It’s funny how technical issues never seem to come alone. When one thing fails, you can be sure that something else will go on holiday as well. The following is from Tuesday’s “A Current Affair”.
What amused me even more than the technical issues (and is sadly lacking from the YouTube footage) was when Tracy went back to the story about teenage girls attacking each other, she read the same introduction word-for-word, without a hint of it being the exact same story she introduced earlier.
Thankfully though, when she went back to the Moran story, she did refer to it as “returning to our top story”.
As for why I was watching ACA…well I was watching WIN News while I was having dinner, and couldn’t be bothered changing the channel.
I was most excited yesterday when I got to produce a Harvey Norman ad. This will probably sound completely loopy, but I’ve always wanted to produce a Harvey Norman ad.
As I was excited by it, here it is.
[audio:https://samuelgordonstewart.com/wp-content/HarveyNorman17June09.mp3] Download MP3
Whilst I have updated the post in question, it is now so far down the page that I feel obligated to post a seperate correction.
The story which I wrote on the weekend about 2CC and 2CA dropping their local news service on weekends, is wrong. Whilst they did drop local news last weekend, it has been brought to my attention that this was a once-off occurrence, caused a temporary shortage of staff.
I apologise to the people at Capital Radio for this story.
Due to this story, and recent incorrect stories on this blog about Capital Radio, I have taken the decision to stop commenting on issues relating specifically to Capital Radio for the time being.
A happy birthday to Stuart Bocking, and also a happy birthday to George Moore.
In my humble (and probably quite silly in this case) opinion, Stuart and George should work together on their shared birthday for a special “birthday edition” of the evening show (or weekend breakfast as it will be in 2012).
Warning: The following post contains information about events which are yet to occur on The Bill. If you do not wish to know in advance, then do no read this post!
As noted back in January, The Bill is about to have its production halved from two episodes per week to one per week, and move from the 8pm timeslot to the 9pm timeslot in the UK. The changes are set to occur later this year, and Australia should see the changes from early next year.
The show itself will be changing a bit, and a number of those changes are now coming to light.
Firstly, and disappointingly, a number of cast members are leaving the show. PC Tony Stamp (actor Graham Cole) is being given the chop after being on the show for 22 years. Cole was told by the producers that Stamp “doesn’t fit” the show’s “new dynamic” which, according to reports, is set to make the show sexier and more violent.
Also leaving the show is DI Samantha Nixon (in my opinion, Sun Hill’s most interesting detective) played by Lisa Maxwell.
Lisa decided to quit after seven years on the show: ‘I’ve loved every minute of my seven years on The Bill but feel I have taken the character of Sam as far as I can. It is time to move on to new challenges.’
Her character will leave the drama in an ‘explosive episode’ later this month.
I recall the producers promising not to have another “Sun Hill bombing” or “station fire”, so what “explosive” means in this context is anyone’s guess.
On the bright side, there are some sensible decisions. DCI Jack Meadows (Simon Rouse) is being promoted to Superintendent, sensible as he is the only person suitable to take over from Heaton if the show is to maintain any credibility, and Sergeant Dale “Smithy” Smith will be promoted to Inspector, as he should have been when Gina left. One can only hope that Smithy’s promotion reignites the frosty relationship between him and Sergeant Callum Stone, and also gives Stone the chance to work more closely with the relief, which is clearly what his character’s purpose has always been.
In addition, DC Stevie Moss (Lucy Speed) will be promoted to Detective Sergeant while trainee DC Will Fletcher (Gary Lucy) will become a fully fledged DC.
In non-storyline news, The Bill will start screening in High Definition from July 1 in the UK. Hopefully the show’s crew learnt a thing or two from their High Definition double episode for their 25th birthday. The lighting needs some serious work in their sets if the show is going to work in HD.
Direct from the Rush Limbaugh Show webcam (or the “dittocam” as Rush calls it), Rush Limbaugh’s monologue from Monday last week (includes the parody ads which play during radio network ad/news breaks). Ten part video. Enjoy!
Update 17 June: I have been informed that, contrary to the information below, 2CC and 2CA are in fact not dumping local news on weekends, and instead only closed the local newsroom last weekend due to a shortage of staff. Needless to say, I am pleased to hear this.
I apologise to the people at Capital Radio. I think it might be worthwhile if I just stop commenting on things relating to Capital Radio for a while. End Update
I’ll sum it up in one word: “disappointed”.
2CC and 2CA seem to have dumped local news on weekends, opting instead to take 2UE news all day. Previously, locally produced news bulletins were broadcast every half hour from 6am until 9am, and then every hour until midday. Now, zilch, zero, zip.
This drops the local news service back to producing less news than they did before the local newsroom started producing the entire news service instead of just local news. I have vivid memories of a time when 2CC took 2UE news and followed it with a local news bulletin, even on the weekend…to not even do that is, as I said earlier, disappointing.
It’s possible that I have just been spoiled by a good local news service in recent years and that this dropping of local news on weekends just brings the station in line with what many other stations do, however this doesn’t change the fact that it is disappointing that a standard can be set, and then the service can drop away in such a manner, to lower levels than the old standard.
Whilst I have a very busy day lined up tomorrow, I will be sure to listen with interest in the morning to see if there are any changes to the weekday news service. I, for one, hope that there aren’t.
Update: Weekdays are not affected by this change, thankfully. End Update
2AY Albury/Wodonga have dropped the Derryn Hinch drive show and the Stuart Bocking evening show in favour of local music programming.
ACE Radio CEO Stephen Everett says the move is based on market research. He told RadioInfo:
The subtle change was in response to our own market research that has been most favourable since our move towards more music in the afternoon.
However I’m not convinced that this is the case. I think that this has much more to do with Fairfax’s ongoing satellite issues which, amongst other things, mean that Derryn Hinch’s show and Sports Today are not available on the satellite and must be taken off a webstream, meaning that they not only do not time out to the top of the hour properly, but also can not be automated and require a panel operator.
And this is just the known issues with Fairfax’s satellite distribution while they wait for a part to arrive from Israel. The last time I was in Deniliquin, Fairfax replaced, mid-show and for no apparent reason, 3AW’s Nightline with the Stuart Bocking show.
If you ask me, this has everything to do with Fairfax’s satellite issues, and minimal, if anything at all, to do with market research.
The local paper, The Border Mail, have jumped on the chance to do the typical “local paper bashes local radio station” act, citing listener outrage that Hinch and Bocking, along with weekend news, has been dumped.
I also note the absence of the Steve Price hour which 2AY used to run. Cost cutting and dumping dodgy satellite programming all in one move. It will be interesting to see how the audience reacts from here on.
Two men for whom I have a lot of time and respect will be on the television tonight. 2GB’s Alan Jones will be interviewed by Seven’s Mike Munro on “Sunday Night” tonight.
As I will be on-air at 1WAY FM at the time, I will record it and watch it later, although I may keep an eye on it in the 1WAY FM studios. Mike, if you can hold the interview until just after 7pm, that would be great.
Further cluttering the already somewhat overpopulated lower end of the FM spectrum in Canberra, is China Radio International, now heard on 88FM, a frequency which at one stage was home to a rather interesting tourist information station.
Programming from the state-owned China Radio International (CRI) is now being heard in Canberra with the launch of radio station FM88.
The new Canberra station is the latest in a Chinese-language media empire in Australia which includes eight Chinese-language newspapers across Australia as well as radio stations in Melbourne (1341 kHz) and Perth (104.9 MHz). Attending the radio station’s launch in Canberra were Wang Gengnian, president of CRI, and the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Zhang Junsai.
[..]
The radio stations include programming from CRI as well as Chinese-language content from BBC and the Voice of America but also include locally-produced content such as talkback.
Leading the organisation in Australia is Melbourne-based Tommy Jiang, a former soccer player who relocated to Australia 21 years ago. Mr Jiang said that the local Chinese communities “love to talk and find out about Australian politics, about relations with China, about lifestyle issues – including of course restaurants and real estate”.
[..]
The radio stations also broadcast programs that teach Chinese.
I wonder if Kevin Rudd will find the Chinese lessons helpful? Perhaps he could get a job on the station when he eventually leaves politics.
Given the frequency allocation and the commercial nature of some of the station’s content, I’m assuming that it’s a narrowcaster. Sadly ACMA’s somewhat outdated website doesn’t provide any information about the Canberra station, however it does confirm that the Melbourne station is a narrowcaster.
Today is the start of 1WAY FM‘s Future Feed, two weeks (OK, 11 days) of the station going “all out” to provide high quality programming, as a taste of what the future could be for the station.
Many things have changed for the two weeks including the news service, rostering of announcers, the music playlist, and even some changes to the program lineup, but some things have stayed the same. At the end of the two weeks, some things will change back, and some things might stay!
The station is after your feedback, be it by phone (6239 3711), SMS (0432 621 614) or e-mail (feedback@1wayfm.com.au), to help it be as good as it can be, which will in turn enable it to reach out to more people.
Excitingly, 1WAY FM have a new website (1wayfm.com.au) by KJWDesign and have a webstream.
I’m on breakfast duties with James Scott this week between 7am and 9am, and again on Monday before I head off to Deniliquin for another week.
1WAY FM’s Future Feed. 91.9 and 94.3 FM, plus streaming online at 1wayfm.com.au
Earlier this week Sean Hannity went to Florida and interviewed fellow talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh for his show on the Fox News Channel. The interviewed covered a wide range of topics including Barack Obama’s policies and the problems with the Republican party in its current form.
The interview was long enough to be spread out over two nights, and is well worth watching.
Part One
Topics include:
Why the Democrats are seemingly focussing on Rush as if he was the leader of the Republican party.
Why Rush wants Barack Obama’s policies to fail.
Why Obama is “running around the world and apologising for America”.
Fidel Castro believes Obama is further left than he is.
Part Two
Topics include:
Some thoughts on Colin Powell and why he supported and voted for Obama, despite him being in the other political party.
Sonia Sotomayor, why she shouldn’t be a judge, why she is being nominated, and the unknown factor which could make her racist comments overlookable.
Part Three
Topics include:
Who Rush thinks should replace him as the person Obama declares the “titular head” of the Republican party.
How to understand the thought process behind Obama’s policies.
Why Rush is optimistic that the American people will stand up to Obama in the 2010 and 2012 elections.
The hypocricy of Obama saying that America can’t impose values on other countries, and then going ahead and doing it anyway. (which includes a comment on Israel).
Part Four
Topics include:
Obama’s socialist policies, and the effect it will have on the economy, and on peoples’ lives.
The so-called “Fairness Doctrine” and a possible way to introduce it by stealth.
The problem with the Republican Party in its current moderate form.
More on the problem with Obama’s policies.
Part Five
This section doesn’t appear in the transcripts and appears to be a portion of the interview which wasn’t aired in the “four parts spread over two nights” version, and instead aired later on.
Topics include:
Rush describes the real meaning of conservatism, and how that differs from many perceptions of it.
Obama’s speech to the Muslim world, and what he should have said.
The transcript of parts one and two can be found here, and parts three and four, here. If I find a transcript of part five, I’ll let you know.
It just occurred to me, as I contemplate ringing in to KXNT‘s morning flip segment at 1am that I have remembered their phone number, including international dialling codes and area codes etc: 0011 1 702 733 5968. Whilst I am slightly concerned that I have managed to remember a fifteen digit phone number, it is nice to know that I don’t have to refer to KXNT’s “contact us” page every time I want to call them.
As it happens though, I have something else to do at 1am, and therefore won’t be calling Alan. I’ll try to make some time next week instead.
Update: Meh, I’ll push the 1am thing back a tad and ring Alan Stock at about 1:10am. End Update
Well that certainly saves me from keeping an eye on the scores for the rest of the household, as 3AW are providing “around the grounds” scores of the Melbourne Storm NRL match during their AFL coverage, and the other match is on TV.
Many thanks to 3AW’s Graeme Bond for saving me a bit of work tonight.