Media

Like about 1.5million Australians, I sat down on Wednesday night and watched the winning ABC trifecta of Spicks and Specks, Gruen Nation and Yes We Canberra. The shows gave Aunty, which regulalry comes fourth in the ratings, the top three spots on the night's ratings chart, and helped push Channel 10 -- which had been riding high until very recently on the success of MasterChef -- to the overall No.4 position. (There's more on the numbers here.) What it all proves is that the days where viewers would stick to the same station hour after hour, night after night have long gone. Now, more than ever, we pick and choose the programs we like, wherever we can find them. With the internet offering a whole new range of ways to access programming, this presents a big challenge to the broadcasters -- unless, of course, they are also in the business of making the shows that people want to see.

The quickened pace of the news cycle continues to confuse traditional media. For newspapers, one of the big questions these days is: should we publish something in print after it's already appeared online, especially on our own websites? In the case of the Courier-Mail today, the answer was yes (in regards to a picture on page 14 which was all over its webpage yesterday). Today, the printed C-M finally caught up with the death of the world's oldest Twitterer, Ivy Bean, who passed away on July 28. A two-day lag for news from Britain used to be commonplace, but it's not now. Meanwhile, mX surely set some kind of record yesterday with an item about this controversial new website, catsthatlooklikehitler.com. Sorry to burst the bubble, but it's been around since June, 2006 (do a search on the Wayback Machine if you doubt me)! A hip'n'groovy, youth-oriented paper like mX oughta know stuff like that.
PS: This intro from the C-M could have been written by the copywriter for a washing powder commercial:

NEW tests have smashed Queensland's first case of DNA innocence testing after analysis found a convicted killer was 45 billion times more likely to be linked to blood from the scene.

More likely than who or what?

With MasterChef having sailed off into the sunset for 2011 [correction: 2010], what will be the next big gastronomical reality show on television? Well, if I have my way, it will be Australia's Best Cook, a competition to find somebody among us who excels in making real Aussie tucker rather than 3-hat restaurant fare. Ideal contestants would include bachelors and bachelorettes who specialise in domestic meals for one and busy mums to cooks from country pubs and suburban clubs who keep the masses fed with tasty but simple fare like lamb chops and veg, steak sandwiches, works burgers, seafood baskets, pavlovas and lamingtons. Bringing the best qualities of both Matt Preston and George Calombaris (i.e. fat and bald), I'd be one of the judges. Sounds like fun? I really think so -- now I just need Shine Australia, Fremantle Media and/or one of the networks to get behind it. You can hear me speaking about the proposed format towards the end of today's spot with 612ABC's Spencer Howson, where I also talk about an online newspaper integrity index and reveal some Doctor Who gossip.
Update:The edited audio describing Australia's Best (Basic) Cook is here.
PS: If you're in the TV business and want to know more about the format -- and trust me, there is more -- contact me here.

This comment slipped through the net at The Australian online today. The blacked-out words have been censored by me; they appeared in full on the Oz's site:

The comment, which probably isn't from the well-known journalist it's attributed to, has since been removed from the Matthew Franklin article.

In an ever changing world, some things stay the same. One of those things used to be the fact that Channel 9 broadcast the highest-rating commercial television news service in Brisbane and, indeed, in Australia. That success was built on solid news judgment, selective hirings from other networks (particularly the ABC) and a reputation for trustworthiness. Somewhere in the past few years, though, the banner has been passed to Channel 7. Sure Nine is still the home of Laurie Oakes, the journalists' journalist, and a few other heavy hitters, but people aren't buying it like they used to. In Brisbane, Seven is now the viewers' station of choice. Today, Seven claimed the ratings year for news and current affairs. In a media release, the network said its News, Today Tonight and Sunrise had an "unassailable lead in the 40 week ratings year in south east Queensland". The statement continued:

7 News and Sunrise have both won 22 from 22 weeks while Today Tonight has won 21 from 22 weeks in the 40 week ratings year. Max Walters, Managing Director of Seven Brisbane said,“ This is the fourth year running that our flagship news and public affairs programs have won the ratings year in south east Queensland, a wonderful achievement in such a competitive market . SEQ audiences continue to turn to 7 News, Today Tonight and Sunrise to keep them informed on local, national and international events.”

PS: In its media release, Nine claims overall SEQ victory last week (by a whisker), bringing its total this year to 17 out of 22 surveys.

We live in an age of celebrity. You can't pick up a newspaper or magazine, or switch on the TV, radio or internet, without seeing something about Brad and Ange, Tom and Katie, Lindsay or Britney. Like it or not, they've become the subject of many a watercooler conversation and, dare I say it, are genuine "household names". On the national front, there are the big names of TV (Bert, Kerri-Anne, Eddie and Ray among them), plus a smattering of musicians and, largely now-expat, movie makers (Hugh, Russell and Nicole). Recently, the finalists of MasterChef, Callum and Adam, have joined that hallowed society -- but for how long is anyone's guess. You'll note here that I've mentioned only first names but I reckon almost everybody reading this would know exactly who I'm referring to. Which brings me to the big question for Queensland readers only: Who are Brisbane's household names? Which homegrown talents, in whatever field, are instantly recognisable to a large portion of the population (not just the media junkies who read this blog) by their first name or nickname? I've got a few ideas of my own, but I won't be writing them down just yet. Suggestions by email or by Tweet, please. When I've assembled a list, I'd like to test the theory with members of the GP. Maybe we'll all get a surprise as to who's really on the A-list and who isn't.

Congratulations to all the nominees for the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (the full list is here), but what a shame that Brisbane is underrepresented in the major categories. No Queensland-based announcers appear on the list of nominees for the big metro awards, although B105's Mitch Braund and Nova 106.9's Ryan Rathbone are up for the best program director award, and Nova's Kate Casey and B105's Ryan Tothill have been nominated for the best music director gong. Peter Verhoeven, of 4KQ and 97.3FM, is up for the most popular station manager award; Brett 'Nozz' Nossiter from Nova 106.9 has a nod in the best new digital format category (for Novanation and Koffee); and Stav Davidson from B105 and 4BC's Jamie Dunn and Ian Calder have been nominated in the best station-produced comedy segment category, the latter for their serial The Rudds, which is broadcast across the Fairfax radio network. Ben Ryan from Nova 106.9 is up for best achievement in production. Brisbane nominees also appear in sales and promotion categories. In the non-metropolitan awards, Katrina Davidson has been nominated for best show producer for her work with 92.5 Gold FM on the Gold Coast, which presumably means she and her husband Stav will both be attending the presentation ceremony the Crown in Melbourne on October 16.

I speculated in a tweet a few days ago that Hey Hey It's Saturday might not come back after its mid-season break, and I got some interesting responses. A lot of what is said about Hey Hey comes from sentiment, a deep affection for the original show that was part of so many Australians' childhood and youth. But the cold, hard fact is that, despite the success of last year's reunion specials, it just isn't cutting it in 2010. Spencer Howson points out that Hey Hey Red Faces judge Red Symons told him on 612ABC that the show will be back later this year, possibly on a Saturday. Hey Hey currently faces tough competition on a Wednesday night from the all-conquering MasterChef, but there's not much evidence to suggest it would do significantly better in another timeslot. And, when you factor-in the enormous costs of "live" television -- Daryl Somers' undoubtedly large salary, the band, the touring acts etc. -- Hey Hey is expensive television, and TV networks don't like to spend big money unless they get big returns. According to last week's figures, Hey Hey had an average national audience of 849,000 against MasterChef's 2.1 million and, in its second hour, Lie to Me's 950,000. Of course, MasterChef is a formidable opponent and, as I said in my tweet, Hey Hey probably deserves a run when it isn't competing against the single most popular show on TV. It may come back after the Commonwealth Games but I doubt we'll be seeing it again next year. Surely Nine can't afford to throw good money after bad. While there are examples -- like Neighbours and Seinfeld -- of programs that built momentum after very slow debuts, you must remember that Hey Hey isn't a new show, it's a revival of a show that hit its peak in the 1980s. The Nine network desperately needs to plough what original production money it does have into a show that has MasterChef potential -- the realistic chance it will pull in big ratings numbers, and thus advertisers' dollars, regardless of what's scheduled against it. Hey Hey isn't that show.

Ian "Dicko" Dickson and Dave O'Neil have been axed from Classic Rock 95.1, the Melbourne station that used to be known as Vega. 95.1 now falls in line with its Sydey sister station in eschewing "name" teams in favour of a solo announcer and more music. Of course, the move will save the station some money and may just improve the ratings (as it has, marginally, in Sydney). If the latter proves to be the case, should low-rating on-air teams at other stations be worried? I'd say yes.

Kyle Sandilands is right: the gritty details of his split with Tamara Jaber are nobody's business but theirs (unless a crime was committed, which seems unlikely). But I do hope he pauses for thought next time he's about to bully somebody else, set them up for a fall or press them for information that's none of his business. It cuts both ways, Kyle.

Report about Rove McManus signing to fill-in for US talk-show host Craig Ferguson:

... and, later, a tweet from Rove himself:

Ferguson himself was all over it, tweeting several times, including these gems:

And here's what Adam Hills tweeted in the wash-up:
Update: The amazing thing is that, 13 hours after Ferguson denied the report, and six hours after Rove denied it, the story is still online. (Although I note it includes a line from Rove's spokesman saying he's not aware of the deal.)
July 16 update: The story is still there, with no correction. Surely one thing that ought to separate the mainstream media from the online pack is a commitment to correct or, at least, remove inaccurate stories.

There's much excitement in journalismland about apps for iPads and other devices. If we believe all we read, they will be the saviours of newspapers. This Sydney Morning Herald article trumpets the fact that readers can now access the SMH and other papers in multiple digital formats for varying amounts of money. That's all very well, but it's based on the possibly erroneous assumptions that Australians a) still want to pay for news and b) still want to pay for news as it's packaged by News Ltd and Farifax. Will more people buy the SMH just because it's accessible via an iPad app, or will the dwindling number of loyal readers simply swap their print subscriptions for digital ones, meaning no significant net gain in paid circulation? While the publishers may save on printing costs in this event, they really won't be rescuing their businesses in the long term if they don't do something to grow the pie.
P.S. Another big question: will advertisers see the same value in an advertisement on an A5 screen as they do in one on A3 newsprint?

At the time of writing, Kevin Rudd has just held a press conference saying there'll be a leadership ballot tomorrow morning. While Rudd is likely to get rolled by Julia Gillard, he's still PM tonight. That doesn't seem to have sunk in properly for whoever updates Facebook for Brisbane radio station Triple M's the Cage breakfast show, though:

I was not alone in commenting that it ain't quite over yet for KRudd. It's a sage lesson for people who rely on Facebook (or commercial FM radio) for their news.
PS: Times shown in screen grabs are UK. Add nine hours for AEST.
Update: To be fair, here's what Channel 7 tweeted in the heat of the moment:

I spoke to Spencer Howson from the BBC studios in Edinburgh and the audio, and a picture of me at the mic, is here. We talked about how Blackpool respects and protects its past but Brisbane doesn't, how Birmingham is pretty boring but the chocolate factory is sweet, and why the Scots will be supporting anybody but England in the World Cup.

Des Partridge, the longtime cinema critic for The Courier-Mail, supports the cause to Save the Regent. Here's some audio of him telling 4KQ's breakfast team of Laurel, Gary and Mark how this last-of-a-kind venue will be lost barring a last-minute change of heart by the State Government.
Update: I had my say on the Regent in this segment with Spencer Howson. It's towards the end after the usual (hopefully) entertaining fluff.