Geraldine Hickey joins us with her special comments on her selection of the best show of 2010 and like a fantastic meeting of all the Big Chiefs, we have drawn in Josh Kinal, Brett Cropley, Nelly Thomas and John Richards for a pants-down, bare-knuckle brawl on momentous developments in Australian TV, the crap that should never have happened and the best show and our favourite characters of this, the first year of the second decade of the second millennium. Or is that the final year of the first decade of the new millenuim? Either way, it’s a BIG FREAKING CALL but we like to call it our Merry Episodic Echo – part 5 in our occasional annual wrapups.

We’ve put our picks out there so now it’s up to you to get busy in the comments to let us know who is right and what we completely missed that you were barraking for.

The comments are below – listen through the links up here:

• Aim your podcatcher or feed reader at our 24 hours accessible RSS feed to get all the shows right up to now.
• Sign up in iTunes while you’re writing our 5 star review.
• or just  listen to Episodic Echo in your browser

• Our take on the latest offering from non-pejorative basic-cable channel, FX, Justified, starring Timothy Oliyphant in the titular role as Justin Timberlake in a hat;
• The shooting down of another TV Cliche seen on many many cop dramas;
• What Daryl’s whingeing about this week;
• A quick rundown on the winners and loser, the makers and shakers of the 2010 TV Week Logie Awards
• Some of your Letters to Boxcutters; and
• One game-changer of a double shot quiz.

At the tone, make your selection from the following 3 options:

• RSS feed
• iTunes
• or listen to 222 in your browser

When you are finished, simply hang up or send us your feedback for more options.

Your call is important to us but if you can’t wait that long, send us an SMS at 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER), any time, day or night.

Don’t forget to invite all your Facebook friends to become Boxcutters fans, before all privacy settings are removed and the exodus begins.

**News Just In**
*The entire episode is now available for download.
*We had a technical glitch that cut the show off prematurely.
*If you downloaded previously, reset your podcatcher and
*suck it down again.
**Thanks for yr patience.**

News of the Week

• More sport appearing in 3D &endash; this time in Germany
• The BBC appears damned if they do and damned if they don’t after the upcoming UK elections.
• Also, David Cameron uses inside knowledge of The Wire to prove election-worthy street-cred.
• Gervais and Merchant are writing a new series for BBC2
• Loyal listener and pixel commentator, David Boxcutter is simultaneously excited and disappointed by HD TV

Boxcutters Present: Eurovision 2010

Australia’s top TV podcast, Boxcutters, invites you to enjoy the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest on the big screen upstairs at Vibe!

Watch the SBS broadcast as we bring a little bit of Oslo to downtown Fitzroy.

Come dressed to represent your favourite Eurovision nation – drinks, bar snacks and Julia-worshipping will be available.

Also, Dave Bloustien discusses writing for Good News Week and the Glass House.

• RSS feed
• iTunes
• or listen to 218 in your browser

Maybe after listening to the episode you want to:

• Watch Dan Ilic interview Stephen Conroy, Minister for Communications;
• Find out exactly what “promulgation” means; or
• Watch the hilarious Onion anti-smoking advertisements.

In the news we talk about Network 10′s proposed entertainment channel. Save yourself some time by reading the article we get all our information from.

Send us your promulgation by email or on the SMS us your Logie nominations on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER).

Twitter users: Follow us!
Josh is @sealfur
Brett is @bbox
and Boxcutters as a whole is @boxcutterscast

We love it when our friends come back from an overseas jaunt, bearing gifts from foreign lands, and we always try to catch the magic of the joy and surprise on Boxcutters.

In this week’s fresh-off-the-plane episode, Josh brings us an audio journey through the trials and tribulations of getting into the Ed Sullivan Theater for an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, ending up in a room with Bill Murray.

Nelly is audibly moved by a bobble headed Jeff Probst, rolling into some observations of Survivor: Heroes and Villains.

The Kids in the Hall are back with a new series, Death Comes to Town, and we take a look, direct from Canadia.

And there are mementoes for you, the listener, in a call to action to subvert some 3AW talk-back with our own campaign to improve the Logies presentation.

UPDATE: All of our giveaway tickets to the best Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Nelly Thomas’s I Coulda Been A Sailor have gone. However, you can still purchase tickets to see her at Melbourne Town Hall, March 25 – April 18 at 8:15pm (7:15 Sundays, no show Monday).

If not for the charming chatter, get it for the giveaway goodness:

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• iTunes
• or listen to 216 in your browser

If you have surplus holiday gifts, send them to us by email or on the SMS-gift-deposit at 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER).

And don’t forget to invite all your Facebook friends to become Boxcutters fans.

We do have a show for you this week, with a fascinating conversation with Carol-Lynn Parente, the Executive Producer of Sesame Street, but I’ve had a couple of corrupt file issues in the elements of the show. All being well, it was just an issue with the transport media and the recordings are safe and well at the studio.

Consequently, the show will be up about a day late but it’s definitely worth the wait.

Love and kisses,
BB

As we battle with international time-zones, we have some suddenly curtailed news, one thing to watch this week, some updates to things we’ve covered in the last week or two and some hilarious reality gossip.

• RSS feed
• iTunes
• or listen to 213 in your browser

Send us all your winter olympiad thoughts by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER). And don’t forget to invite all your Facebook friends to become Boxcutters fans.

So it takes something really special for an advertising campaign to start to piss me off consistently. Congratulations channel 10… You’ve done it.

I’ve not read anything about The Good Wife, I’ve not paid particular attention to the teasers given in the ads, I’ve not looked for the small print on the billboards around town. I know that Julianna Margulies – the nurse from ER that was going out with George Clooney – has straightened her hair and is playing the titular character and Chris Noth – Big from Sex and the City - plays some sort of political public figure character who has been shamed by some sort of shenanigans. Not once have I bothered sitting through the entire “Sneak Peek” without turning the channel off or hitting the 30 second skip button twice. And yet I’m confident enough to call this one of the major flops of 2010. A bigger disappointment than FlashForward or even Commander in Chief.

There are sure to be parallels with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojovic, caught out trying to sell a Democrat held seat last year, and Hilary Clinton standing by Bill through the Lewinsky saga, probably peppered with inappropriate campaign-trail type press conferences on the front lawn of the family house or on the steps of a courthouse, proving the passionate attention given our hero by the entire nation. The magnitude of girl-power is likely to be off the scale as Margulies triumphs almost impossibly in the career that had only been simmering while she kept the home fires burning in support of her previously legitimate, successful husband. I don’t, however, see the skeptical audience turning off their sense of disbelief for more than a couple of weeks.

This show seems likely to be a fusion of a couple of recent genres we’ve seen: the latest hopeful to try to capture the loyal Sex and the City bloc, who like their women sassy and crave someone they can really relate to in a weekly drama; and the genius working in a professional capacity story – think House, Shark, Leverage, The Mentalist, Eleventh Hour - undertaking and conquering tasks that nobody else anywhere could possibly accomplish. I’m not sure it’s a fusion that can work. US TV has been desperate to get another SatC up for 3 or 4 years now – Women’s Murder Club, Cashmere Mafia, The Starter Wife - but they just don’t take and there seems to be a lack of ensemble in The Good Wife. The genius professional always tends to be a little odd, which is lateral, spontaneous and occasionally fun from a guy working with a team of minions or a federal handler but very quickly shouts ‘Bunny Boiler’ in a woman.

I could be completely wrong on all of this but the saturation promotion that 10 has been giving this show over an extended period has my Boxie senses tingling. We’ll have to wait and see.

Remember When… Tim Ferguson joined us to talk about his impressively long career in Australian television, visiting on the eve of the inaugural Melbourne Comedy Festival show, Axed? If not, this is your lucky week because we’ve got an Encore Presentation in place of the regular show.

Here are the obligatory links:

• RSS feed
• iTunes
• or go a’Remember When-ing in your browser

Now is the time to send your obligatory communiqu? through our Contact Form or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)

I’m not sure if Josh and John are going to update this week with their One Thing to watch over the week but I’ll stick this up and we’ll see how we go:

Brett: Hey Hey It’s Saturday ?Reunion Special? – Nine – 7:30 Wed, 30 Sep 2009

They’re baaaaaack! Daryl and Ossie Ostrich, Celebrity Heads, Plucka a Duck and most especially and delightfully Red Faces; remember the Luge – older but joyously no wiser – thank goodness. Yet another chance to show how fantastically foolish we can be.

[Thanks to IceTV for the description]

Operation Generation Kill is launched, covering the TV series from HBO based on the reports of Evan Wright, reporting for Rolling Stone magazine.

Brett points out the rape of a cultural icon in his I Don’t Buy It.

And we’ve got your Letters, viewing advice for the week with One Thing and the News coverage we’re known and loved for.

Hit us up at Amazon for your own DVD or Blu-ray
copy of? Generation Kill.

Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)

[For those affected by the dropout in last week's show during the review of The Lost Room, I've fixed the problem and the new version is available for download through last week's post]

As mentioned by Wilbur, you can become a fan of Hey Hey on Facebook.

If You Watch One Thing

Brett: Glee ?Pilot. Glee – The Director’s Cut?
—Ten, 7:30 Thu, 17 Sep 2009
Josh: Good Onya, Skip —ABC1, 8:30pm Thursday 17th Sep.
John: will be unwrapping his copy of The Wire

Also, you might like to get your hands on the book of Generation Kill.

Tom Elliott inventing the flux capacitor giving us some rational explanations for the asset writedowns and massive profit downgrade at 7 and how hard 9 and 10′s parent companies are doing it;

a preview of Flash Forward, coming to our screens on the 7 network after the ultimate conclusion of Lost; and

The Lost Room from the SciFi Channel in Things You May Have Missed.

Pick up your very own copy of The Lost Room on DVD from Amazon.

Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)

Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)
Here’s some Come Back Mrs Noah (it’s terrible):

If you watch one thing:
Brett: The Wire starts on ABC2 Tuesday 9:30 and Saturday 10pm
Josh: Waltz with Bashir, Tuesday 10pm, SBS
John: Has not watched the Wire and therefore is going to bed without any supper.

Also we review the UK horror series Dead Set.

• RSS feed
• iTunes
• or listen to 175 in your browser

Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)

You can buy Dead Set at Amazon UK.

See Doug MacLeod discuss his golden career at Axed! at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

This is what the Boxcutters look like when they appear in The Age – warning! Photo!

Breaking Bad

Buy Breaking Bad – The Complete First Season on Amazon.com.

Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)

See Rod Quantock Eats Himself at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)

With reports of his discontent last year – before the reinstatement of David Gyngell as network chief executive – the snubbing of his pitch for a chat show and the earlier start time for the Sunday programme, it’s not much of a surprise.

Martin began at the network as a reporter on 60 Minutes, continuing as host of Midday and A Current Affair, with any number of special hosting gigs thrown in over the years.

Both David Gyngell and Martin claim it’s an amicable split.

Full report from AAP at NineMSN

Oh, and we dance on the grave of Coonan’s ministry.

Hear us like this:

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Let us hear you.

Don’t forget that you can also use that link above to email us the answer to this week’s quiz question. Have your answers in, via email, by 4pm next Monday AEDT.

Click the play button on the bar below to listen now.
[MEDIA=1]

Any time you want to hear the preview, use the player on the left.

What do you want to see in a one hour chat show with a personable host and a musical combo on the side? Should there be a monologue? Should the host do a song from time to time?

Does it need to try to be a comedy or can it be sustained with intelligent conversation? A barrel or wheel? Audience interaction? SMS voting? We’ve come a long way from Don Lane’s barrel but would it still work today?

Any thoughts invited – it’s a blank canvas.

The show will be up late Monday night.

All you need to do is spread the word about Boxcutters, in any way you want – the more creative the better – bring new visitors to the site with your special URL and you’ll be in the running for a Crumpler bean bag of your own.

If you want to enter, send us a message to let us know, through the Boxcutters contact form, so we know how to contact you.

You’ll have to be registered on the site to make your special link so we can make sure we have a unique address for you to use.

How does it work? I’m glad you asked. The link you want to send people to begins with http://www.boxcutters.net/blog/index.php?compid= followed by your username on the blog. My username is brett, so the URL I’d put out is http://www.boxcutters.net/blog/index.php?compid=brett

For our unusual users with more than one word in their username, where there’s a space, enter “%20″. So, if my username was brett boxcutter, the links would be http://www.boxcutters.net/blog/index.php?compid=brett%20boxcutter

It seems complicated but remember: you can always get in touch and we’ll explain it some more.

As you spread the word, put a link to where your link is posted, or describe your strategy, in the comments on this post.

The competition is open until 11:59pm on Sunday, September 30, at which point the winner will be decided by the judging panel (Brett, Josh and Ross) based on the number of visitors brought to Boxcutters, with extra points for style and creativity and minus points for shenanigans.

Happy Promoting!

The Nation has obviously been a surprise hit so they’re taking it out of the soft Tuesday night lineup and throwing it into the high profile Wednesday 10:30 slot. I wonder if Mick Molloy will be able to take the increased pressure.

On its last Tuesday night airing, The Nation pulled 548,000 viewers nationwide.

(Josh says: “Read the article from the Age.”)

Golden Age of Television gets all Joss Whedon on yo ass with Buffy and Firefly.

There’s a couple of big calls as we have a chat about new variety pilots at 7 and speculate on which one will win out.

Rounded off with news and Pork, this week’s Boxcutters is a great part of any televisual diet.

Go get some:

Let us know you think.

From The Age’s Business Day, here are a few interesting tidbits on Telstra’s anti-competitive assholery:

PHIL Burgess has again shown that he is not across the facts of broadband in this country, or continues to deliberately distort facts and reality to the point of completely misrepresenting the situation.
….
More recently, Telstra executives said the company would not give anyone else the information needed to build a fibre network. Then they said that Telstra had locked up the contractors that can build a fibre network. And there have been threats of suing the Government, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the G9 companies if they were granted access to the copper sub-loop to interconnect their network.
….
But why does that not bother Burgess and his fellow Telstra executives? To people in the telecommunications industry it is clear. The purpose of Telstra’s FTTN scheme is to strand and torch the investments of its competitors. It is a tactic designed to totally distort competition and restore monopoly. It’s not about delivering broadband benefits to consumers. Telstra’s plan is to remove certainty around infrastructure investment decisions with the end-game of rendering competitive infrastructure redundant and worthless. The plan has no regard for the interests of consumers.
….
Government policy and the work of the ACCC has led to significant deployment of high-speed broadband by a great number of service providers, including Optus, Telstra and Primus. And consumers continue to reap the benefits of an open and competitive industry. Many consumers already have access to high-speed broadband. This is despite Telstra executives choosing not to release high-speed products. Telstra previously advised it had already built a nationwide ADSL2+ network but wouldn’t release it to the public unless the Government changed some of the laws the Telstra executives didn’t like. These laws have been in place a long time and it’s all credit to the Government for not backing down.
….
It is a fact that competition policy delivers benefits to consumers. Telstra was given custodianship of the monopoly network — a national asset — with the clear understanding that competition required access to that national asset. It was also clearly understood that Telstra would provide access to that national asset on fair and reasonable terms.

Pork is.. pork is.. pork is on the table… wiggedy-whack!

Just one of those strange things that happen when you send these things out there.

and

According to a statement from the network, McGuire will step down from the role on June 30 to spend more time on air, after taking a mid-year break for the first time in his career.

McGuire says the decision to quit was his and he wasn’t forced to resign.

Talking to Neil Mitchell on 3AW, when asked about his decision, he said: “Because I think it can add a lot more — because I can, to be perfectly honest.

“The opportunities that have been presented in front of me lead me to do some things I’ve always wanted to do and really get the balance right in my life.

“I’m really delighted that all things in my career have come to this point today.

“I am very much up on my toes and excited about my future.”

He said he took on the CEO’s role as a “circuit breaker”.

“I was sick of being on camera. I took the job because I’d had enough of what I was doing.

“In hindsight I should have had a bit of a holiday before taking on the CEO’s job.”

Asked whether he had any plans to return to the Footy Show, he replied: “Not at all”.

Ian Law, the CEO of Nine’s parent company, PBL, said the ratings at the network had taken a hit from McGuire’s on-air absence.

“It has become clear over the past 12 months that Mr McGuire’s absence from on air as a key host has impacted on the ratings of the network,” he said in the statement.

“The performance of 1 v 100 in addition to his executive duties shows how significant Eddie’s contribution can be to our on air line up.”

Eddie will continue as a member of the executive team of Nine, working closely with the director of programming on concepts and ideas for new shows. For the moment, he’ll remain based in Sydney.

Details sourced from The Age, Daily Telegraph, SBS, Bloomberg, NineMSN

From the interweb:

NEW YORK – The CW [the Country Western for those playing at home --BB] network canceled the cult hit “Veronica Mars” and will try to pick up steam in its second year with series about the snobby rich, transplanted families and a bounty hunter for the devil.

The network, created out of the ashes of the former WB [Warner Brothers -- BB] and UPN [United Parcels Network... surprisingly -- BB], had already ended the long-running family dramas “7th Heaven” and “Gilmore Girls.” On Thursday the ax fell on “Veronica Mars,” which starred Kristen Bell as a wisecracking teenage private eye.

Corporate parents CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. had hoped the CW [Country Western -- BB] could become a fifth major network by combining the best of its predecessors, but it has often slipped behind Univision in the ratings during a disappointing first year.

Full Story

From McLeod’s Daughters:

When you write a comment, you’ll see a subtle checkbox underneath the comments area which allows you to ‘Notify me of followup comments via e-mail’. To receive an email whenever someone adds to the comments on a post you’ve contributed to, just click the checkbox before hitting the Post button.

Once you have an updater set, you’ll see a link to manage your subscriptions and your email details where the messages get sent.

Enjoy!

Everything I’d read until this morning had been positive about the viewer figures – quite the interesting turnaround.

If you’d like to download just the bit that you missed, here it is:
Direct Download

iTunes seems to be a mite recalcitrant about re-downloading podcast shows – there’s no way I can figure out to make it get the full show again – so, for iTunes users, the news, once again, isn’t good.

BB

It started out talking about their pranks being newsworthy and finding their way into the nightly bulletins before they get a chance to air them on the show proper – this happened with the West Coast Eagle mascot more than a week before it turned up on the Chaser.

The article goes on to talk about the Chaser podcast being number 1 on iTunes Australia and how the download doesn’t include a number of items from the version that went to air:

The Marcus Einfeld sketch is missing due to him being subsequently charged for 13 criminal offences;

The Qantas ad pisstake; and

Andrew Hansen’s musical tribute to Naomi Robson, Goodbye Plastic Face.

The article also talks about the Mercedes Corby suit against TT, et al., stating that Jodie Power has been named in the suit and that Stuart Littlemore QC is Corby’s barrister. Did I mention this could get interesting? As a former host of Media Watch (before it was a crippled piece of dross), with a particular focus on the ethics of tabloid TV, Littlemore’s involvement should make it even more so.

And on the back of the Quotes segment this week:
Eboni Stocks, the winner of the second series of Australia’s Next Top Model, was removed by security from a Darlinghurst, Sydney bar after allegedly punching a female patron in the face. ANTM isn’t a show I’ve had the pleasure to partake in but, having heard Josh’s offering, now I’m not so surprised to hear about this.
More Info

POPULAR AWARDS

TV WEEK GOLD LOGIE – Most Popular Personality On TV
Natalie Blair
Rachael Carpani
John Howard
Simmone Jade Mackinnon
Rove McManus
Bert Newton
Kate Ritchie
John Wood

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Popular Actress
Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Neighbours, Network Ten)
Natalie Blair (Neighbours, Network Ten)
Rachael Carpani (McLeod’s Daughters, Nine Network)
Simmone Jade Mackinnon (McLeod’s Daughters, Nine Network)
Kate Ritchie (Home And Away, Channel Seven)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Popular Actor
Brendan Cowell (Love My Way, W Channel)
Mark Furze (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
John Howard (All Saints, Channel Seven)
Aaron Jeffery (McLeod’s Daughters, Nine Network)
Paul O’Brien (Home And Away, Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
Bert’s Family Feud (Nine Network)
Deal Or No Deal (Channel Seven)
Rove Live (Network Ten)
Thank God You’re Here (Network Ten)
20 To 01 (Nine Network)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Popular Presenter
Wil Anderson (The Glass House, ABC TV)
Grant Denyer (It Takes Two, Channel Seven)
Melissa Doyle (Sunrise, Channel Seven)
David Koch (Sunrise, Channel Seven)
Rove McManus (Rove Live, Network Ten)

MOST POPULAR SPORTS PROGRAM
Before The Game (Network Ten)
The Footy Show AFL (Nine Network)
The Footy Show NRL (Nine Network)
RPM (Network Ten)
Sports Tonight (Network Ten)

MOST POPULAR NEW FEMALE TALENT
Jolene Anderson (All Saints, Channel Seven)
Brooke Hanson (What’s Good For You, Nine Network)
Michelle Langstone (McLeod’s Daughters, Nine Network)
Amy Mathews (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Jessica Tovey (Home And Away, Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR NEW MALE TALENT
Dustin Clare (McLeod’s Daughters, Nine Network)
Ben Lawson (Neighbours, Network Ten)
Bobby Morley (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Chris Sadrinna (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Andrew Supanz (All Saints, Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR REALITY PROGRAM
Australian Idol (Network Ten)
Big Brother (Network Ten)
The Biggest Loser (Network Ten)
Dancing With The Stars (Channel Seven)
It Takes Two (Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR LIFESTYLE PROGRAM
Backyard Blitz (Nine Network)
Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)
Getaway (Nine Network)
The Great Outdoors (Channel Seven)
What’s Good For You (Nine Network)

MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN DRAMA
All Saints (Channel Seven)
Blue Heelers (Channel Seven)
Home And Away (Channel Seven)
McLeod’s Daughters (Nine Network)
Neighbours (Network Ten)

MOST OUTSTANDING AWARDS

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie
Answered By Fire (ABC TV)
Love My Way (W Channel)
RAN: Remote Area Nurse (SBS)
The Silence (ABC TV)
The Society Murders (Network Ten)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Outstanding Actor
Matthew Le Nevez (The Society Murders, Network Ten)
Ben Mendelsohn (Love My Way, W Channel)
Richard Roxburgh (The Silence, ABC TV)
David Wenham (Answered By Fire, ABC TV)
Dan Wyllie (Love My Way, W Channel)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Outstanding Actress
Daniella Farinacci (The Society Murders, Network Ten)
Claudia Karvan (Love My Way, W Channel)
Asher Keddie (Love My Way, W Channel)
Judith McGrath (All Saints, Channel Seven)
Susie Porter (RAN: Remote Area Nurse, SBS)

MOST OUTSTANDING NEWS COVERAGE
“Escaping The Border” (ABC TV News)
“Escaping The Mine” (Sunrise, Channel Seven)
“Scully Sacking” (Nine Network News)
“Sexual Abuse In Aboriginal Communities” (Lateline, ABC TV)
“Sexual Abuse Of The Elderly” (Lateline, ABC TV)

MOST OUTSTANDING PUBLIC AFFAIRS REPORT
“Abu Ghraib” (Dateline, SBS)
“Four Days In Dili” (Dateline, SBS)
The Great Escape: Brant Webb And Todd Russell (Nine Network)
“The Mourning After” (Australian Story, ABC TV)
The Terri Irwin Interview (Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
The Battle Of Long Tan (The History Channel)
The Bridge At Midnight Trembles (SBS)
The Floating Brothel (ABC TV)
Life At 1 (ABC TV)
Who Killed Dr Bogle And Mrs Chandler? (ABC TV)

MOST OUTSTANDING FACTUAL SERIES
Border Security (Channel Seven)
Dynasties (ABC TV)
Jamie’s Kitchen Australia (Network Ten)
Peking To Paris (ABC TV)
RPA (Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING COMEDY PROGRAM
The Chaser’s War On Everything (ABC TV)
The Glass House (ABC TV)
Spicks & Specks (ABC TV)
Stupid Stupid Man (TV1)
Thank God You’re Here (Network Ten)

MOST OUTSTANDING SPORTS COVERAGE
3 Mobile Ashes Series, Second Test (Nine Network)
The Australian Open 2006 (Channel Seven)
2006 FIFA World Cup Germany – Italy v Australia (SBS)
2006 Olympic Winter Games (Channel Seven)
2006 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 (Network Ten)

MOST OUTSTANDING CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
Blue Water High (ABC TV)
Camp Orange: Slimey Hollow (Nickelodeon)
H20: Just Add Water (Network Ten)
Mortified (Nine Network)
The Upside Down Show (Nick Jr)

GRAHAM KENNEDY AWARD FOR MOST OUTSTANDING NEW TALENT
Emily Barclay (The Silence, ABC TV)
Aaron Fa’aoso (RAN: Remote Area Nurse, SBS)
Emma Lung (Stranded, SBS)
Sam Parsonson (Love My Way, W Channel)
Alex Tilman (Answered By Fire, ABC TV)

I’ve just upgraded the WordPress install to 2.0.10 – from 2.0.4 (who knew if you didn’t pay attention for a couple of weeks they’d release 6 new upgrades?) – but I don’t think there should be too much difference for readers. If anyone has a problem, let us know on the usual email. I think I’ve updated the permissions for all the right directories that need it but I may have missed something – hey, it’s happened before.

The other thing is that I’ve adjusted a setting in the admin section so we shouldn’t be seeing any more pingbacks in the comments sections. Mostly they were spam anyways – with a few in just the last few days so maybe we’d popped up on the radar for those pingback comment spamming arseholes – so there should be very little loss there.

That is all.

BB

Be quick because this limited item will be rampaging out the door for just $19.95 from the Boxcutters Superstore o’ Love and, once they’re gone, that’s it.

Add that to the list of urban and suburban myths.

It turns out that a lot of people with digital video recorders are not fast-forwarding and time-shifting as much as advertisers feared. According to new data released yesterday by the Nielsen Company, people who own digital video recorders, or DVRs, still watch, on average, two-thirds of the ads.

One big reason is that many people with DVRs still tune in to watch about half of their shows at the scheduled start time, meaning they must sit through commercials.

And even when people watch recorded shows later, many are not fast-forwarding through the ads. On average, Nielsen found, DVR owners watch 40 percent of commercials that they could skip over ? perhaps because they like ads, don’t mind them or simply can’t be bothered.

“People are actually playing back more of the commercials than we thought,” said Steve Sternberg, executive vice president and director of audience analysis at Magna Global Media Research, an ad-buying agency. “People are buying DVRs not because they want to time-shift all of their viewing and skip all commercials, but because they want to time-shift some of their viewing.”

While the new data may well be fodder for cocktail party chatter, it also has major financial implications. Largely because many advertisers thought that people with DVRs were not watching their ads, they have not been paying for time-shifted viewing on DVRs. Now the networks could use the new information to try to charge more. And advertisers may begin pressing networks to rethink commercial breaks — maybe making them shorter.

People who have DVRs often insist that they never watch commercials, as if skipping commercials is a badge of honor. And while it is true that some DVR owners probably watch no commercials, others never touch the fast-forward button. Most people are probably in the middle of those two extremes.

“That’s part of the reward of taping: being able to zip through the advertisements,” said Marjorie Elson, a 62-year-old psychologist in Maryland. “But sometimes I do watch them ? only if they capture me.”

TiVo has found that its customers view the last commercial in a break the most, followed by the first commercial. (Viewers sometimes do not start fast-forwarding right away, and they often stop a bit early so they do not miss the next part of the show.) Commercials in the middle fare the worst, said Todd Juenger, vice president and general manager for audience research and measurement at TiVo, which serves 4.5 million of the roughly 15 million DVR viewers.

Nielsen announced the data as part of its preparations to release commercial viewing numbers for every TV program, starting in May. Nielsen, which collects data every few seconds through its set-top boxes, added DVR households to its sample in the last year; its commercial ratings data reflects the total time viewers spend watching ads, including viewing of partial ads, rather than whether ads are watched from start to finish. Advertisers spent upward of $70 billion last year for their TV spots ? more than in any other type of media.

“The cable operators that have the subscribers, the programmers who have the content and the marketers have to get ahead of this,” said Curt Hecht, chief digital officer at GM Planworks, the part of the Starcom MediaVest Group that manages General Motors’ ad buying. “They need to figure out how advertising can remain sustainable and effective in the new landscape.”

Advertising and television executives have not yet figured out which DVR owners are more likely to be commercial skippers, though Nielsen has found that younger people generally skip more commercials and time-shift more of their viewing than older people.

Nielsen has also found that commercials are more often watched during playback if the viewer is looking at the show the same day it ran. Commercial viewing drops significantly over time after the original showing. If advertisers start paying for DVR viewing, one question is whether they will pay just when viewers play back shows within a few hours.

Without DVRs, people can, of course, change the channel, leave the room or not pay attention during commercial breaks, but those activities seem to have only a minor effect on ratings during commercials ? only 5 percent, according to Nielsen data.

“DVRs are really the big X factor going forward,” said Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media, an ad-buying agency. “People’s DVR behavior is going to drive the marketplace.”

DVRs, which were introduced in 1999, are becoming more popular every year, and the cable operators are increasingly offering the feature in new set-top box packages. Analysts say DVRs are now in 12 to 20 percent of households. DVR owners tend to be wealthier and more educated than the average TV owner. DVR owners tend to have more children, and some own more than one DVR.

DVR owners account for about 6 percent of all TV viewing, but that figure is likely to grow, said Tracey Scheppach, vice president and video innovations director at Starcom USA. “Four of five people use the word ‘love’ when they describe this product, and when you have a product that powerful, it is going to become mainstream,” Ms. Scheppach said.

Starcom USA signed on last month to become TiVo’s first customer for a new monthly rating service in which TiVo will sell viewership numbers for commercials and programs seen by its customers. Companies like Nissan have already bought TiVo data to analyze how often their commercials are fast-forwarded. TiVo has long been tracking what its viewers watch, down to the second. But it is just now beginning to develop demographic data, using a panel of customers.

In some households, children are exposed to TV only through DVRs. Patricia Bowen, 35, a commercial property manager in San Antonio, said she liked being able to control what her children watched by programming acceptable shows on the DVR. She said her family liked to stop fast-forwarding during commercials to watch Apple and Geico ads.

“My son doesn’t understand why other people cannot pause their TV when they need to go to the bathroom,” she said.

Advertisers are well aware that coming generations may be DVR users. Visa decided to use brighter colors in its recent ‘Life Takes Visa’ commercials in an effort to get fast-forwarders to stop and watch for a moment, said Susanne Lyons, chief marketing officer for Visa.

“We’re trying to make a bigger-than-live color statement so when you’re flipping through quickly, the color jumps out,” Ms. Lyons said.

But Visa also decided not to advertise on TV at all in its new campaign for Visa Signature, a card for affluent consumers, in part because DVRs tend to be in wealthier households, Ms. Lyons said.

Emma Staples, a 29-year-old sales manager in Knoxville, Tenn., says she fast-forwards the commercials at a slower speed than her husband in case she wants to stop and watch one.

“I like to see what is going on in commercials,” Ms. Staples said. “Sometimes I’ll stop if it’s a preview for a movie I might want to see.”

Advertisers generally do not get to purchase particular positions in commercial breaks, even though it has long been known that the first and last position are best for brand recall. Now, networks may have to consider what happens to advertisers that follow a boring ad.

“If you have a horrible ad in the first position and it just basically drives people away, whose fault is that?” said Alan Wurtzel, president for research at NBC Universal.

Network executives said they had talked to a number of advertisers developing commercials that remain visible even during fast-forwarding. TV networks are testing to see how often DVR users remember ads even when they fast-forward through.

The cable operators are also experimenting with ads shown through video-on-demand and promotions for ads that run along the bottom of screens during TV viewing. Advertisers like Burger King and General Motors have purchased a new offering from TiVo that asks people at the end of shows if they would like to see a commercial.

Network executives said that commercial skipping has been overblown.

“When you talk to an advertiser it is like “Oh god, I’ve got to go on to the Internet because on television these people are fast-forwarding through the commercials,” said David Poltrack, the chief research officer for the CBS Corporation.

Mr. Poltrack also said that the networks had always focused primarily on attracting the most viewers to their programs. As DVRs become more popular, he said, networks will be forced to find ways to keep more people watching commercials.

Katherine Bryant, 29, owns three DVRs ? two in her home in Charleston, S.C., and one in her Oklahoma City apartment. Ms. Bryant, a dentist, said she watched more TV shows than she used to because she no longer had to sit through all the ads.

“Once you have one,” she said, “you can never, ever go back”

TV program delays ‘turning viewers into pirates’

Huge delays in airing overseas TV shows locally are turning Australians into pirates, says a study conducted by technology lawyer and researcher Alex Malik.

It took an average of 17 months for programs to be shown in Australia after first airing overseas, a gap that has only increased over the past two years, the study found.

The findings were based on a “representative sample of 119 current or recent free-to-air TV series or specials”, said Malik, who is in the final stages of a PhD in law at the University of Technology Sydney.

He was previously a legal counsel for the Australian Recording Industry Association, as well as a senior legal officer at the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Malik admitted there had been some signs of progress recently – programs such as The O.C. air within days of being shown in the US – but he insisted the overall delays had become longer.

“Over the past two years, average Australian broadcast delays for free-to-air television viewers have more than doubled from 7.6 to 16.7 months,” the study reads.

Malik also studied comments by TV viewers on various internet forums, and concluded: “These delays are one of the major factors driving Australians to use BitTorrent and other internet-based peer-to-peer programs to download programs illegally from overseas, prior to their local broadcast.”

He goes on to criticise Australian broadcasters for their apparent unwillingness to allow shows to be downloaded legally online.

“While film and music content owners have increasingly attempted to cater for digital consumers … Australian TV networks continue to appear to be unable or unwilling to change their programming policies or provide new digital based options for consumers unwilling to wait to view their favourite TV programs.”

Overseas, services such as Apple’s iTunes Store offer downloads of numerous shows from most of the major US networks, but this is not yet possible in Australia.

Network Ten is making some headroom here – its recently revamped website will soon offer entire programs for download as soon as they air, said Damien Smith, the network’s general manager of digital media.

“For some programs there will be the availability of full episodes, for others it will be highlights and short clips, for other programs it will be additional web-only content,” he said.

Ten has already experimented with TV show downloads, recently offering the series two premiere of Supernatural as a free download five days before its first airing.

ABC also offers a number of its shows for streaming through its website.

I was most interested to discover that the average delay had increased, from 7.6 to 16.7 months in just the last two years. The impression is that the networks have been aware of the problems of the world becoming a smaller place with increasing connectivity – and I’m sure this is at least in part due to the crowing they do about showing episodes so soon after they go to air in the US – but it seems the opposite is the reality.

BB

Glenn Dyer (Terry TV for those who didn’t realise) gave us a nice little Raywatch:

It wasn’t the finest hour for Today Tonight and new host Anna Coren last night. Just ten days after blitzing its bitter rival, A Current Affair, Coren and the program were forced to eat a very humble pie last night.

It seems a reporter named Nicholas Boot (which sounds like a character from the Evelyn Waugh novel, Scoop), bodgied up a particularly graphic story on Tuesday night which claimed that a little old lady in a nursing home was being chained to her bed.

Dramatic stuff but then last night … ooops, no chain. It was all a stunt gone horribly wrong. According to Seven, the little old lady had asked Boot to bring a chain along to the interview to help her make a point.

How that progressed to the idea that she was being chained to her bed (implying that the operators of the home were perhaps responsible) is the subject of investigation.

What it does show is that there is no quality control at TT, no-one running a sniff test across stories and questioning them. It sort of summed up what was a schizophrenic program last night: a very good investigation about a dodgy truck operator in NSW that ran a brave ten minutes or so, the apology over the chain and then two outright plugs for Seven programs or products: Dancing With The Stars (understandable given that it is a big program) and the competition linking Seven’s new program Ugly Betty with Pacific Magazines’ faltering rag, Famous.

Or should that be Fatuous.

In news:

First primetime casualty of 2007 – The Code. Nine has “rescheduled” its first primetime program of the year and we haven’t even finished the second week of ratings. The newly developed The Code, an observational police doco series at 7.30pm Monday nights, was flicked after just three outings. Its audience tumbled from just over a million for the first two eps to a low 971,000 on Monday night. With Nine showing the Oscars next Monday night, The Code won’t be back the week after (March 5). What’s Good For You will be returning in its place. The Code was shot with the cooperation of the Victorian Police and the Victorian Magistrates Bench. It was an average attempt to match the observation style developed by Seven with Border Security and The Force, which is shot in Western Australia with that state’s police force. In announcing the return of What’s Good For You, Nine said “The Code remains in production, with additional episodes commissioned for Nine, and this groundbreaking series will return to Nine later this year.” So it is being “rested” rather than “boned”. It won’t be back in the 7.30pm Monday slot which is too important; not unless Nine runs out of product. The statement leaves open the possibility that it won’t be seen until after ratings finish in late November. — Glenn Dyer

ABC considers more Differences of Opinion. There’s speculation that the ABC could add between one and three episodes to its discussion program, Difference of Opinion. It was down to run for 12 weeks and has rated so far 462,000 and 554,000 for the first two showings. But ABC TV sources say the extra programs are not linked to demand from viewers but it would seem Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope probably won’t be back till after June, about a month later than previously believed. The exact number of additional programs is flexible, according to ABC TV sources. — Glenn Dyer

Encore screening for Insight’s Hicks special. SBS has decided to do a special repeat screening of last night’s Insight: Hicks On Trial. It will screen this Friday at 7.30pm (that’s in addition to the normal repeat times of Fridays at 2.30pm and Mondays at 2.30pm). SBS Management has decided to do the special repeat screening because of the strength of the program and the timeliness of the content. Last night, Insight averaged 201,000 viewers, while at 8.30pm, The Trial of Saddam Hussein averaged 210,000 for an hour and then at 10pm, doco The President vs David Hicks, (which is a repeat but wasn’t marked as such in the guides) averaged 233,000 for an hour and half. So did SBS management make the right decision? The President vs. David Hicks would seem to have more appeal on repeat than a fresh ep of Insight. — Glenn Dyer

All via Crikey

Eddie set to swing axe at STW-9

With the sale of Channel Nine Perth to PBL Media set to be negotiated in late March, Eddie McGuire (CEO of the Nine Network) is ready to swing the job slashing axe, numerous TV executives and industry sources have said.

Jobs are expected to be dropped firstly in senior management positions at STW-9. PBL’s eastern states counterparts are expected to take their place.

It’s no secret that Nine’s 6 o’clock news bulletin perfoms dismally in Perth, with Seven’s Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr attracting majority audience share for this timeslot.

STW-9′s local productions Just Add Water and Postcards WA are also under threat. However, McGuire has said the aim for the network’s weakest link is to strengthen the content and revenue base.

PBL offered STW-9′s operators, Sunraysia , $136.4 million for the Perth TV station early last week.

Barber bouncing back on our screens

FORMER quiz king Tony Barber is returning to Channel 9 after 16 years.
Barber, who quit Sale of the Century and the network in 1991, is being brought back to host a night of Sale’s replacement Temptation.

Barber, who has been working on pay TV and as new Carlton president Dick Pratt’s entertainment consultant and MC at Raheen, is confident he has not lost his quizmaster touch.

“Doing quiz shows is like getting on the bike or horse, you just don’t lose it,” Barber said.

He said he could be tempted to return to network television if the right project was offered.

“Quiz shows are my bag, so of course if I were asked to take part in something I’d be checking out the format carefully,” he said.

Barber’s offsider on the show, which will air on Wednesday, March 12, will be his former Sale co-host Alyce Platt. Barber and Platt will take over the show when co-hosts Livinia Nixon and Ed Phillips become contestants for the evening.

When I first read the Barber article, I missed that important a night… I thought our very good friend may have been departing.

That is all for now.

BB

Kiefer Sutherland was delighted to receive his own Jack Bauer doll, sent to him by the ’24′ merchandisers, to see if he approved of the design. He certainly did approve and reported back straight away that he was particularly impressed with the realistic facial carving on the wooden prototype, before taking his balsa doppelganger on a riotous night out with his mates.

Kiefer’s friends were also impressed and used the doll in a series of pub party games, acting out scenes from the hit series with aplomb and staggering faithfulness to the scripts. Sad to say, the doll Bauer proved less durable that the fleshy version, with the result that it failed to survive such stunts as running whilst alight and doused in vodka.

A bleary Kiefer stumbled into the office the next morning only to be told that the pile of ashes in his local bar was in fact the ONLY prototype of the doll, and was the result of a master Japanese wood carver’s year full of sleepless nights and constant reworking. And yes, it was the only copy and designed to be used as a mould for the final plastic version.

With remarkable calm, he insisted the doll was safe and had certainly not been stolen, and whenever asked in future about the fate of the doll would only reply, “It has NOT been stolen,” without further information.

A year later, another prototype appeared, at which point Kiefer revealed the fate of the original Bauer and agreed to approve the second prototype by sight alone.

Monica Attard said at the end of last year’s series of Media Watch that they’d be back this year just as unforgiving as ever.

ABC’S Media Watch will give its victims a right of reply on air — if they dare.

The program that is loved by the public and loathed by the media returns on Monday.

Presenter Monica Attard said yesterday that invitations had been sent to seven or eight people whose work will be featured on the program, offering them a right of reply on air. Correspondence from journalists and news organisations targeted by the program is posted on the Media Watch website.

The revised format comes ahead of next month’s implementation of new editorial policies at the ABC that emphasise impartiality and are intended to ensure that listeners and viewers received a broad range of views on issues.

The Age

For as long as I can remember, Media Watch has shown correspondence, trying to follow up with the offending party as to whether it had been a mistake, giving them an opportunity to recant or reinforce their stated views.

I can see this turning out to be another opportunity for repeat offenders such as Andrew Bolt to get their head on-air, ignore the matter at hand and continue spouting their crap. Yeah, I can see why they should have that additional exposure in the name of fairness and balance. NOT!

I guess all will be revealed this Monday night when Media Watch returns.

AUSTRALIA’S advertising watchdog has yanked a television ad for a car off the air after viewers voiced fears that it might encourage toddlers to jump behind the wheel of the family car.

The Advertising Standards Bureau yesterday told Hyundai to pull its “Next Generation” ad, which shows a toddler getting behind the wheel of a Santa Fe four-wheel-drive, putting on a seatbelt and picking up another child hitchhiking along the road.

The board said it had received more than 80 complaints about the ad. Several weeks ago, Hyundai had voluntarily moved it to a later time slot to appease viewers concerned about its effect on young children.

But the bureau said the ad did not comply with the code that governs vehicle advertising.

“The board certainly acknowledged that the notion of a toddler driving a car was unrealistic and fanciful, but under the (code of practice), fantasy cannot be used when it contradicts, circumvents or undermines the code,” bureau chief executive Mark Jeanes said. “Many of the complaints were from parents concerned that the advertisement would encourage copy-cat behaviour in young children and might lead to accidents.”

Hyundai spokesman Richard Power said yesterday that the company was disappointed with the ruling, but it would “not query the referee’s decision”.

“Hyundai maintains the ad is patently aimed at adults and its blatant fantasy is the foil for the literal liberties taken in the driving sequences,” he said.

The Age

So sit your under-5s here to let them absorb the message the wowsers don’t want them to hear.

(Click more to see them)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mister James Brown.

Click the (more) link to see it:

At the club:

Apology on Letterman:

BB

As much as there’s sure to be insights that might lead to some new examinations to “Find the real killer”, some haven’t been so pleased to hear the news.

Check in the more section to get Fred Goldman’s take (he’s the father of Ron Goldman – one of the victims).

BB

• Boxcutters’ special European correspondent, James Talia calls in from the super-secret Boxcutters Fortress of TV Goodness
• We speculate on the possible reasons why the ABC would decide to drop a well performing show like The Glasshouse
• Ross‘ friends have all been telling him how full of preservatives he is and he’s sick of it. That’s why he has special reason to go the latest McDonalds campaign in I Don’t Buy It
• We take a look at a couple of new shows from the US Fall season – this time it’s Shark and The Class
• And with all the TV news and more Pork on your fork, every single minute of this show is gold

So what are you waiting for? Start sucking it down here:

• RSS feed
• iTunes
• Direct Download

You want your say? Put it in a letter and shoot it to: hooray@boxcutters.net

Interesting looking at some of 10′s figures from last night: Futurama – 8:30pm 0.70 million, The Wedge 0.69 million, Rove 0.75 million – all of which didn’t get near: ABC News, The Simpsons, The Bill or Ten News (I’m not sure if that’s late news or afternoon bulletin). You’d think they got the feeling they were going to lose at least another 100k on Joker Poker to pull it and I’d be curious to see if it fit their demographic.

BB

The critics that Mark Scott speaks of are, invariably, right-wing, conservative supporters of the Howard government – people like Andrew Bolt, Gerard Henderson (who is the executive director of the Sydney Institute – who happened to host the speech) and Piers Ackerman – people who support Australia being part of the invading forces in Iraq, the locking up of asylum-seekers in detention centres, the denial of climate change and the refusal to sign the Kyoto agreement, the new “work choices” industrial relations legislation that reduces the pay and conditions of Australian workers and the reduction in public funding for the ABC.

And the reason why they are loud, bully-boy critics of the ABC is because the ABC hasn’t played the part of a cheer squad on each of these issues as they’ve arisen and they don’t like being challenged. Mark Scott’s new policy simply panders to these thugs and gives them more air time than they already have to spout their lies and to proselytise for their church of the far right… not to mention the more extreme groups of the right who will be compulsorily included so that we “hear the full range of voices” “on contentious matters”.

For example, this means that if there’s a program that deals in evolution – say Walking With Dinosaurs – which some claim is a contentious matter, the ABC would have to give air time to creationists to argue their case for creationism or, as they’ve repackaged it, Intelligent Design. A similar thing has happened in various states in the US in the schools’ curricula with ‘Intelligent Design’ being taught in SCIENCE classes, in order to refute Darwin’s theory of evolution and consolidate the belief that the Genesis book of the bible is a literal document of how God created all life.

Already, even without any new policy, 774 radio in Melbourne has filled their afternoon and drive programs with Richard Stubbs and Lindy Burns – two presenters that distinctly lack the intelligence of their predecessors who present programs that waste two and three hours every day covering crap like world massage day and whether footballers should be held up to greater accountability because they’re role models.

Already we’ve got Helen Razer cutting off guests because they say that newly appointed, conservative ABC board member, Keith Windshuttle’s denial of the Aboriginal stolen generation is akin to holocaust deniers – because she’ll lose her job.

The new ABC policy marks the beginning of the end of the ABC being anything but an excuse for dead air that acts merely as an exercise in covering its own ass, lest the vocal, far-right, conservatives be offended.

Now let’s take a look at who’s at the controls of the ABC: Mark Scott is the Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was previously the senior political adviser to former NSW Liberal education minister, Terry Metherell.

According to a report by Crikey.com.au, while editor-in-chief of metropolitan newspapers at Fairfax, Scott overturned a decision by the editorial staff at The Age newspaper’s to call for a change of government at the 2004 federal election. Accoding to Crikey, “a decision was taken to call for a change of government. That decision was then overturned by Mark Scott, Fairfax’s head of metropolitan newspapers, who apparently made the rather extraordinary claim that backing [Opposition Leader Mark] Latham wasn’t in the commercial interests of the company.”

Taking the theatre out of ABC criticism
The ABC’s new policies will give audiences a full range of views, writes Mark Scott. The Age, 18/10/06

IN MY early weeks as managing director, I have called on some of the ABC’s harshest public critics. And almost to a man and woman, they have been at pains to point out how much they love the ABC.

Then comes the but – and as my father-in-law has often warned me, ignore everything before the but. There is a sense that the organisation has issues with balance and fairness, particularly through its news and current affairs content, although some critics would suggest across its entire content. We need to address the criticism carefully and comprehensively. To ignore it or reflexively dismiss it only serves to limit ourselves, and is at odds with the ethos of open debate and discourse that is central to our reason for being.

Instead of facing up to these criticisms, it is easy to take comfort in the market research that suggests the ABC is remarkably popular with its owners: the public. A recent Newspoll indicated 90 per cent of the public believed the ABC provided a valuable or very valuable service. And there is comfort in recent research by Young and Rubicam that said the only brand more popular in Australia than the ABC is Vegemite.

Within the ABC, it is easy to say that people like us, the ratings are reasonable and the critics are the ones who really don’t get it. At times it does appear that criticism of the ABC takes the form of set-piece theatre: everyone knowing their lines and going through well-known rituals. But such an approach is unwise and misses the real point: is there substance in the criticism? Does the ABC have a problem with editorial values? It is an important question. It is very clear to me that this pattern of critique and reflexive defence needs to be challenged.

What I am outlining represents the ABC taking the lead to break this ritual. It is a challenge to both ourselves and our critics to learn some new steps and think afresh about how we deliver balance, diversity, impartiality. It is only reasonable, that as the public broadcaster using public money, the ABC set high standards for itself; higher standards than anyone else in the Australian media.

The public invests its trust in all ABC content, regardless of its source within the ABC. The new policies reflect this reality. The policies will ensure that ABC audiences can see and hear a broad range of viewpoints on matters of importance. The policies are contained in a document that runs to some 50 pages. It says upfront that as a creator, broadcaster and publisher of news and current affairs content, there is a requirement for impartiality. Each news and current affairs story and program must be impartial. For opinion programs or programs of topical and factual content, individual items of content can take a particular perspective, but the ABC must be able to demonstrate that it has provided audiences with a range of different perspectives on the subject under consideration on each platform, be it radio, television or online.

On contentious matters, we need to hear the full range of voices. We have taken another look at fairness and what it means to be impartial. Impartiality is a long-held expectation of our news coverage. Being a responsible public broadcaster is not synonymous with universal public popularity. The editorial policies now require the ABC to be impartial as a broadcaster and generator of content. As we assess the output of each of our platforms – ABC TV, Radio National, local stations such as 702 ABC Sydney – there is now the expectation that there is impartiality. That there is a demonstrated plurality of opinion and perspective.

The new category of opinion will be content presented from a partisan point of view about a matter of public contention. This content will be signposted as opinion and the impartiality test will be: has the ABC presented a plurality of views? And the ABC will expect staff to operate in a way that is reflecting key values of honesty, fairness, independence and respect.

We are looking to have three mechanisms for quality assurance around the implementation of our editorial policies. The first is regular program and performance review. Second, we have our established mechanism for dealing with public complaints.

A new mechanism is through the director of editorial policies, who will be able to commission research to provide better insight into whether we are meeting our own expectations. And when staff are dealing with a difficult decision in light of interpreting editorial policies, or I am concerned about a matter before broadcast or publication, the director of editorial policies will be able to provide independent advice.

Our journalists need to be able to undertake courageous journalism. Our radio broadcasters need to be lively and engaging and provocative at times to win and keep an audience. So, too, with television and online. Our policies promote the spirit of inquiry, not dampen it. As I have explained to our newsrooms, I want them to practise great journalism. To find the big stories and to hold those who seek to lead us to account for the promises they have made and the truths they espouse. But to achieve great journalism, you need to practise good journalism. Journalism that is fair, accurate, balanced and objective.

If there is a deference in these policies, it is to the primacy of ideas, to the intelligence of an audience, to the right of audience members to make up their own minds.

Mark Scott is managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This is an edited version of his speech to the Sydney Institute last night.

I have not been boned, says Nine’s McGuire

By Brooke Williamson – October 20, 2006 12:00am – Article from: The Daily Telegraph

CHANNEL 9 chief Eddie McGuire yesterday denied he was out of favour with senior PBL management, despite being a notable omission on the new company’s board.

“Have I been boned? No,” McGuire told The Daily Telegraph.

“My job is to be the CEO of Channel 9. Three days ago I was CEO of Channel 9 and I’m the CEO today. It’s a really exciting time to be in the chair.”

On Wednesday, James Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd sold 50 per cent of its media assets including Channel 9, ACP, and ninemsn to private equity company CVC Asia-Pacific for $4.5 billion.

These assets are now part of a separate company called PBL Media, which will have John Alexander as its executive chair and ACP boss Ian Law as its CEO.

McGuire will now report to Mr Law, creating an extra layer of management between him and his last direct boss, Mr Alexander.

An industry source said McGuire’s omission from the board of PBL Media – which is comprised of Mr Packer, Mr Alexander, Mr Law, Chris Anderson and Pat O’Sullivan – signalled the end for McGuire.

“Normally you’d put Eddie McGuire on the board as a nice, face-saving thing,” the source said.

“The fact that he isn’t, and Nine is a major asset, does not bode well for Eddie. This is a rebuff to him.”

Mr Alexander denied the claim, saying he had full confidence in McGuire’s abilities.

“I am very happy with how Eddie is running Nine. He has turned Nine around.”

NEWS.com.au