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Here are some things we mentioned during the show:

Gorge Yourself

It’s like Hulu but we can see it in Australia. But for how long?

Take a look at TV Gorge.

Thanks to Lovely Loyal Listener Lyndal for letting us know about that one.

If You Watch One Thing

  • Brett and Nelly: Australian Story, ‘Samuel’s Story’ – ABC1 – 8pm Mon, 8 Feb – Repeated: 12:30 Sat, 13 Feb
  • Josh: Elvis Costello with Bill Clinton – 11:25PM, 11 Feb 2010, ABC1

Questions for the Communications Minister’s Office

Firstly, have a look at the media release sent out by the Stephen Conroy’s office.

After reading that media release I had the following questions:

  1. How does a 33%-50% rebate ensure continued Australian content on television? Isn’t that what local content regulation is for?
  2. Where does the money from licenses normally go? Who is going to be missing out over the next two years?
  3. Is this just the government buttering up the networks prior to the upcoming election? The television networks, while a little less well-off than in past years, are hardly in danger of collapse. We can infer from what the networks tell us that a little bit of proper management and some elbow grease could get them out of this slump. So how can the government justify such a huge discount?

This was the reply from the Minister’s office:

The rebates recognise the importance of Australian content on TV and the increased pressures facing commercial TV.

The licence fees are a tax which goes into general revenue.

As stated in the media release, the rebates build on the Government’s funding increase for the ABC and SBS in the 2009-10 Budget to fund Australian content on the national broadcasters.

As also noted in the media release, one of the factors considered by the Government in providing the rebate to commercial TV broadcasters, was the costs they will incur in rolling out new digital multichannels and extending the coverage of those channels across Australia.