And with that, I’m back. The whole catching up on sleep and getting my energy back thing has been a limited success, but I am now back to being able to put my thoughts in to writing without having to spend a week working out how to word it, so we’ll call it a success.
I’ve got a lot to get through, and seeing as blog posts with multiple short stories in them seem to be the flavour of the trimester on about half the blogs I read, and it’s convenient in this case, I’ll bite and run such a post here.
***
Sleep? Hmmm, well it’s 3:32am as I type this and I last finished sleeping at 8am yesterday. You do the math. That said, in the last few nights I have had dreams where I:
1. Was in a repeat episode of Third Watch. Nobody could be bothered attending to the emergencies as they all knew that the people survived the episode, so why bother risking injury doing the stunts again?
2. I plunged to my death in a taxi, on a wet night where the left half of the road had been washed away. A very vivid and disturbing dream.
3. KXNT’s Alan Stock was elected as Chairman of the Nevada Action Committee, although what this actually achieved is beyond me, because the only thing he was required to do as part of this job was take five minutes out of his show each morning to read the KXNT phone number over and over and over and over and over (we’ll come back to this in five minutes when he’s done with the phone number)
***
Speaking of KXNT, their traffic bed (the music they play under their traffic reports) is one of the bits of music which I managed to get stuck in my head this week. I also managed to get the First Option Mortgage jingle stuck in my head for three excruciating hours, and get it stuck in somebody else’s head simply by mentioning it on Facebook. Apparently it’s called “ear worm”. I also had another song stuck in my head, but I dare not try to remember what it was lest it happen again.
***
Frasier and Seinfeld repeats at 7:30pm and 8pm weeknights respectively on Go! Channel Nine receive my perpetual thanks for this.
***
There was some Bollywood movie on SBS Two the other night. I watched ten minutes of it near the beginning during which time the married couple managed to patch up their differences, and the wife declared that she didn’t really care about her husband’s flaws anyway. How they could drag that about the next three hours is beyond me, and I’m glad that I didn’t stick around to find out. The ten minutes was good for a laugh though.
***
Cisco have calculated (which is probably code for “guessed”) that the average broadband Internet user downloads 11.4 gigabytes per month. I average 20-25GB per month and will probably start doubling that in the not-to-distant future if one of my household projects gets off the ground.
***
Facebook have decided to preserve the accounts of deceased members, minus status updates and other “sensitive data”. This intrigues me as I have often thought about what would happen to this site and my other online data if I were to cease existing for whatever reason. I would like to keep it all online permanently, but am yet to find a viable solution. The National Library’s PANDORA project archives the essence of this site, but seems to have a lot of broken links and missing data, which is hardly surprising given the sheer size of this site (6.97GB and growing). Preserving this site is a work in progress…I suppose I’ll just have to stick around for long enough to ensure that it happens.
Anyway, if and when I shuffle off this mortal coil, I’m happy for my Facebook account to be preserved as some sort of shrine, but I don’t want anything to be removed from it. How does one go about sharing this wish with Facebook. One’s will?
***
Speaking of the dead, Yahoo have finally killed off Geocities. I’m glad that I was reminded of this imminent death the other day, as I had one page on there which I needed to save. I’ll republish it on here at some stage.
***
Monash Drive has been removed the ACT “National Capital Plan”. The proposed road had been slated to run along the foot of Mount Ainslie behind Hackett, Ainslie and Campbell, roughly in-line with the already cleared sections which the high voltage power lines use. Politically, the road was never going to happen, which is a pity because it could have reduced a lot of congestion, especially in the years ahead.
***
We’ve been following Barack Obama’s approval ratings here for some months now using the figures from Rasmussen, who had the polling figures closest to the outcome of last year’s election. That said, the other polls are interesting as well, especially when you consider that in the Gallup poll, Obama has recorded the worst third quarter of an elected president in recorded history. A nine point drop in his approval rating in the space of three months.
***
The White House have declared war on FOX News, claiming that they’re not a news organisation. The White House clearly can’t tell the difference between news programming and opinion programming, even when it’s pointed out to them. Funnily enough though, the other networks have defended FOX. Late last week, White House officials tried to ban FOX from a White House Press Pool interview session, but the other networks wouldn’t have a bar of it, quite clearly telling the White House that “if Fox can’t be a part of this, then none of us will interview your chap”. It worked, and the White House backed down, for now.
Here’s the point. FOX out-rate every other cable news network consistently, partially because of their news programming, and partially because of their opinion programming. People want to watch it. The White House don’t like the opinion programming as it is often critical of the Obama administration, unlike others such as MSNBC whose opinion programming often favours the Obama administration. The other networks know that if they let the White House exclude FOX, then they are all trapped in an unwritten “do as we say, or we cut your access” agreement. It is an attack not only on FOX, but on every other network, on freedom of the press, and on freedom of speech.
Glenn Beck, on one of FOX’s opinion shows, put together a rather amusing piece on the War On FOX which had me in hysterics when I first watched it.
One wonders if people would have voted for Obama’s “new era of bi-partisanship” if they had known that “bi-partisan” is defined as “the other side will do as we say, therefore we all agree”.
***
The ANZ Bank have a new logo, and a TV ad which looks strangely familiar…I’ve seen the whole “life juggled above head, but we can make it easier” ad before, I just can’t remember where. Anyway, the logo, is it just me, or does it look like somebody chucking a tantrum after being kept in line for an hour?
***
Channel Seven have announced their new digital channel, to be called “7TWO”, on (you guessed it) channel 72. I’m not in the least bit surprised that regional affiliate Prime aren’t putting it to air straight away, I mean Prime own the “6” channels in digital TV land, and it would look rather silly have 7TWO on channel 62. I suspect that Prime are working on their own branding of the new station…PRIMExtra perhaps?
***
RIP Don Lane, one of the great entertainers, who passed away at the age of 75.
***
Remember when the Large Hadron Collider was about to be turned on for the first time and people were afraid the world was going to end? It amazed me how many people who believed that, were subsequently placated when it was turned on, broke down, and the world didn’t end. The whole cause for concern was for when it would finally reach the actual colliding stage, which it never did.
733-KXNT, 733-5968, 733-KXNT, 733-5968 (Alan’s still going…)
***
Clive Robertson filled in for Tim Webster on 2UE and 2CC’s afternoon show yesterday. What a relief! Tim Webster, as much as like him personally, has bored me to death of late…I can not listen to his show any more, I just can’t. Tim is much better suited to a news-based show than the lifestyle-amalgam show that he is now presenting. Clive, however, suits the format perfectly, and is brilliant afternoon entertainment.
Memo to 2UE for next year’s lineup: Breakfast with Mike Jeffreys, Mornings with Stuart Bocking, Afternoons with Clive Robertson, Drive with John Stanley, Nights with The Two Murrays, Overnights with Jim Ball.
***
And now at 6:18 it’s time for KXNT’s traffic and weather together on the eights, here’s Tate South (finally, Alan’s morning Chairman task is finished, which means that I can wrap up this blog post).
***
There was an ad on TV last night for that boat from Victoria to Tasmania and back, in which they advertised the rate for taking your car with you as being an “each way” rate (eg. “x dollars each way”). Sorry, but does that mean it’s the return rate (you can travel each way for this amount) or the one way rate (each way costs x dollars)?
***
Congratulations to Chris Matlock, KXNT’s Radiostar competition winner for this year. I listened to the entries of the 20 finalists when I was last in Deniliquin, and Chris was my favourite from the start, so I was very pleased to see him win. Chris will have his own show soon, apparently, and will start off co-hosting with Ciara Turns on “Sundays with Ciara” on Sunday, November 8 between 10am and 1pm. That will either be 4am-7am or 5am-8am Monday, November 9 in Canberra, depending on whether daylight saving has ended in the US by then.
***
And finally, Lord Christopher Monckton spent much of the latter part of last week and the start of this week outlining the issues with the proposed Copenhagen climate change treaty which, don’t forget, is designed to stop a warming which hasn’t happened in about the last decade. The main points:
1. The setting up of a world government, with binding power over all countries.
2. Some peculiar scheme to send all the money from the western countries to the developing countries, to pay for some supposed “climate debt”.
Glenn Beck interviewed his lordship last week, which makes for very interesting and enlightening listening.
Part one:
If you ever needed proof that the whole global warming thing has everything to do with social change, and nothing to do with climate change, you now have it.
The Canberra Times have an amazing scoop today. They have caught ABC TV’s head of news Craig McMurtie admitting to, uh, well, nothing.
I don’t know how they came up with that caption, because Craig is only mentioned once in the article, talking long ago about events of long ago.
ABC News Coverage head Craig McMurtrie told Media Watch at the time the new system would ”benefit our editorial content” and the glitches were ”teething problems”.
I don’t even see how an image of Craig is relevant to the story considering that he is one of a number of talking heads in the story, and none of them are really relevant, pictorially at least, to the story of ABC TV’s Canberra newsroom adopting the Ignite automation system which has already been adopted in all the other capital city studios.
That said, if you’re going to have a picture for the sake of having a picture, then I suppose you might as well make it of a person who said nothing to you, and insinuate them saying nothing in the caption.
The Australian Commercial Radio Awards for 2009 have been awarded, and whilst I congratulate all of the winners, I would like to especially congratulate 2GB’s Jason Morrison who received the Brian White Memorial Award for sustained journalistic achievement and effort for the second time, 2CC’s Mike Welsh who received yet another Best Talk Presenter (provincial) award, 2GB’s Ray Hadley who picked up more awards than I care to count, 2UE’s Sales Team who received an award for their temporary rebranding of 2UE to 2U-Wii, and Austereo’s Hamish Blake and Andy Lee who received another swag of awards this year…I might not be able to stand their show, but I do recognise their extraordinary sustained dominance of the airwaves.
Also a hearty congratulations to Austereo engineer Des DeCean who was inducted in to the Commercial Radio Hall of Fame. Des has been with Austereo since they opened their doors 29 years ago.
Commercial Radio Australia’s press release is available by clicking here, and the list of award winners is below.
WINNERS FOR 2009 AUSTRALIAN COMMERCIAL RADIO AWARDS (ACRAs)
Please note: Category Finalists are denoted with the following letters: Country | Provincial | NonMetropolitan | Metropolitan
MOST POPULAR STATION MANAGER
Joel Gosper, 981 2NM/98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters Andy Mathers, Star 104.5, Central Coast, NSW, DMG Radio Australia P
Sean Ryan, Nova 106.9, Brisbane, QLD, DMG Radio Australia M
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE
John Pearce, 2GO Remote Breakfast Studio, 107.7 2GO, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Matt Steadman & Brett Kelly, Austereo Melbourne Studios, Fox FM/Triple M, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M recipient of Max Wilson Engineering Award
BEST NEWCOMER ON-AIR
Kristen Henry, Magic 93.1 FM, Riverland, SA, Fairfax Radio Network C
Kiri Martin, The Edge 96.1, Western Sydney, NSW, Australian Radio Network P
Ryan Shelton, Nova 100, Melbourne, VIC, DMG Radio Australia M
BEST NEWCOMER OFF-AIR
Anita Buda, 5SE/96.1 Star FM, Mount Gambier, SA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C recipient of the Matt Ellis Encouragement Award
Ashleigh Hudson, 104.7/MIX 106.3, Canberra, ACT, ARN/Austereo P
Michael Eva, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST MUSIC PERSONALITY
Dave Peters, 8HA, Alice Springs, NT, Alice Springs Commercial Broadcasters C
Fyona Smith, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Dylan Lewis, Nova 100, Melbourne, VIC, DMG Radio Australia M
BEST TALK PRESENTER
Janeen Hosemans, The Morning Wireless Program, 1503 2BS Gold, Bathurst, NSW, Bathurst Broadcasters C
Mike Welsh, Mike Welsh Drive Show, 2CC, Canberra, ACT, Capital Radio P
Derryn Hinch, 3AW Drive, 3AW, Melbourne, VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M
BRIAN WHITE MEMORIAL AWARD
Jason Morrison, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network
BEST ON-AIR TEAM
Fishy Friday, Janeen Hosemans & Peter Harrison, 1503 2BS Gold, Bathurst, NSW, Bathurst Broadcasters C
Banksy & Steve Breakfast, Banksy & Steve, Hot FM, Townsville, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST SHOW PRODUCER – ENTERTAINMENT & MUSIC
Lauren Richardson, Holmsey & Flan, Something Different for Breakfast, 102.9 FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Hot Tomato NM
Sam Cavanagh, Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST SHOW PRODUCER – TALK & CURRENT AFFAIRS
Andrea Moore, 2BS Talk Producer, 1503 2BS Gold, Bathurst, NSW, Bathurst Broadcasters NM
Justin Smith, 3AW Mornings, 3AW, Melbourne, VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR
Ray Hadley, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network
BEST SPORTS PRESENTER
Geoff Mann, 2DU, Dubbo, NSW, Super Network C
Steve Allan, 2GO’s Locker Room, 107.7 2GO, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Ray Hadley, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network M
BEST NEWS PRESENTER
Lois Chislett, 3YB, Warrnambool, VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
Rod McLeod, 92.5 Gold FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Kristy Warner, Nova 969, Sydney, NSW, DMG Radio Australia (FM) M
Jane Doyle, FiveAA, Adelaide, SA, DMG Radio Australia (AM) M
BEST PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Dayle Richardson, 98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Mike Duncan, Star 104.5, Central Coast, NSW, DMG Radio Australia P
Dave Cameron, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR
Katie Jones, 97.7 Snow FM, Cooma, NSW, Capital Radio C
Fyona Smith, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P recipient of Music Director of the Year Scholarship
Kate Casey, Nova 106.9, Brisbane, QLD, DMG Radio Australia M
BEST PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR
Steve White, 90.9 Sea FM /92.5 Gold FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Tim Dwyer, Nova 969, Sydney, NSW, DMG Radio Australia M
BEST STATION SALES ACHIEVEMENT
RadioWest/Hot FM Kalgoorlie, 6KG RadioWest, Kalgoorlie, WA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C
Flow Fm Sales Team, Flow FM, Kapunda, SA, W&L Phillips P
2Day FM Sales Team, 2Day FM, Sydney, NSW, Austereo M
BEST DIRECT SALESPERSON
Ashlee O’Brien, 6KG RadioWest, Kalgoorlie, WA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C
Leonie Leonard, Hot FM/Sea FM, Mackay, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Marcus Ryder, Fox FM/Triple M, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST AGENCY SALESPERSON
Karyn French, 100.9 Sea FM/Heart 107.3, Hobart, TAS, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Lauren Duncan, 2Day FM, Sydney, NSW, Austereo M
BEST MULTIMEDIA EXECUTION
Tall Ships, Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo STATION
Waterwise Widget, Brett Sandler & Shiobhan Baster, Nova 937, Perth, WA, DMG Radio Australia SALES
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Victorian Bushfire Tribute, Matt Clark, 107.7 2G0/101.3 Sea FM, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Obama Becomes President, Blake Gibson, 2UE, Sydney, NSW, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST MUSIC SPECIAL
2NM’s December All Stars, 98.1 2NM/98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Running On Diesel, Fyona Smith, Ross Turner & Ryan Khay, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Chris-Mas-Isaak, Marnie Titheradge, Robert Wood and Bruno Bouchet, Mix 106.5, Sydney, NSW, Australian Radio Network M
BEST SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE
Olympians Touching Down, Paddy Gerrard, Ciel Stowe, Ignatius McBride, 101.3 Sea FM, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Olympic Games Coverage 2008, 2GB Sport/Ray Hadley, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network M
BEST STATION PROMOTION
Who Wants to be a Jock On Air, 98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Identity Theft, Tania Kimmins, Rob Sharples, Ryan Gracie and Tia Robins, i98, Wollongong, NSW, Win Corporation P
Tall Ship Adventure, Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST SALES PROMOTION
Captain Costcutter, 2GN, Goulburn, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Laptops + Steamroller = Awesome, 104.7 Product Team, 104.7, Canberra, ACT, ARN/Austereo P
2UE Rebranding to 2UE-Wii, 2UE, Sydney, NSW, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST NETWORKED PROGRAM
ACE Radio Country Today, Sandra Moon, 3WM, Horsham, VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
The Benchwarmers, Ant & Becs, Sea FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST SYNDICATED AUSTRALIAN PROGRAM
Remembrance Day: The 90th Anniversary, Radiowise Media Networks, Sydney, NSW
BEST STATION PRODUCED COMMERCIAL
Selga – Buckle Up, David Sell, 5SE/96.1 Star FM, Mount Gambier, SA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C
The Chocolate Room, Stu Campbell, 102.9 FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Hot Tomato P
Ooh! Aah!, Jonathan Williams, Triple M/Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST STATION PRODUCED COMEDY SEGMENT
The Marriage Is Up Cup, Jon Vertigan, 3YB, Warrnambool, VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
Disclaimer Man, Luke Bradnam, 102.9 FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Hot Tomato P
Evil Rosso Prank, Tim Ross, Merrick Watts & Kate Ritchie, The Merrick, Rosso and Kate Ritchie Breakfast Show, Nova 969, Sydney, NSW, DMG Radio Australia M
BEST COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
2NM Power FM Black Coal Cup Day, 981 2NM/98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Jessie’s Journey, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Bushfire Appeal, Fox FM/Triple M, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
Brett Smith, 98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Mark Brewer, NX FM, Newcastle, NSW, Austereo P
Sideshow Mike Andersen, Triple M, Sydney, NSW, Austereo M
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (Exceptional contribution to the metropolitan rollout of digital radio)
Des DeCean, Austereo
Raoul Prideaux, Macquarie Southern Cross Media
Wayne Dickson, BTC Australia Pty Ltd
Graeme O’Connor, ARN
Max Carter, Sky Sports Radio
Richard Morris, Commercial Radio Australia
Steve Adler, DMG
Kath Brown, Commercial Radio Australia
Alastair Reynolds, Fairfax Media
Anybody with a basic understanding of the events surrounding the tragic Victorian bushfires of earlier this year knows that commercial and community broadcasters performed an absolutely crucial role in keeping people informed about the unfolding emergency. The ABC, in the official role as emergency broadcaster did their job too, but in many ways were hamstrung by a lack of information flowing from authorities, and fire destroying large chunks of their infrastructure, taking them off their air in a number of fire affected regions, leaving the critical emergency broadcasts to the commercial and community radio sectors.
Despite this, the Victorian government is claiming that commercial radio has no interest in providing around-the-clock emergency coverage during times of emergencies. Where these people get off is beyond me. Commercial and community broadcasters are required by law to provide emergency information, and in times of emergencies step up to the plate time and time again, going well and truly beyond the call of duty to keep people informed and safe. The broadcasters were a long way ahead of the authorities during the Victorian bushfire crisis, and I am simply gobsmacked by the utterly ridiculous and thoroughly debunked claims being made by the Victorian government, who seem to be more interested in deflecting blame than in taking steps to ensure their lack of communication doesn’t occur in the future.
Lately I have been discussing media matters on a fortnightly basis with Oly Peterson on the drive show on Sydney’s North Shore’s FM 99.3, and we discussed this yesterday around 5:20pm. Normally I wouldn’t post audio this soon after an appearance, but in this case I think it’s well worth it as the audio illustrates the point I am trying to make.
One can only hope that the Victorian government settle down and see sense, because they aren’t doing themselves or their constituents any favours with their current ridiculous behaviour.
I wonder how many people do get to work two hours late because they moved their clock in the wrong direction at the start of “dalight saving” (is that the process of saving daleks from the light?).
And so it begins again, Daylight Saving starts at 2am and will be with us until the other end of April…a whole seven months of adjusted clocks. Personally I don’t see why we can’t just have Daylight Saving for the whole year rather than slowly increasing the number of months we have it for.
Amusingly the ABC have managed to push their digital television electronic programme guides in to daylight saving time early, although it’s not amusing for me as I relied on their programme guide to schedule a recording of The Bill. My recording started an hour late at 9:30pm (10:30am GMT +11) instead of 8:30pm (10:30am GMT +10), meaning that I will have to wait for somebody at the ABC to upload The Bill to iView.
This may interest you, but it’s more for my reference. The updated KXNT schedule for programs of interest in Canberra’s daylight saving time.
Sunday
4am-7am: Casey Hendrickson and Heather Kydd weekend edition
Monday
4am-7am: Sundays with Ciara
11pm-Midnight: The Morning Source with Alan Stock
Tuesday to Saturday
Midnight-3am: The Morning Source with Alan Stock
3am-6am: Rush Limbaugh
6am-9am: Sean Hannity
9am-11am: Mark Levin
11am-1pm: Casey Hendrickson and Heather Kydd (includes Jerk Of The Week at 12:09pm Friday)
During the night I will have the fun job of setting all of the clocks in my house to daylight saving time, which doubles as my twice-yearly “make sure every clock is in sync” session. I can’t stand having clocks that have the wrong time, especially when they’re out by a minute or two. It drives me nuts.
So happy daylight saving to you. If your sleep cycle is similar to mine, you will welcome the extra hour of darkness in the morning. It will make getting to sleep at 5:30am much easier.
The premiere double episode of Stargate Universe airs on SyFy Channel (formerly known by the more sensible name “SciFi Channel) in the US in a few hours, and on the Australian version of SciFi (yep, we can spell it) on Friday night at 8:30pm.
I’m a massive Stargate fan, so it’s no surprise that I’m excited about Stargate Universe. I just hope it is treated with more respect than SG1 and Atlantis which were both killed off too early. Sure, SG1 had a ten year run, but it had a least a season and probably two that it could have viably produced from the Ori storyline…and as for Atlantis, it had just hit its stride in season five and had so much potential. Universe looks good and different from the previews, hopefully this is enough to give it a decent run.
Oh dear, 2GB’s Jason Morrison is supposed to be having a holiday this week after filling in for Alan Jones for the last age-and-a-half…but no, he’s in Fiji where his holiday was interrupted by a tsunami alert, which put him back in to reporter mode for 2GB.
Thankfully the tsunami didn’t hit Fiji, but Jason reported on the devastation in the region none-the-less.
2GB better give Jason a nice long break over summer.
Rather sued CBS and its top executives in 2007, claiming he had been removed from his “CBS Evening News” anchor post over a report that examined President George W. Bush’s military service.
The Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court — New York’s trial-level court — said the complaint “must be dismissed in its entirety.”
The five-judge panel ruled unanimously that a lower court “erred in declining to dismiss Rather’s breach of contract claim against CBS.”
The court said there was no breach of contract, because CBS still paid Rather his $6 million annual salary after the disputed 2004 broadcast under the “pay or play” provision of his contract.
On the other hand, perhaps it helps if, when filing lawsuits, you’re not being insanely greedy. He was being paid $6 million per year to do nothing and he still wants more? Go and get a job if you want more…oh wait, he did…he’s now the anchor for cable network HDNet.
If I were him, I’d just be happy that somebody still wants to employ me at age 77.
Britain’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, really are over-zealous. Over here in Australia, ACMA only make a noise if somebody goes through the long complaint process, and even then barely do anything…in the UK though, if you so much as sneeze, Ofcom will notice.
A community radio station has been censured by media regulator Ofcom for a “severe and unacceptable breach of listeners’ trust” after reading out fake listener texts on a pre-recorded music show.
Radio Hartlepool admitted making up listeners’ texts on some editions of its morning show, on its Classic 9 at 9 feature, which were pre-recorded but broadcast as live.
The show contained appeals for listeners to send in texts, but they had no chance of having them read out because the show was not live, said Ofcom.
The station said four out of six broadcasts of the show it had on record they had been pre-recorded.
Ofcom said it was “particularly concerned that, on all four occasions when the Classic 9 at 9 was known to be pre-recorded, fictitious references were made on air to listeners who had supposedly contacted the programme. This was a severe and unacceptable breach of listeners’ trust.”
And what’s to say that the texts weren’t read on a future pre-recorded show?
Seriously, who cares? It’s part of the theatre of radio, and sometimes an imaginary listener is a perfect instrument to drum up a bit of interest, especially when it puts a point not already put by somebody else that is worthy of consideration.
Pretending to run a live talk programme and soliciting for calls would be reprehensible, as there would be an expectation that the calls would be live and the listeners ringing in would have a chance of getting on the air. Text messages, emails and faxes on the other hand are static non-interactive content which, unless otherwise noted, aren’t necessarily going to get to air in the current broadcast, even if it’s live.
Admittedly Ofcom have a relatively immature competitive radio market to deal with when compared to other nations, but this sort of overreaction isn’t helping to nurture the radio market, instead it is helping to discourage it. If people don’t like their text messages being held over or not read, they will stop sending them…the station might notice that and see a problem…but as far as I can tell, people were still sending messages.
I don’t see a problem here, Ofcom’s reaction excluded.
It took me three viewings to notice this, but there was what appears to be a subliminal ad for Desperate Housewives during the premiere of FlashForward, which screened on Seven this evening.
I was actually trying to check something on the television screens shown in a store window while Mark Benford was on his way to the hospital, but I let the video run and that’s when I noticed it. In the background while Mark is talking to his wife on the phone, a stationary bus comes in to view briefly, and on the side of it there is a banner which advertises Desperate Housewives, and contains the ABC America logo. I was watching the ABC footage at the time so I wasn’t overly surprised by this, as ABC were carrying watermarks promoting Desperate Housewives for much of the show, even at the time the banner briefly appeared.
I then became curious to see if this was an ABC-only thing, or if it carried through to the syndicated version of the show. As I didn’t have a recording of what aired on Seven tonight, I resorted to the Seven website which just happened to be carrying the full episode, and sure enough, there it was, ABC logo intact.
I count the banner appearing in 19 frames, however it is only fully visible for five frames, or one fifth of a second.
This raises the question of whether Seven were aware that the ad was in the show…I believe that they probably were, as the offending scene appears at the 17:41 mark of the ABC version and the 16:57 mark of the Seven version, which indicates that Seven may have edited the show. It’s also possible that they simply received a cut-down syndicated version of the show, although why there would be a need to cut bits out of the show for syndication, in the case of this show, is beyond me.
Regardless, Seven are responsible, as a broadcast licence holder, for what they put to air, although whether the regulator ACMA would deem this to technically be a subliminal ad is hard to say. Based on previous rulings…probably not.
It’s ruled that a two-frame flash like this… is ‘near the threshold of normal awareness’, and therefore outlawed.
But a three-frame flash – like this… is ‘at or above’ that threshold.
And in ACMA’s world, something that is at or above the threshold isn’t near the threshold.
So that this Yaris flash, which appeared later in the ARIA broadcast and lasts six frames, doesn’t breach the Commercial TV Code of Practice, and is perfectly OK.
So a five frame ad is most likely to be “at or above the threshold of normal awareness” and therefore not in breach…despite the fact that it took me three goes to notice it. Maybe that means that I am below the threshold of normal awareness?
Illegal or not, I still think it’s grubby, and that ACMA’s previous rulings are ludicrous at best, mainly due to the fact that, for ACMA to take any notice of such things, somebody has to first complain to the TV station and then to ACMA, and if they do that, it means they noticed the ad and are therefore aware of it, which kills off notions of the ad being “below awareness”, despite the fact that most people won’t have noticed it.
Where the threshold should be, I don’t know. But what I do know is that it should be much higher than two frames.
I try not to plug TV shows that are already being promoted to death, but I need to make an exception today.
If you haven’t already seen FlashForward, then I highly recommend watching the premiere on Seven tonight at 8:30. I’ll be watching it simply so that I can re-watch it in high definition, having already seen it in standard definition with a few technical glitches.
I have more that I want to say…but as the show hasn’t screened in Australia yet, I don’t want to write anything that would be considered a spoiler.
For now, suffice to say, if FlashForward doesn’t win the ratings for at least the next few weeks, then there is something wrong with the ratings methodology.
Alan has returned after two months of sick leave, and a report in The Australian today quotes Alan as saying that he is negotiating a four-day work week for next year, to help him lighten his load, which is partially seen as the reason for his extended illness.
It’s great to see that Alan is back and taking some steps to protect his health, but I have two questions. Firstly, given the amount of time Alan has had to take off this year, will he work through the summer non-ratings period? Secondly, and more importantly, what will competing stations do next year to program against the Jones-free day?
Alan not working on a weekday gives other stations a golden opportunity to see what does and doesn’t work in a Jones-free environment over an extended period, and over at 2UE, that’s something they will surely relish. The very interesting possibility is that if a station can come up with a format that works, people might just stay for the other four days of the week, and it gives stations a practical trial period before the free-for-all which will occur when Jones comes off contract, which is currently slated for the end of 2013.
That said, 2GB would be well-aware of this, and would be planning to have their own strong non-Jones programming on his off day. One wonders if 2GB may adopt a 4/3 approach to breakfast radio, putting together a news-focussed breakfast show for the three days of the week (including the weekend) that Jones isn’t on-air. Currently, news-focussed breakfast programming is noticeably absent from weekends, and in many ways it is simply not viable to put the required resources in to such a show if it only airs two days per week…but if it airs for three days per week, it might not only be viable, but hold the Friday audience over the weekend. It would also allow 2GB to use the weekend host as a fill-in for Jones, rather than poaching a presenter from their regular weekday shift.
It’s just a thought…but if I were in charge at 2GB, it’s what I would be doing if and when Jones drops back to four days per week.
Regardless of what happens, it’s great to have Alan back on the air, and I’m looking forward to what stations come up with in the coming few years.
Nine have relaunched themselves again tonight with new graphics, the peculiar tagline “welcome home”, a subtle re-use of the old “still the one” music, and sadly an overuse of the already overused Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling”.
I’m pleased that the whole “Smile” music and graphics package is gone, as it really seemed like a summer thing to me…it just seemed awkward through autumn and winter. I like the relaunch despite what I said about the Black Eyed Peas song (which sounds rather badly edited in the longer promos, although getting the “60 Minutes” ticking noise in there is clever, and the video fits well) and Nine needed to do something with Seven launching FlashForward tomorrow night. Nine have a few big premieres of their own and the old promos didn’t do them justice…the new ones do. That said, they really should have done this back when they changed the news sets.
On the whole I’m happy with it, and it all feels much more like Channel Nine, but I do have one major gripe, and it’s the same gripe that I have heard a lot of other people mention tonight…the horrible pure white lower-third that they are using, which is made even more strange by the fact that they have equivalent graphics which fit the new look. To illustrate my point, here’s a promo from NBN, Nine’s Newcastle affiliate.
The first “Tonight 9:30” graphic looks fine, so I’m at a loss to explain the big white one at the end which just doesn’t seem to fit. The big white one stays on-screen for less time than the old “time/date” graphics did too…I don’t understand why they couldn’t just use the one that fits.
The main station ID is more-or-less the same across the country, however I think the Melbourne one is better than the Sydney one, mainly because Melbourne newsreader Peter Hitchener has a much better on-camera presence than Sydney newsreader Peter Overton.
Here’s the Sydney one
And the Melbourne one
Actually, that just makes me reaffirm my idea that a network, and I don’t care who, but a commercial network needs to launch a national 6pm bulletin to replace the state bulletins. The national 4:30 bulletins on Seven and Nine are just so much better than the state bulletins…and whilst I would love to see a national 6pm bulletin presented by Peter Hitchener, I’d just like to see a strong national bulletin compete with the state bulletins. I think the national bulletin would win.
Wrapping up, YouTube user CanberraTelevision has put together a compilation of WIN’s version of the new Nine look. I particularly like the sponsor billboard at the 40 second mark.
Now if only Nine would put this much effort in to their programming, perhaps they could regain first place in the ratings.
Rush Limbaugh made a guest appearance on the Jay Leno show on Thursday US time, while he was in California to finish voicing a part on an upcoming episode of Family Guy. Here’s Rush on politics, the economy, diets…and running over Al Gore.
Update: NBC have forced YouTube to remove the videos, and at the moment the only other ones I can find are almost inaudible. The version on Rush’s site has had its audio problems fixed, so for the moment, to see the video, visit rushlimbaugh.com. I’ll update this page when I find some useful embeddable videos later. End Update
The ANZ Bank have a new logo, and a TV ad which looks strangely familiar…I’ve seen the whole “life juggled above head, but we can make it easier” ad before, I just can’t remember where. Anyway, the logo, is it just me, or does it look like somebody chucking a tantrum after being kept in line for an hour?
