Posts filed under 'TV/Radio/Media'
Over at John B1_B5’s Place, John B1_B5 has added to the “Voice Of Reason” confusion by giving himself the title.
John B1_B5 is now the third voice of reason in Canberra, after 2CC declared that John Stanley is the voice of reason, only to be trumped shortly after by a promo for John Laws which touted Lawsie as the voice of reason.
So, is anybody else here also the voice of reason? And if so, please state your credentials for the job, we need to get to the bottom of this controversy ASAP!
Samuel
May 5th, 2006 at 01:52pm
Yesterday (Thursday) morning John Kerr filled in for Stuart Bocking (who had been filling in for Stan Zemanek, a job normally carried out by Glenn Wheeler).
It was certainly nice to hear John exercising his vocal cords on a weekday morning for a change, and it prompted a lot of people to ring in reminiscing about John’s old weekday shift. A lot of people were also momentarily confused and thought it was a Saturday morning when John came on the air…not me though, my initial thought was “Stuart sounds a bit croaky this morning”, a few seconds later I worked out the voice. I suppose if I had been listening at the start of the show I would taken notice of John’s intro and known that John was on.
The upshot of all of this is that John has confirmed that he is the presenter who fills in for Stuart, which should be interesting if and when Stuart takes holidays. The question remains as to who John’s fill-in is, my money is on Spencer Kirk who has previously filled in on the weekend version of New Day.
Samuel
May 5th, 2006 at 10:42am
Try singing the title to the tune of “The Wheels On The Bus” and you will get my drift…and it’s all true, 2CC are advertising on the rear of ACTION busses, which is really very clever as the one place where virtually everyone has access to a radio is on the road.
The photo above is of the 2CC ad on the rear of ACTION bus 999, On Sunday I saw one on 884, and I am reliably informed that there are also 2CC ads on busses 931 & 994, plus many others. “Renault Rider” informs me that the ads are on at least ten busses, and probably more.
Most of the ads are actually on the rear window, but on 999 it is lower for some reason. Interestingly, the current promo for the Mike Jeffreys Breakfast Programme contains a caller informing Mike Jeffreys that he has been following him on the back of a bus and that the only person missing is Mike Frame (factually inaccurate, but we’ll get to that shortly), Mike Jeffreys jokingly suggests to the caller that Mike Frame is running around sticking his own photo on the back of busses. The promo then cuts to a portion of the next traffic report where Mike “Frame in the Plane” Frame tells Mike Jeffreys that there wasn’t any room on the ad after Mike Jeffreys, they then joke about it for a bit and Mike Frame insists that he is a big fan of Mike Jeffreys.
That paragraph is nauseating with all of the Mikes, so I will try and record a copy of the promo which should make the whole thing clearer.
Moving on from that, it is time to scrutinise the ad. I don’t want to be critical as I am pleased to see 2CC finally doing something about getting their name out there, but I feel that a bit of light hearted analysis is good for everybody. I am hopeful that sister station 2CA (with their new format reminiscent of “Mix 106.3”) will follow 2CC’s lead, as I doubt that anybody other than 2CA’s listeners know that 2CA have a new format.
The most notable absence from the ad (other than Framey) is weekday afternoon announcer John Stanley, who is undoubtedly a large part of the lineup, however it is important to notice that they probably could only fit five people on the ad, and that meant throwing their relatively well known NRL commentator into the mix.
What really surprised me was that Stan Zemanek got the all-important centre position, when I have always regarded John Laws as the “big name” of 2CC. Stan does pull in a big audience of loyal fans, but I was surprised to see him getting the middle spot and not Lawsie.
Speaking of Lawsie, why is he next to Mike Jeffreys? It is well known that the two aren’t exactly best friends, but I suppose you could argue that they are two relatively high profile respected commentators on matters of news and politics, and should be grouped together as the “powerful morning duo”.
Having Mike Welsh on the other side of the ad gives listeners a feeling of balanced local broadcasters (Jeffreys on one side of the ad, and Welshy on the other), which seems to work, and having Hadley on the far end does emphasise a commitment to quality NRL coverage.
I would say that choosing the people and positions on the ad would have been a hard choice given the limited space, but I think it works quite well.
Now, time to work out where the images came from. Firstly a recap of what the ad looked like.
To start with we have the blue “2CC” letters from the 2CC logo in the background.
Then we have Mike Jeffreys, as seen on his 2CC postcard.
Then Lawsie as seen in a recent publicity shot, but rotated so that he isn’t leaning over.
Next, Stan Zemanek, from a publicity shot he uses on his postcards (source: http://www.sonieland.com/2005_04_01_archive.html).
This is followed by a reversed photo of Mike Welsh (Just like Mike Jeffreys, it is from his 2CC publicity show as seen on his 2CC postcards) to make it look like everyone is huddled around in a minor semi-circle.
And finally Ray Hadley. This appears to have come from a 2GB publicity shot, although the only copy I can find of it is a thumbnailed version used on the 2GB homepage.
On the whole, I think 2CC have made a very smart move, and I hope they reap the rewards. Well done 2CC!
Samuel
May 4th, 2006 at 08:34am
It is 7:15AM, which means Melbourne is in the midst of radio history. Melbourne’s two Southern Cross Broadcasting radio stations, 3AW and Magic (3EE), are swapping frequencies.
(Update 9/May/2006: Google seems to be directing people to this page, so I should probably inform you that you can find audio of the changeovers on 1278 and 693 on this page)
Right now at 7:15AM, Melbourne’s top rating radio station, 3AW, is operating on two frequencies, its old 1278kHz and its new 693kHz, whilst Magic (3EE) has temporarily disappeared. At 10AM, Magic (formerly of 693kHz) will take over the 1278kHz frequency, leaving 3AW on 693kHz, effectively completing the changeover.
So, 3AW was:
And is now:
Whilst Magic was:
And is now:
(Thanks to Chuck A. Spear for his assistance with the new 3AW logo, but they came good on their website so I used their larger version).
This probably has everybody outside Melbourne thoroughly confused, why on earth would Southern Cross Broadcasting want to fiddle with frequencies? Well allow me to explain.
The higher end of the AM spectrum is, for one reason or another (perhaps John B1_B5 can enlighten us here), more susceptible to electromagnetic interference, and as such, 1278kHz is virtually inaudible in areas of Melbourne’s CBD, and at various locations where reception is extremely important, such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for their AFL coverage, whilst 693kHz is easy to receive everywhere. As such, it makes much more sense to move Melbourne’s top rating radio station to a frequency where it can be heard everywhere, and move a dwindling station to the less useful frequency.
Thankfully this isn’t a surprise to anybody who has paid any attention to Melbourne media in the last month or two, as it has been advertised and promoted quite heavily, with 3AW being given prominence (probably due to its popularity). One such example would be this press advertisement.
.
At midnight, both 3AW and Magic updated their websites. 3AW updated their logo and changed their flashing “we’re moving” graphic to a flashing “we’ve moved” graphic. Magic also updated their logo, and performed an update to the text on the front page of their site for the first time in a long time, making reference to a format change.
Magic 693 has entered a new and exciting phase in its history, shifting to 1278 on the AM dial.
From 10am Monday May 1st Magic 693 has become 1278 – The New Magic, playing The Best Songs of All Time.
This is our most significant change since the station launched on March 26th 1994, and we’re sure you will enjoy 1278 – The New Magic every bit as much as Magic 693.
Our new website is currently under construction with a host of new pages and features, and will be up and running in the very near future.
You can always tell that a station is having a format change when they use the word “New” to describe themselves.
3AW and Magic have also swapped open line numbers, with 3AW starting to use their new number during the AFL yesterday as a marketing tool to help advertise the frequency swap.
3AW talkback can now be reached on 96 900 693
Magic competitions can now be reached on 9696 1278
The frequency swap has the interesting effect of segmenting the Melbourne AM dial in a similar manner to the Sydney AM dial, with talk at the lower end and music at the higher end. This is the new AM lineup in Melbourne.
- ABC Radio National 621 (Talk)
- 3AW 693 (Talk)
- ABC Local Radio 774 (Talk)
- Sport 927 (Talk)
- ABC NewsRadio 1026 AM (Talk)
- SEN 1116 (Talk)
- Magic 1278 (Music)
- 3MP 1377 (Music)
I will offer some free advertising advice here, hopefully 3AW will consider it. The number “3” is perfect for this situation as it rhymes with the end a number of things related to the frequency swap, as such I am thinking that 3AW could have simplistic advertising along the lines of:
News and Entertainment on 3AW
Now in the CBD on 693
And also
3AW Football
MCG 693
This would work very well on voiceovers, especially the latter one if they were to set up a stand outside the MCG. I can just imagine them now, standing outside the MCG running a loop of promos before the game featuring highlights of their previous AFL coverage, each promo ending in “3AW Football…MCG 693”. They could even hand out frequency locked radios if they wanted to. I think I’ve just stumbled on the best way to promote their AFL coverage now that it can be heard at the MCG, I’ll be sure to send them an email suggesting it.
A slightly different phrase “3AW Football, at the G on 693” could be used during the commentary of AFL matches for the first weekend. Rex, Clinton & Tony would have no trouble slipping that one in.
This is history in the making, I am looking forward to hearing the recordings to see how the 7:15 changeover was handled by both stations, and how Magic resume at 10AM.
3AW’s website can be seen at 3aw.com.au
Magic’s website can be seen at Magic693.com.au, although they have registered Magic1278.com.au and will undoubtedly move in soon.
Samuel
May 1st, 2006 at 07:15am
2CC had a busy day yesterday. Firstly newsreader Kris McKenzie is back from holidays, even though they are still looking for a senior journalist. I really did think that Kris was gone, the job ad and his lengthy absence almost added up, although I have to admit that the constant changing of afternoon newsreader didn’t. It is great to have Kris back, as I’m sure a lot of listeners would agree.
Speaking of listeners, plenty of them would have noticed the strange actions of the 2CC transmitter from about 2:45pm onwards, it really sounds like it is having power issues (of course with Canberra’s electricity infrastructure that could be ActewAGL’s fault) as it seems to cut out at random, sometime not transmitting at all for a short while, other times transmitting a very weak signal, and always returning with a signal that fades in from static. Thankfully the problems seemed to be contained to the hour after 2:45.
And as previously reported, Andrew Pye has left, his final day was yesterday, prepare for Mike “Frame In The Plane” today. I received a letter on Monday from the Australian Traffic Network informing me that I was an unsuccessful applicant for the position (no real surprise), which probably indicates that they have appointed someone to that position, and there is a very good chance that it is Mike Frame. None the less, I will keep my ear to the ground and let you know if I hear anything, as it is quite feasable that Mike is just filling in.
Incidentally, in Andrew’s last traffic report he denied being the Carpet Court Jester, Dave Hughes, the bloke from the AMI Nasal Spray ads (don’t ask), and a multitude of other people and characters which people have accused him of. Regardless of what he says, I still think he is the Carpet Court jester and just won’t own up to wearing that hat.
Oh well, best of luck Andrew, enjoy your copywriting at 2ST Wollongong.
Samuel
April 27th, 2006 at 12:27am
Before you get your hopes up, no this post does not contain download statistics, they will be delivered in the monthly blog view stats.
In the last few weeks I’ve received a bit of correspondence from the guests who have been on Samuel’s Persiflage, about the monthly statistics I send out. You see, not only do I post the download statistics each month in the blog view stats, I also send statistics letters to all of the guests, with details about the downloads of their episodes.
In general the response has been very good, the guests are pleased to know approximately how many people have been listening (these are download stats, they don’t prove exact listenership), and are looking forward to the monthly updates.
This is pleasing for me as I decided that it would be a good idea to do this from the start. Basically, when you do a radio or television interview, you can find out pretty easily the approximate number of people listening/watching. TV ratings are published daily, and radio ratings come out to a set schedule. Unfortunately the same is not true for podcasts, and as this is a relatively new form of media, some people are skeptical of there being any point in appearing on a podcast.
There is also a problem with the fact that traditional broadcasts are generally instant or mildly delayed, but are usually broadcast once, with no ability for the end viewer/listener to replay what happened if they didn’t record it. Basically, you speak, people hear you, the world carries on. With podcasts though, you speak, a bit later the podcast is published, and for the rest of eternity people may hear/see your message. This obviously isn’t any good for a message you need to deliver right now, but for non-urgent messages this can be quite effective.
This changes the way ratings need to be measured though as you can’t just say “250,000 were listening when you spoke”, you effectively have to say “250,000 heard you on Monday, 75,000 on Tuesday, etc etc”, and of course you can’t really measure the exact size of the audience due to the very nature of downloads, so you measure downloads and call it an approximate audience size, which it is with the law of averages (some will download part of a podcast, some will download a full podcast and share it with others).
As podcasting matures, I think we will see more and more podcasters providing download statistics, as it is something which interests most of the audience, is useful for future guests, and good information for previous guests.
I’m by no means the only podcaster doing this, but I am one of the leaders in providing statistics, and I get the feeling that one day I will be able to say “I helped to start that!”.
Samuel
April 26th, 2006 at 11:14am
You might recall that we previously met Catherine Garrett in about half a second of video where she introduces Daniel Gibson, who is showing off my weather picture in 2000.
I met Catherine in 1999 when she was reporting on a story about ACTION hiring female bus drivers and she had a cameraman with her filming the bus driver of a school bus outside Ainslie Primary School. On that occasion we had a chat and she gave me a “Prime Possum” postcard, which I still have here somewhere.
Prior to Prime Local News going to air with my weather picture in 2000, I rang through to speak to Daniel Gibson and ended up having a brief chat with Catherine, who remembered me from our conversation the year before, and even remembered some of the subject matter.
Since then, Prime Local News folded and Catherine went to the ABC as a reporter on their local news service. In 2002 I was informed by an ABC reporter that she had gone on maternity leave, and the next I heard of her was last year when she wrote one of the rare useful articles in City Ads, about her time in Germany with Deutsche Wells Television.
Catherine is now back in Australia and is a reporter and producer for the ACT edition of Stateline, the weekly state/terriotry based current affairs show on ABC Television.
Regular host of ACT Stateline, Phillip Williams is overseas reporting on the events in the Solomon Islands, so Catherine Garrett filled in on Friday night, looking as bright and bubbly as ever.
I’m obviously very late in welcoming Catherine back to Australia and Canberra, but I must say that it is great to have her back, and I will send her a letter on Monday to say just that.
Welcome back Catherine!
Samuel
April 23rd, 2006 at 08:50am
Mike Frame’s business card just keeps on growing, he’s already 2CC’s Classic Aussie & unofficial Lawn Bowls correspondent, as well as Southern Cross Ten’s colourful racing personality/racing commentator, and even New South Wales Lotteries’ ACT Promotions Person. Now he gets to add “Frame in the Plane” to it (if it fits).
Mike Frame is the new 2CC/2CA traffic reporter, as Andrew “Pye in the Sky” Pye is the new copywriter at 2ST Wollongong, after their previous copywriter left for the UK.
This is where things start to get a little bit convoluted. 2CC/2CA use the services of The Australian Traffic Network for their traffic reports, as do many other stations around the country. ATN provide traffic reporters to radio stations, and do so in a very transparent way, which makes the traffic reporters appear to work for the radio stations in the minds of listeners. Andrew Pye did work for 2CC on occasion as a panel operator and “around the grounds reporter” during Canberra Raiders matches. Mike Frame continues to work for 2CC as an announcer.
Andrew’s position with ATN was advertised on radioinfo a couple weeks ago, and I applied for it, although with the speed at which things I post seem to be moving of late, I wouldn’t be surprised if my application hasn’t left the post office yet.
The question that I am having trouble with at the moment is working out whether or not Mike Frame (who called himself “Frame in the Plane” this morning on Weekend Magazine…if they are still calling it that) is the permanent replacement for Andrew Pye, or just filling in? I suppose time will tell.
Samuel
April 22nd, 2006 at 04:22pm
Many Canberrans would be familiar with Mark Carmody, host of 666 ABC Canberra‘s gardening show. Mark has been hosting this show for many years, and has been a welcome addition to many households on a Saturday morning, but he has decided to hang up the garden microphone, and ride off into the distance, on a riding/driving tour of Australia.
Mark’s ABC predecessor and current host of the 2CC gardening show, David Young, wished Mark well on his journeys, and paid tribute to him this morning.
I suppose this means that people who are after wireless horticultural advice will turn over to 2CC from 7am-9am every Saturday and Sunday to hear the excellent “David Young’s Garden”. I’m a long-time listener to David’s show and I think David has a very relaxed manner of dealing with things, which is the perfect way to start the day. I’m sure that Mark’s listeners will agree with me once they make the switch.
For the record, the ABC website offers the following information about Mark:
Mark Carmody
Gardening
Even if you’re not a gardener, you’ll enjoy starting your weekend with Mark from 8.30am each Saturday morning.
Mark has over two decades of gardening experience, including being head gardener at The Lodge during the Fraser and Hawke years, and at the Tindal Air Force Base in the Northern Territory.
He currently works for the Department of Urban Services and his formal qualifications include a Certificate of Horticulture from the Canberra Institute of Technology and an Associate Diploma of Science (Horticulture).
Best of luck Mark, I hope you enjoy your journey around Australia, I know many Canberrans will miss you, and you can rest assured that David Young will do an excellent job picking up all of those questions that would have been directed at you.
Samuel
April 15th, 2006 at 08:25am
Seeing as Daniel Gibson has returned to 2CA’s breakfast shift (albeit apparently temporarily), I thought it would be a good idea to dust off my recording of me singing the Vegemite song on 2CA in 2000. At that stage 2CA’s breakfast show was hosted by Daniel Gibson and Lisa Herbert.
I’ve done some research and I believe that this was recorded on Wednesday, July 12, 2000, as it was school holidays, the Western Bulldogs versed Carlton the following weekend, and the Western Bulldogs had lost the previous week.
Anyway, back to the story, 2CA’s Big Breakfast and Vegemite were running a promotion to coincide with “The Happy Little Vegemite Awards”, where it was possible to win $78,000 for your school by making a video with the theme of a happy future (and presumably Vegemite). The 2CA competition involved singing the Vegemite song, and then one of the people who did so each morning would win a Vegemite t-shirt and cap. It was close to 8:30am when I rang in to sing the Vegemite song.
Click here to hear Samuel singing the Vegemite song, and the banter surrounding it.
I had been on-air with Daniel and Lisa before, and was used to them pre-recording callers, so I had the tape in the recorder but was in the next room when it became apparent that I was going live to air, and rushed into my bedroom to start recording. Before the recording started I asked the somewhat silly question “Am I on the radio?”, the recording starts with Daniel’s answer and Lisa being amused about me recording myself on the radio.
We chatted a bit about Vegemite and how I know the Vegemite song, and then Daniel starts playing the background music (which I and just about every other contestant ignored), and I started singing the Vegemite song:
We’re happy little Vegemites
As bright as bright can be.
We all enjoy our Vegemite
For breakfast, lunch, and tea.
Our mother says we’re growing
stronger every single week.
Because we love our Vegemite.
We all adore our Vegemite…
I then managed to forget the last line of the song, and Lisa started singing which helped to jog my memory.
It puts a rose in every cheek!
After that we chat for a bit longer, and just before I’m put on hold Daniel and I discuss our favourite AFL team, the Western Bulldogs (aka Footscray). Daniel is correct that we lost the previous weekend, we were beaten by Port Adelaide 23.11 (149) to 16.10 (106). Daniel then predicted that the Bulldogs would do well against Carlton the following weekend.
Near the end of the “Big Breakfast” Daniel & Lisa announce the winner…me! Lisa accidently says that I won a TV & cap, which Daniel corrects before Lisa informs everyone about a rabbit on the loose in Davenport Street, Dickson, Daniel’s light-hearted response was rather memorable. (Listen to the recording for it).
I didn’t notice Lisa saying “TV & cap”, so when she rang me off air a few moments later I defended her, although when she checked 2CA’s audio log she found out that she did say it accidentally, not that it matters.
The reason I think that it was a Wednesday when all of this happened is that I seem to recall that Dad and I were going to pick up the prizes the next day, but then put it off to the following day due to other comittments, and we went to 2CA on a Friday, at which time Daniel gave us a tour of the studios (from memory Lisa had a meeting to attend and couldn’t be there). The interesting thing about this is that Daniel had his Bulldogs top with him for the event (I can’t remember if I did or not), and Dad is a Carlton supporter. The next day the Bulldogs beat Carlton in a very close encounter 11.9 (75) to 11.6 (72), and on Monday morning I had a chat with Daniel who said that he was thinking about Dad and I sitting at opposite ends of the lounge…me cheering and Dad crying.
Anyway, for the record, a photo of the Vegemite t-shirt and cap (I’ve only recently grown into the t-shirt).
Samuel
April 9th, 2006 at 01:48am
This is the question I was left asking myself after Monday’s show, in which the following was the final story.
On the other hand we had hoped to tell you about an ongoing legal matter involving the ABC, but late today Media Watch was directed not to broadcast that story.
The director of ABC TV Kim Dalton said
“It is not appropriate for the ABC to comment on a matter before the courts in which the ABC is involved where the perception may arise that the ABC is attempting to influence the outcome of the court’s deliberation.”
Until next week – good night.
The story in question is one Media Watch covered the previous week.
The Packer family’s Bulletin magazine carried a lengthy discussion on the future of the ABC two weeks ago.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan had this to say.
“It won’t be the same ABC it is today in a year’s time – we are in for some very exciting changes.”
— The Bulletin, 21st March, 2006
And boy, she meant it. Talk about moving fast!
“Restructure of ABC Board
The Board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) will be restructured …
The staff-elected Director position on the ABC Board will be abolished and legislation to give effect to this change will be introduced as early as possible.”
— Senator Coonan, Media Release – Restructure of ABC Board, 24th March, 2006
The election for a new staff director is already underway. The nominations are in. The Australian Electoral Office is gearing up.
So the government has to let that process continue. But once ABC staff have voted – the government will axe the position.
Now that’s forward planning! So where will that leave the board?
The staff elected director will go. A permanent replacement for the managing director is yet to be chosen and it’s not clear whether Chairman Donald McDonald will be re-appointed.
That leaves just four board members whose tenure is secure. Senator Coonan has promised to appoint two new board members soon. ABC staff will meet later this week to discuss the changes.
We’ll keep you posted.
Good night.
Up until now, the ABC has made Media Watch look like an independent 15 minutes of airtime, something over which management take no control over, and is free to do as it pleases, including scrutinise the ABC. With this image, surely there was no problem with Media Watch looking into the story, but instead management have come along and destroyed this image in order to prevent Media Watch from talking about the story. This also makes me wonder what Media Watch found out that management wanted to hide?
Samuel
Update (3:50PM 7/Mar/2006): It turns out that the story in question was NOT about the staff-appointed director fiasco, but instead about a woman who is suing the ABC for a breach of privacy. Whilst this still raises questions about the impartiality (or lack thereof) of Media Watch, a report in yesterday’s The Australian newspaper casts a different light on it, with host Monica Attard and executive producer Peter McEvoy threatening to quit. You can see the article on The Australian’s website by clicking here, or read on for my “archived for historical purposes” copy (naturally The Australian retain copyright over the article, and any request they may make for me to remove the article from this website will be honoured).
Media Watch resents ABC gag
Amanda Meade
April 06, 2006
MEDIA Watch host Monica Attard and her executive producer Peter McEvoy issued an ultimatum yesterday to ABC’s new director of television, Kim Dalton: stop meddling or we will quit.
The staff at Media Watch are still fuming over the removal on Monday night of a story from the program’s line-up. It is believed to be the first time management has interfered significantly in editorial decisions since the program started in 1989 with barrister Stuart Littlemore as its first host.
Attard and McEvoy believe the story was removed not for legal reasons but because it was not in the corporate interests of the public broadcaster.
After seeing the Media Watch script late on Monday, acting managing director Murray Green and Dalton further consulted legal advisers and directed the story be dropped.
The censored item was about a Melbourne woman who is suing the ABC for breach of privacy.
In two radio bulletins broadcast on the ABC in 2002, the victim of a rape was identified, which is against the law.
The victim, whose husband was convicted for the rape, is suing the ABC for breach of privacy and seeking compensation and aggravated damages.
The woman told the court after the broadcasts she felt as if the “whole world knew” she had been raped.
The national broadcaster’s media watchdog was going to make the point that a legal precedent may be set if she was successful, which could affect media reporting.
Although the story had been cleared by in-house lawyers, Green and Dalton said it may be seen by the magistrate hearing the case as the ABC exerting pressure on her.
Monday’s program reported on the internal tension.
“We had hoped to tell you about an ongoing legal matter involving the ABC, but late today Media Watch was directed not to broadcast that story,” Attard told viewers before reading out a statement provided to the program by Dalton: “It is not appropriate for the ABC to comment on the matter before the courts in which the ABC is involved where the perception may arise where the ABC is attempting to influence the outcome of the court’s deliberations.”
Sources insist, however, that the item was not a comment on the case but a simple report of the facts in the case, which were of significant interest to the media industry.
Last night sources told Media the meeting with Dalton was lengthy and constructive and no one was threatening to quit the program. However, if Dalton takes a heavy-handed approach to the program, he may find himself with a fight on his hands. Media Watch was axed by previous managing director Jonathan Shier and then reinstated by former director of television Sandra Levy. Although she was a hands-on director, Levy did not meddle, former presenter David Marr has said.
April 7th, 2006 at 12:12pm
Now that Greg “Robbo” Robson has left 2CA and Daniel Gibson has quite happily filled the void on a temporary basis, the question of who will take over the show permanently needs to be answered.
I suppose it is quite possible that Daniel will just keep going, and the fact there really aren’t any “filling in” lines to be found anywhere on the air could be proof, that being said, I do have to wonder about his full time position at Prime if he did decide to take on Breakfast radio on a permanent basis.
I do find it curious that there haven’t been any ads on radioinfo for the position, especially seeing as 2CA did say that Daniel would only be there “until a permanent replacement is found”, and Capital Radio tend to advertise just about everything on radioinfo.
This got me thinking about the recent ad for a Senior Journalist at 2CA/2CC, and the timing of it in relation to the announcement of Robbo leaving. I have no idea about the details of Robbo’s contract, but I would imagine that there would have probably been at least a 2 week notice period, which considering he finished on Friday would have started on Friday the 17th of March, only three work days before the Senior Journalist job was advertised on Wednesday the 22nd of March.
As I suspected that the Senior Journalist ad was indicating that one of the existing newsreaders was leaving, it all clicked…Kris McKenzie has been filling in on a couple of 2CC’s shows recently, he is great talent, upbeat and bubbly, and would probably fit right into 2CA’s “New Sound” format. The three workday gap between the dates listed above would be more than enough time to sign a presenter up as the new breakfast host, and file a job advertisement for the new host’s old job.
Naturally I’m speculating, but I’m not pulling names out of the air, as you can see I have given this some careful consideration, and it works…whether it turns out to be true or not is something we will just have to wait and see.
Samuel
April 5th, 2006 at 09:46am
As many of you would be well aware, Eddie McGuire is the new CEO of Channel Nine, when he took on the job, there was much speculation about whether he would continue presenting television shows or not, and we then found out that he would not be.
We have previously seen Eddie on this website giving away a million dollars for the first time, which was a peice of Australian television history unto itself, and I think last night’s episode also fits into that category, as it was a momentus occasion in the history of Australian Television.
Last night was Eddie McGuire’s final episode of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”, and there was a special tribute to Eddie throughout the show, with a highlights package at the start, a voiceover introducing him “for his final episode”, and then a big tribute at the end of the show.
I have videos of this tribute online, and have listed them in quality order from highest to lowest. The multiple formats should be enough for compatibility for everyone. There were a couple minor hiccups in the middle of the video, which appear to be WIN Television’s fault, but nothing major.
Windows Media Video (WMV) 24.3MB
Real Player Video (RM) 23.5MB
MPEG-4 (MP4) 23.6MB
Quicktime Video (MOV) 24.0MB
After wrapping up proceedings from the night, and not mentioning who the host will be next week, Temptation co-host Livinia Nixon dropped by to present eddie with some gifts.
It’s not every day you get to kiss the boss on national television, with his wife in the audience!
There’s also a bottle of something, probably wine or champagne.
Eddie runs through some statistics of his time hosting the show
And they are:
- 292 episodes
- 623 contestants
- 6,808 questions
- Eddie said “Lock it in” 6,510 times
- Given away $28,595,000
Eddie used to joke about giving away the bosses money…I guess it is no fun when you’re the boss and you’re giving away your own money!
Eddie then showed us the picture Livinia gave him
and was given a standing ovation
Eddie’s wife and son were in the audience
And Eddie gives us a final salute goodbye.
The Samuel Salute is a rare honour, but today I salute Eddie McGuire with the Samuel Salute, for excellence in his 7 and a bit years hosting Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Well done Eddie, may your time as Nine CEO be rewarding and successful.
Samuel
April 4th, 2006 at 03:00pm
I don’t know if you spotted The Daily Telegraph on Thursday or not, but the front cover looked like this.
But hang on…zoom in a bit.
What’s that on the rear window of the red car?
Why it’s a sticker with the old 2UE logo on it! Looks like 2UE scored some free advertising on the front cover of a rather popular newspaper. To be fair, I didn’t spot this myself as I don’t usually see The Daily Telegraph, but I did hear Stuart Bocking and Peter FitzSimons talking about it on Thursday morning at around 5am on 2UE and network stations.
I guess it just goes to show that those stickers the radio stations give away are worthwhile after all! Congratulations 2UE!
I just hope they gave the owner of the car, Mark Pataky, some sort of prize, or interviewed him, or both. It wouldn’t have been hard to get in contact with him considering that he is a 2UE listener and they could have simply got one of the announcers to ask him to ring in.
Samuel
April 3rd, 2006 at 09:21am
Daylight Saving does some funny things at times, including giving John Kerr an extra hour for his show. That means that New Day Australia will go for seven glorious hours from Midnight-3am Eastern Daylight Saving Time and from 2am to 6am Eastern Standard Time.
So…on with the (long) John Kerr show!
Samuel
April 1st, 2006 at 11:26pm
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