10 has picked up the rights to Dr Who spin off Torchwood.

Be interesting to see if they can make a go of it (it is sci-fi…).

From The Age:

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

If we were doing the show this week, here are some of the things I would have been talking about:

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

Every night it seems we are getting a “story” from Channel 9 News about the building of the pool at Rod Laver Arena. First there was a name contoversy, then Ian Thorpe came to vist, then they put concrete in, then Madam Butterfly flew in, now they are putting water in it…

Putting water in a swimming pool is hardly a news story, even in draught stricken Victoria. No one cares about the stupid swimming. I know Channel 9 will be broadcasting every tedious stroke in an attempt to claw back some ratings after 7’s pounding start to the year, BUT IT IS NOT NEWS!!!

Stop diluting your news with this hacky, cross promoting crap.

Here’s a little something from a newsletter I get:

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.

More cereal news (and thanks to Catbrain for giving us the heads-up in case we missed it)…

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.

I saw the latest Hyundai ad last night and quite liked it. This morning, reading the paper over my Weeties, I find out my pleasure will be no more.

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.

Thought maybe we’d play some ‘Movie Yes, Movie No’ (not to be confused with Film Yep, Film Nah - that’s a cheap knock off) but all I could find was movie no’s.

Quigley Down Under - No
Species - Yes (but really no)
Charlie’s Angels:Full Throttle - Oh God No!!
Ransom - No
Twelve Mile Road - More Tom Selleck?!? No
Instinct - No
Donnie Darko - No, no, NO!!!!!!!!!

And then finally - Saturday 1:30pm

The Poseido Adventure - Yes

Phew.

If you’ve ever been to YouTube, you’d be familiar with the top right-hand corner of the home page, which is normally home to a paid video advertisement. Well, if you go there right now, it’s showing an ad for the movie Ghost Rider. But what’s this? It’s sporting that orange OFLC “this film has advertising approval” banner…and the Australian release date…and the website for the movie ending in .au - yep, this is an Australian(ish, considering it’s for a US movie) TV commercial!

I’m jumping to the conclusion that YouTube can now localise that ad spot. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the local ad, movie and TV industries: watch this space, indeed.

OK, I know I’m just re-hashing news, but this one is close to my heart.

A report in the Australian outlines how the 3 Major stations are handling HDTV and how they see it in the future.

CH 10 have been heavily advertising that the Saturday night AFL match will be in HD, and that the major sports events will also be in HD (Rugby World Cup, Formula 1), most of the shows 10 show from the US are shown in HD here.

CH 9, well they have no sport, but again, most shows from the US are now shown in HD here.

Now to my Boxcutters style rant.

Ch 7, Barely show anything in HD, and don’t plan on doing so, not with the AFL (on the home of AFL ;)), most likely not with the 2008 Olympics, but more importantly, the HD that they are showing is in the lowest spec that they can possibly get away with, what jerks!!!

And, then, as I read on, I’m told that the stations are now allowed to multi-cast, show more than one show on the different channels, which then makes me think, why didn’t ‘Hair on Fire 9′ when it was not showing us the cricket, and make us watch ‘Some Advertising Affair’ not just say, switch over to Channel 91 to watch the Cricket? All I can see is TWO advertising streams, and ALL the viewers are happy (excluding those without a HD or SD Set Top Box!). It certainly makes sense to me, but what little hair I have isn’t on fire!

So, in true Boxcutter’s Style, F&^k YOU Channel 7 for not promoting HD and for showing the lowest quality HD you can get away with, and F*&K YOU Channel 9 for not just stiffing us on the cricket, but actually having the ability to show both programs at once and not doing so!

The Australian Article that got me started.