With the much awaited John From Cincinnati less the a week away I thought I’d post this short but revealing David Milch article.

Especially interesting in regards to his reasons for originally saying he wanted four seasons of Deadwood.

Fingers crossed about the movies.

Veronica Mars is the latest show to be caught in the whoosh of an axe, swinging through the air. So much hot and cold, back and forth had been going on for the past month, it’s not too surprising.

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

Looks like Jericho is doomed, rumours circulating it won’t be back next season.

Meanwhile 24 has been greenlit for another two season. This should take them through until 2123 in 24 time.

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