Very interesting article about how Packer selling up his share in Nine will lead to the free to air networks finally taking on Foxtel as a whole.
Maybe TIVO won’t as doomed as we first thought.
Category Archives: news
Two media releases, in quick succession and no doubt related, came from Nine in the past hour.
The first tells us:
PBL Media today announced that Mia Freedman will leave the business this week after twelve months in the position of Creative Services Director for the Nine Network Australia and Editorial Consultant for ACP Magazines.
Mia’s role will now be absorbed by Nine’s Head of Programming, Michael Healy.
And then the second announces:
The Nine Network Australia today announced that a decision had been taken to cease production on its weekday talk show, The Catch Up.
The final broadcast will occur on Friday 15th June, 2007.
Nine moved The Catch-Up to a new timeslot at the start of the week but nothing could save it. The Y&R timeslot still needs something for the stay-at-homes. What will they try next?
Seven and TiVo have come together to bring the much sought after TiVo service to Australia.
WTF? They should have done this years ago and it seems, from the media release, that it’s only going to be available for free-to-air channels.
Seven Media Group will lead the creation of the digital platform to enable TiVo’s digital video recorder and service, including the award-winning TiVo user interface. The platform will be available for use by other broadcasters and broadband content owners to create a compelling, interactive, free to air digital terrestrial television offering. The TiVo Service will be available across Australia and will include internationally recognized TiVo features like SeasonPass recordings and WishList searches and allow users to access broadband content on their TV.
Honestly, if they were going to do this, why wouldn’t they try to make it a competitor to Foxtel’s IQ? Of course Seven, along with Ten, is still to sign up to digital rebroadcast through Foxtel.
Having two platforms competing for our attention would only be better for the consumers (us) and build uptake of such technologies.
TiVo, in the US, is a subscription-based service but gives its users access to all channels (pay and FTA). Will the people not taking up Foxtel be compelled enough to dive into this? Probably not if the FTA networks aren’t going to produce some amazing content.
Also, it seems to me that a large percentage of the population who would have been the first to take up a TiVo service have already purchased a PVR, built a media centre, download torrents, or have IQ.
This came to me from Robert Boxcutter – thought it may help some of you who still use iTunes.
I know you don’t use iTunes anymore but this might be useful to put on the Boxcutters blog for people who have the occasional problem. You know how iTunes sometimes stuffs up and only downloads a portion of a podcast then it won’t let you download it again because it thinks you’ve already got it. Well if you collapse the list of the particular podcast in question then hold Shift on a PC or Option on a Mac then expand it again it will update the list and show you all the ones that you’ve deleted or need to re-download.
News just in from Nine:
The Nine Network Australia today announced Mick Molloy’s new television project, The Nation, will premiere on Tuesday, June 5 at 9.30pm.
Mick Molloy swaps his tracky daks for a snappy suit to sit at a desk and let rip with a topical, news-based program ? with an edgy difference.
Every week The Nation will take a humorous look at the people and events making news. Mick will be joined at the news desk by a roster of comedians and entertainers as they dissect the real world of politics, current events, sport and entertainment.
“I promise that every episode will end with a dog that can ride a surfboard and do long division,” said Mick Molloy.
Stars of the airwaves such as 2Day-FM breakfast co-host Jackie O and Nova drive co-host Akmal Saleh will join Mick each week to review the news.
My favourite bit of this media release is “with an edgy difference”.
Anyone who has seen the Daria episode where her dad is supposed to be more “edgy” will know what I mean.
Placing bets now. I reckon it will last 5 weeks.
Donald Trump has announced there will be no more Apprentice. Despite apparent network keenness Trump is just too busy, although he hinted there may be another TV project in the works.
Veronica Mars is the latest show to be caught in the whoosh of an axe, swinging through the air. So much hot and cold, back and forth had been going on for the past month, it’s not too surprising.
From the interweb:
NEW YORK – The CW [the Country Western for those playing at home –BB] network canceled the cult hit “Veronica Mars” and will try to pick up steam in its second year with series about the snobby rich, transplanted families and a bounty hunter for the devil.
The network, created out of the ashes of the former WB [Warner Brothers — BB] and UPN [United Parcels Network… surprisingly — BB], had already ended the long-running family dramas “7th Heaven” and “Gilmore Girls.” On Thursday the ax fell on “Veronica Mars,” which starred Kristen Bell as a wisecracking teenage private eye.
Corporate parents CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. had hoped the CW [Country Western — BB] could become a fifth major network by combining the best of its predecessors, but it has often slipped behind Univision in the ratings during a disappointing first year.
A couple of sites in the US are reporting that, due to poor ratings, NBC isn’t renewing the US version of Thank God You’re Here.
Everything I’d read until this morning had been positive about the viewer figures – quite the interesting turnaround.
Looks like Jericho is doomed, rumours circulating it won’t be back next season.
Meanwhile 24 has been greenlit for another two season. This should take them through until 2123 in 24 time.
Channel 9 has finally lost patience with Family Feud.
I guess after 18 months of claiming it was ‘building’ when there was no real change in the ratings Nine had to do something. Like the whole Rowe departure you just have to wonder why it has taken this long.
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