over the past few years both shows, but Sunday especially, were stripped of their traditions and leadership.

It’s a sad day for network news.

The A-List Awards

Bravo TV, who we mentioned a few weeks ago now have a deal with our own Arena, threw their own awards ceremony the other day called The A-List Awards.

Anyway, Lauren Hutton won something called the Beuty Icon or something like that.

You can see her acceptance speech at http://video.bravotv.com/player/?id=259862.

It’s worth clicking on. Trust me.

Ray Martin Quits

After 30 years at Nine, Ray Martin has quit the network.

With reports of his discontent last year – before the reinstatement of David Gyngell as network chief executive – the snubbing of his pitch for a chat show and the earlier start time for the Sunday programme, it’s not much of a surprise.

Martin began at the network as a reporter on 60 Minutes, continuing as host of Midday and A Current Affair, with any number of special hosting gigs thrown in over the years.

Both David Gyngell and Martin claim it’s an amicable split.

Full report from AAP at NineMSN

Wayne Carey Sacked From Nine

Ross mentioned this in the comments but it’s worth having its own post.

Wayne Carey, after being arrested the other night (as we discussed on episode 117), has been fired from Nine.

And the Nine Network this morning said it had sacked the former football great turned commentator, a day after radio station 3AW announced his contract would not be renewed.

So now, the only good thing in Footy Classified, according to Ross, is gone. How will Nine sustain the one year old show? Who will replace Carey in his important role? The 50 people who watch Footy Classified will want to know.

Source: The Age

TiVo are calling for Beta Testers

If you’re interested in testing out the new Australian version of TiVo, they’re currently looking for Beta testers. You will get a TiVo box in your home and will have to do some homework that goes along with it but I’m sure it will be an interesting look at how it’s going to work. It will also give you some say in how it works and that’s always worthwhile.

Go here: http://www.tivo.com.au/testtivo/ to sign up.

If you do get onto the Beta testing programme, please keep us informed. Let us know what does and doesn’t work for you and how it compares to other systems you’ve used or have seen.

This news just in via a Channel 7 media release:

In a joint statement today David Leckie, CEO of Channel 7, and Tom Maclean, CEO of Somers Carroll Productions, announced that Daryl Somers has decided not to sign for another series of Dancing with the Stars.

After seven hugely successful seasons of the show he wishes to move on.

“I’ve had a fabulous time on Dancing with the Stars but I’m ready for a new direction” Daryl said.

“To be honest, I have felt somewhat restricted by the tightly structured format and feel if I don’t move on now I’ll regret it. If the Network do another season, and I think they should, I hope they hit the refresh button. It’s been a great franchise for Seven and deserves to be taken to a whole new level. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the very professional teams at Granada and Seven and have forged some wonderful friendships along the way”.

CEO of Channel Seven, David Leckie, added: “Daryl has done a great job on Dancing with the Stars for the network but we understand his reasons for moving on and wish him well for the future”.

Firstly, after the shock of “really? seven series?” there’s only one thing that this means to me: The producers wouldn’t let Daryl play drums with the band so he’s taken his sticks and gone home.

Are there any StarDancers fans amongst the Boxcutterati? Will this make you more or less likely to watch the show? Do you think Daryl has other offers up his sleeve? Tell us in the comments.

In a move that shows that TV networks might actually, finally, understand the way the world works, this was reported in the New York Times:

NBC Universal, acknowledging that viewers are increasingly moving away from traditional television viewing, announced plans today for a service that will make popular NBC programs available to download free to personal computers and other devices.

Then again, it says that the files will expire after seven days which means there’s some kind of ridiculous DRM present.
What do you think? Will this be another horrible failure? Has anybody been following the iTunes store debacle?

NBC to Offer a Free Video Download Service (NYTimes)

Yawn: The Emmy Awards.

Some good news and some bad news but mostly all boring news coming out of the US with this morning’s Emmy Awards.

You can see the whole list courtesy of Variety.

Discussion questions will happen after the jump (in case somebody’s waiting till later for some reason).

Continue reading “Yawn: The Emmy Awards.” »