Samuel's Blog

WIN Dumps Nine and Signs With Seven in South Australia

You may recall that back in April, WIN Television threatened to pull the plug on their affiliation deal with Nine, mainly due to a combination of a price hike and a drop in ratings. At the time, WIN dumped Nine’s Quizmania and The Catch Up in order to prove that they were being serious (and get some less than useful programming off the air).

Well, WIN Television have now announced that they have dumped Nine in South Australia in favour of the Seven network. From AAP:

Regional television network WIN Corporation has signed a programming deal with the Seven Network .. which will replace the current Nine Network schedule in South Australia.

The deal includes major sports coverage like the AFL .. the Australian Open tennis and Beijing Olympics .. and Australian and US programs.

WIN Corporation chairman ANDREW GORDON says he’s confident the broadcaster’s South Australian audience will welcome the new line-up.

I have to say that the jump to Seven is very peculiar considering that WIN Corporation own Channel Nine’s Perth station and shares Channel Nine Adelaide with Southern Cross Broadcasting. That being said, it does give Seven an easy way to expand in to many of the regional South Australian areas that they don’t have a presence in, and probably has Nine a bit concerned. The only good news Nine can take away from this is the knowledge that there are only a handful of markets that don’t already have a Seven presence, making this move rather difficult to repeat elsewhere…after all it wouldn’t be possible to have both Prime and WIN running Seven programming in Canberra.

WIN say that they will make the change to Seven programming “sometime in October 2007”. They said this in a press release, and if you’re wondering why I used the AAP version of the story and not the press release…well, take a look at the press release…it is an incredibly long-winded puff piece advertising the virtues of the Seven Network and WIN News:

Andrew Gordon, WIN Corporation Chairman today announced a programming deal with the Seven Network to deliver Seven Network programming to WIN regional South Australia viewers, replacing the current Nine Network schedule.

WIN’s regional South Australia program line-up will be headlined by major sports coverage, the highest-rating new series in the current American television season and the biggest programmes on Australian television from the Seven Network.

WIN Corporation Chairman, Andrew Gordon said Seven is acknowledged as the leader in sports television.

“Sports coverage leads the assault on Seven, alongside a host of great Australian programmes and some of the biggest shows on television as the network moves towards its coverage of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008,” Mr Gordon said.

“South Australians love AFL and AFL dominates Seven’s sporting commitment.”

“We’re confident our South Australian viewers will welcome this new line-up”.

David Leckie, Chief Executive Officer of Seven Media Group and the Seven Network, said: “We are pleased to have secured a partnership with WIN Corporation in South Australia. Seven is the market leader in Australia, with a commitment to local news and public affairs, Sunrise, AFL and the best in primetime programming, and we look forward to extending this leadership throughout South Australia.”

Seven delivers all-encompassing coverage of the Australian Open (along with four other major Australian tennis events and the Davis Cup), and delivers a one-two punch with the biggest sport in Australia – the Australian Football League, with coverage of the pre-season NAB Cup, the AFL Premiership Season and the AFL Finals Series; and the fastest-growing spectator sport: V8 Supercars.

Seven’s year in sport also includes coverage of all major horse racing events including the Melbourne Cup Carnival, major golf events, including The Australian Open, the Australian Masters and the PGA Championship of Australia and the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. Seven will also follow the Wallabies’ test campaign in rugby union, including The Bledisloe Cup and The Tri-Nations Series.

WIN Corporation CEO George Papadopoulos said Seven will continue its success and momentum in regional SA with an extremely strong program line-up.

“Seven’s new and regular programs have been going from strength to strength and the Network’s commitment to Australian produced entertainment such as City Homicide, All Saints, Dancing With the Stars, It Takes Two, Kath & Kim, Australia’s Got Talent, Border Security and Home & Away is unmatched,” Mr Papadopoulos said.

“We’re very pleased to deliver these programs to our regional South Australian viewers.”

The entertainment keeps coming with My Name is Earl, Las Vegas, Scrubs, Heroes, Ugly Betty, Brothers and Sisters and Shark joining the established favourites – Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Bones and Prison Break.

WIN General Manager, South Australia, Robin Reid reinforced WIN’s commitment to delivering local news across the Limestone Coast including Mount Gambier, Naracoorte, Millicent, Bordertown, Riverland, Berri, Loxton, Barmera and Renmark.

“WIN News produces ‘live’ half-hour bulletins each weeknight from 19 different regional centres across the country plus a 7-day a week bulletin in Tasmania,” Reid said.

“Every WIN News bulletin provides comprehensive local news, sport and weather and our commitment to local news will not waver in South Australia.”

WIN Network’s regional South Australian viewers should expect the new schedule sometime in October 2007.

AAP’s writers might not have the best track record, but they deserve a commendation for turning that pointlessly long press release in to a concise article.

All that is left now is to wait for the fallout at Channel Nine.

Samuel

September 4th, 2007 at 06:34pm

Why is John Howard my preferred prime minister?

Some of you may remember James Scolland, a person who sent in a Letter To The Editor in June with a bunch of peculiar reasons why I shouldn’t have a website, or be allowed to have one.

Nearly three months later, James has sent in another email. I’m not going to publish it because it is just another pile of puerile nonsense (and not as amusing as the first one), however James did ask one sensible question. He read my post earlier today where I said that John Howard is currently my preferred prime minister, and he has asked me why this is the case.

There are a number of reasons why John Howard is my preferred prime minister, so I will just list some of the main ones.

WorkChoices is one of the reasons. I am quite happy with the AWA that I am on, and I like the idea of being able to directly negotiate things with my employer. The flexibility in my workplace seems to be quite beneficial to both me and my employer.
Despite Kevin Rudd’s assurances that he would not be controlled by the unions, I believe that he would be, especially considering the way the unions seem so happy to promote the Labor party.

I also have an issue with the way some unions promote themselves. During the recent Canberra timber mill fiasco, the federal government offered to help an ailing company and the state Labor governments got in the way…and yet the unions were more than happy to stand outside the mill with anti-federal government signs and propoganda, an act of indecency in my mind as it was the federal government that were helping them.

Also today I saw a plumber wearing a bumper sticker on his shirt. This sticker said “Plumbers Union: Our #### doesn’t stink” (I’ll let you work out the rhyme). This, to me at least, is a rather offensive way to advertise yourself, and I would find it difficult to support a party which is backed by that kind of ideology.

Another reason is climate change. I agree with the Labor party, the Greens and the others on that side of the fence…the Howard government is not serious about addressing climate change, despite their claims. This is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. It would be very difficult for me to willingly vote for a party which would be happy to ruin the economy and many other things under the guise of preventing something that I don’t believe we control or are changing. The fact that I think Peter Garrett is a fool has something to do with my opinion as well.

Another reason is the way Kevin Rudd’s media appearances come across as scripted. Obviously he doesn’t script his answers to interview questions, but he comes across as if he is providing a scripted answer…almost as if it doesn’t matter what the question is, his answer is golden in his mind and will suit you because he wants it to.

And I can hardly leave the local Labor government off my list. Their general incompetence and peculiar need for pointless statues does leave a bad taste in my mouth, and (whether fair or not) has a negative impact on their federal branch’s reputation.

That being said, Labor do have quite a few things going for them, and they appear to be very passionate and committed, whilst to the same extent there are a number of things I don’t like about the coalition, however for me, the coalition is a better choice at this point in time. This could change, and it has done a handful of times this year.

Hopefully this answers James’ question, and gives you all a slightly better understanding of my point of view.

Samuel

5 comments September 4th, 2007 at 03:19pm

Your Psychic Says…

“This is an excellent week to get a haircut”.

That was the advice 2UE’s “psychic” Sharyn offered to Sagitarians on Sunday night.

Is it any wonder that I don’t trust psychics?

Samuel

4 comments September 4th, 2007 at 08:51am

59%?

As you have probably heard by now, the latest NewsPoll has the Labor party leading the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis 59% to 41%

If those figures are accurate, then I should probably walk around Lake Burley Griffin as often as possible during the next parliamentary sitting later this year, as it could be the last chance I ever have to meet John Howard.

During the last sitting period, I took Nattie for a walk along the National Library’s side of the lake. It was a good walk, but I was mildly annoyed when I saw John Howard heading back to the lodge in his government car as we were walking across the Commonwealth Avenue bridge.

I would like to meet Mr. Howard at least once while he is still prime minister. He is currently my preferred prime minister by a decent margin, but even if he wasn’t, I have a lot of respect for him and his achievements. If the polls are accurate and he doesn’t win the next election, then I hope he will be happy with the knowledge that he was fortunate enough to attain the title of prime minister of a democratic nation, and hold it for a very long time.

Samuel

September 4th, 2007 at 06:06am