The Sun-Herald

Today Show you are a disgrace if you are going to claim the U.S Golf Open audience figures as your own. You can't make your own ratings so you trump up a Today Sports edition? Please.

Tribal Mind replies: It would be helpful if contributors to this blog could explain what they are referring to.

• by J.P on June 19, 2006 at 08:38 AM

The best thing about the footy show coverage was when someone wrote in and asked Eddie when would the 'Sopranos' be on!

Tribal Mind replies: And what was his answer?

• by Ryan D on June 19, 2006 at 09:51 AM

Judy Nunn.
I think they should ditch Teresa if they have a second series and get Erika to take over.
For all the bagging Daryl Summers gets he and Sonia do a far better job.

• by JAK on June 19, 2006 at 10:27 AM

I was pleasantly suprised that Ten finished BB almost on time last night in preparation for their drama The Society Murders. Shows they can do it if they try!
Queenie was also good - how she does it at her age is amazing.

• by Jane on June 19, 2006 at 10:38 AM

Tribal Mind replies: Who went off last night?
-Judy Nunn

Tribal Mnd repies: Thanks. It would have been ridiculous having two Katies eliminated in one night.

• by timmy on June 19, 2006 at 10:46 AM

TM - The answer (re Sopranos) was 'soon'. Eddie was also talking up his visit to the U.S for the pick-up of new shows.
I think it is the last ep of Six Feet Under Tonight!

• by Ryan D on June 19, 2006 at 11:02 AM

I watch big brother purely for the sex appeal.
Unfortunatly the couples are splitting up due to eviction so it will not be as irresistably raunchy

• by sam on June 19, 2006 at 11:55 AM

I found the Society Murders quite good overall, but the emotions of the characters didn't come through enough. Obviously, they didn't have enough material to work with without the consent of the family, but people really want to see what was going through the killer's mind during and after the events. At least they didn't sensationalise or dramatise it though..
Nice to see real Melbourne locations as the backdrop.

• by rach on June 19, 2006 at 12:22 PM

Question! If Channel 9 are restructuring the Today Show what Nine Personalities do you think they should pput in the positions of Host/s & Newsreader?

Tribal Mind replies: Why stop at Nine personalities? They might recruit Katie Fischer and Michael from Big Brother.

• by CheckOnIt! on June 19, 2006 at 12:31 PM

I enjoyed the The Channel 9 World Cup Footy show much more than the regular Footy Show. Should be done regularly with a range of sports people on the panel instead of just gAyFL, and NRL. Ofcourse they could talk about gAyFL and NRL.

• by Kevin on June 19, 2006 at 01:04 PM

Hey TM, any idea what Nine ate doing with ER?
has been replaced by Comedy Inc at 9.30 wed and no sign of it elsewhere this week.
Also, I am guessing Torvill & Dean's Dancing on Ice or whatever its called will replace Survior at 7.30 next Tuesday...would seem to be their only open 2 hour slot (can't see them fitting in into an hour), any confirmation.

• by Chris on June 19, 2006 at 01:37 PM

The only thing "spectacular" about Channel 9's Footy Show special last night was its failure. It was hard enough to swallow, knowing that the network was so blatantly jumping on the bandwagon of another sporting code.
But then, at the start of the show, they promoted themselves by claiming it was a first, in that they were bringing all the football codes together (that is, if Peter Fitzsimmons qualifies as a rugby spokesman). Did someone forget to tell them they were there for the World Cup...aka Football, aka Soccer? Where were there soccer panellists? What a joke - league has-beens waxing lyrical about a sport most of them would three months ago have written off as a pansy's pastime.

• by NK on June 19, 2006 at 02:09 PM

Hi all from Geoff,
Just got foxtel and so far the honeymoon period isnt over yet ..
one question - considering Eddie is such a big AFL fan - question for you eddie - What do you know about the world game ?

• by Geoff on June 19, 2006 at 02:38 PM

Just continuing on from The Bill discussion from the other blog. As BOC pointed out 'The Bill' should do well on Tuesday with the whole Gabriel thing reaching a climax, but unfortunately I don't think there will be much of a change in it's usual figures. This is because the ABC fails to promote the show, in comparison to it's other cheap shows and Sunday night thrillers that do poor. My guess is that it'll probably get around 1.1mill, no more. I can thankfully say though, that 'The Bill' has taken a turn for the good. With the new producer stepping in, I can assure you, there will be no more physco officers, or bomb devastations in the nic or any long running sagas involving coppers and their love lifes. So past viewers or addicts of the show who have turned away because of the soap elements, now is the time to come back because the show has gone back to it's crime elements and nearly all of the wooden characters are set to leave. Finally about Tuesday's episode, may I say it's the most dramatic episode I have seen this millenium; it's edge of your seat's stuff. Enjoy it if you decide to sit down and watch it.
Thanks TM as well for the figures.

Tribal Mind replies: Do you mean tomorrow night's ep? How were you able to see it already?

• by Daniel on June 19, 2006 at 03:14 PM

I still can't get into ITT, It's like a budget dancing with the stars - with weird combinations of people like Kate Fischer towering over her geeky looking partner. Although i have to say that Bevo is a pretty good singer! I can't believe it rates so highly - maybe because its a way of seeing stars like Jade McRae free of charge. If we are going to be shown a singing "talent" show i would rather watch Idol!

• by Annabelle on June 19, 2006 at 03:32 PM

Re channel ten's early news . I think Checkonit means the 6am edition ? It's all I'll watch now , given up on 7's sun NO surprise and that even more woeful Today (tired day) on 9 ..May the sun set on both dismal " news " offerings .

• by jane doe on June 19, 2006 at 04:21 PM

So Channel Seven responded to TM's comments about It Takes Two? ...yeah It Takes Two is going well, and Seven could even start winning Sunday nights if they didn't stuff it up by putting on lame movies afterwards. What about this new series Criminal Minds? Am very keen to see this show. Where is it? Put that on at 8.30 Sun...crime dramas rate well on Sunday nights and CSI is not on anymore. It's time for Seven to fix its Sunday nights.
Am so glad The Society Murders beat the The Footy Show. More people watched Aust drama rather than Eddie's attempt to cash in on the World Cup - which Nine treated like crap when they had the rights to it 4 years ago.

• by Helena on June 19, 2006 at 04:30 PM

Good to see Th Queen beat Big Brother and The Society Murders beat Mr Eddie M. SBS IS doing a great job with the real World Cup coverage.

• by John on June 19, 2006 at 04:34 PM

Good on you channel seven!! It is refreshing to see that someone with a vested interest actually has the courage to admit that interest.
Also ? very much looking forward to Greys tonight!!

• by very impressed on June 19, 2006 at 05:03 PM

dan
Both Shane Warne & Harry Kewell are on 400K contacts with Nine.. Hence the so called Ray Martin Exclusive on 60 mins....

• by mark on June 19, 2006 at 05:46 PM

Tut, tut, TM. Spoilers for both Big Brother and It Takes Two on this post, in the day just after elimination? What if I was waiting for the DVD box set to come out before I watched those shows ;) Cultural cringe indeed. Also, I think we can safely say that the readers of this blog aren't "representative of the tastes of Australians generally" - this Blog is full of Big Brother haters, yet it regularly appears in the top ten, while The Bill and Six Feet Under (for example) never rate.

• by Kelli M on June 19, 2006 at 06:11 PM

TM, interesting to see that Channel Seven employees have found another place to advertise their shows.
Any chance of this being stamped out, so that we can stick to talking about the previous nights ratings?
Its a little immature.

Tribal Mind replies: I'm not about to start censoring the comments on suspicion of publicist-intervention. We're all smart enough to detect (and sometimes enjoy) such activities.

• by Seven Fan boys. on June 19, 2006 at 07:00 PM

David H, I'd love to know which bits of BB you enjoyed. It might provide the other BB-haters with a guide for what to look out for if ever they find themselves having to sit through it :) I have to admit, although I am a massive BB fan, even I have found the past couple of weeks challenging. I love BB on an aesthetic level, really enjoy it, when big personalities fight in the house, and controversial issues are brought to the fore, but this year they are all so young, and the romantic antics have been boring (and gross). I also love it on a critical level, watching it to enjoy the way production manipulates audiences, but even that has been pretty basic and bland. BB started off so strong this year, production-wise, I'm just hoping they get their mojo back soon (without relying on Intruders).

• by Kelli M on June 19, 2006 at 08:09 PM

Dear, dear TM, ticked off allegedly by Channel 7. What's next Eddie blogging about how much of pain in the backside we all reckon he is. Personally i reckon all FTA shows on TV at 7.30pm on Sunday night were a load of crap and i'm not surprised if viewers went elsewhere for an hour.
Anyone else out their in TM land, watch the excellent ABC show Jericho. Quite enjoying this series. TM is this show rating above or below ABC normal stats for Sunday 8.30pm.

Tribal Mind replies: 832,000 -- well below Poirot.

• by Garry S on June 19, 2006 at 09:56 PM

GA was excellent tonight and a welcome return. Bring it on next week!

• by Jane on June 19, 2006 at 10:47 PM

Hey TM any news on the ALIAS front?

Tribal Mind replies: Seven will not reveal its plans more than three weeks into the future. It's hard to see a gap in the schedule with all the new shows they are launching.

• by Forever Charmed on June 20, 2006 at 12:01 AM

An outstanding ending to Six Feet Under. If you missed it, please, please, find someone who taped it. It was brilliant.

• by Kelli M on June 20, 2006 at 04:13 AM

What time did Six Feet Under finish last night??? I set the tape to stop at 1.20am and when I checked the tape this morning I've missed some. Unbelievable Channel 9! Thanks very much. I just hope I can find someone who taped it and didn't miss the end!

• by Mikey Mike on June 20, 2006 at 07:43 AM

Like so many others, i was wondering what the hell Shane Warne had to do with the World Cup - other than putting him there so Sam Newman looks like less of a dickhead... Why didn't they have Anthony LaPaglia (sorry if spelt incorrectly) as a co-host? He owns a soccer team, he's funny and articulate - oh that's why. They don't do articulate on the Footy Show!

• by Bec on June 20, 2006 at 08:47 AM

Thanks Kirstyanne. Of course there was a drop in ratings for ER, they kept changing the days/times and stopped advertising the show... oh, yeah, sorry, it's what the rest of you have been writing about for weeks and weeks - 6FU etc.
And I watched a bit of Boston Legal last night for the first time, really enjoyed it, but from this blog I know better than to get hooked, right!

• by kj on June 20, 2006 at 09:40 AM

what has happened to Commander-in-chief? I absolutely love Mc Dreamy and co but did Geena have to bite the big one to make room for the doc's?

Tribal Mind replies: Go to last week's blog (www.smh.com.au/tribalmind) for full story but in essence: Seven says it used all the eps of CiC it received from America and will show the final three after August.

• by drgas on June 20, 2006 at 10:14 AM

I think Grey's will build but alot of people would have been tired from the soccer. There are some killer episodes coming up. Besides it must have done considerable better than Commander in Chief was, and it must have beat Close to Home convincingly.
From what i hear Desperate gets back on track after a while. People might come back.
I think part of the problem is that the Great Outdoors has gone down so much because of 20 to 1 and Whats Good for You. It runs 10 minutes over time so people are already watching Cold Case before Desperate has even started.

• by JAK on June 20, 2006 at 10:38 AM

Re Six Feet Under: CH 9 is a disgrace. I agree: Why buy HBO content at all if you don't have the right audience to watch it!
You can't send mix messages about your brand. Ch 10 know this and have been successful targeting the 39 and under demographic.
I want to say how it was a disgrace last night when I am trying to watch the credits and that damn voice over tells me how great csi will be on sunday. CH 9 makes you stay up until 1.30am in the morning to watch the end of a award winning series and then rubs it in our face with it's craptacular promos.
And no I'm not going to watch CSI on Sunday! Not if it were the last tv show on TV would I watch absolute crap like that. I love crime shows but that CSI S#$> is on a par with All Saints.
I'm getting the sopranos downloaded.
RIP NATE
RIP 6FU
and I expect
RIP SOPRANOS

• by tredrea on June 20, 2006 at 10:58 AM

I'm glad the Aussie drama 'The Society Murders' beat the footy show. They were so obviously just jumping on the bandwagon with Warnie, king of the bogans. No wonder Soccer fans are so incensed with Ch 9 and many refuse to watch because of the bad way they have treated soccer in the past.
Meanwhile, Ch 7 does really well on Sunday evening now with ITT but drops the ball (pardon the pun) after 8.30pm. At least they didn't waste 'Japanese Story' with Toni Collette and pulled it from the schedule for a James Bond movie. JS could do well on another night with less Aussie competition. But really, movies don't seem to work on Sunday nights unless they're something original, like a telemovie or mini-series.
Ch 10 has the right idea with short series and telemovies. If it works, that's good, and you can make more, but if it doesn't you can move onto another idea.
Regarding the programming of Dancing On Ice, I'm sure the Herald had a story about the ice rink being booked out for Sunday nights. Maybe they can change this to Tuesdays but it would be a logistical nightmare. I thought that Ch 9 might show the new Julia Louis-Dreyfuss comedy 'The New Adventures of Old Christine' on Tue nights which they've been advertising. A very strange move to bring back Frasier repeats to Friday nights @ 7.30pm and Comedy Inc to an earlier timeslot to replace E.R. And why did Ch 7 axe Wheel of the Fortune when it is rating quite well? Is it just cost-cutting due to over-spending on the AFL?

• by J Bar on June 20, 2006 at 11:01 AM

I would have to suggest that the two main channels execs are doing a wonderful job of shooting themselves in the foot. Between running overtime, scheduling programs at weird times and even 5 or ten minutes after a rival program is set to start, temporarily removing popular shows, running repeats every now and then and generally treating the viewing public with contempt, it is hardly surprising that viewing figures for Greys were lower than anticipated and will probably not improve much regardless of the brilliance of the scripts.
On a night when 7 had Desperate followed by Greys followed by Boston, they should have romped it. Cold Case and Close to Home are slightly above average and mildly entertaining US imports but hardly in the class of Greys or DH and should have been slaughtered. But instead they actually managed to steal numbers from 7. Congrats to the execs of both channels for losing all viewer loyalty and being so out of touch with their audience requirements as to waste the possible audience numbers of expensive and brilliant shows.

• by David H on June 20, 2006 at 12:43 PM

to 'tredrea' thanks for spoiling 6FU for those of us who taped it and went to bed, to watch it tonight. Post your crappy spoilers elsewhere.

• by mattb on June 20, 2006 at 12:54 PM

What happened with Greys. Was it me, or did Channel 7 miss 6 episodes out? The last one they showed was: "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" (ep 10) and the one they played last night was: "Let it be" (ep 17) Source: http://www.tv.com/greys-anatomy/show/24440/episode_listings.html?season=2

Tribal Mind replies: Last year Seven added part of American Season Two at the end of Season One, to take the show to the end of the Australian ratings year. Are you referring to Australian seasons or American?

• by Nick on June 20, 2006 at 01:11 PM

Brilliant finale to 6FU last night, waiting up to 1:30am was well worth it. I was disgusted as Nine's handling of the program. I mean, you can't tell me that 'Real Crime Stories' or whatever crap they were showing at 10:30pm in 6FU's original timeslot was pulling anymore viewers. That's one of Nine's probs I think, way too many crime shows, it's bordering on overkill!
Now that 6FU has finished, I have no reason to watch Nine anymore.
Good riddance!

• by Mike on June 20, 2006 at 01:20 PM

I missed the begining of Grey's A since Supernatural ended late since it started late because, surprize, surpirze, Big Brother ran over. Again. I'm so sick of that.

• by Bluie on June 20, 2006 at 01:31 PM

Man, how good was Arrested Development last night? As Ron Howard requested in his voice over, i'm telling people!
Was that eposide done Live? Whats the story now with AR, has it be canned for good?
Looks like Greys is over-appreciated on this Blog (just like that tripe; Stargate). Those figure are none too hot...

• by miso_kool on June 20, 2006 at 01:48 PM

Thanks mark. I understand that people have lost interest in the Supernanny and that's why Ch 9 is bringing back Frasier, but can't they find something new? My point is, do we really need to have more repeats in prime time? Isn't that what Foxtel is for? Why can't they try out something new, rather than inflict more repeats on us? Bring on multi-channel digital NOW!

• by J Bar on June 20, 2006 at 04:42 PM

I don't understand what Matt B is talking about. I didn't spoil anything.
I didn't say anything about what happened in the show. Also, if you were wanting to avoid knowing what happened in the show - why would you be so stupid as to read blogs about tv shows the day after the finale?
There have been many blogs before mine that had RIP 'character name'

Tribal Mind comments: And anyway, didn't character name die three episodes ago?

• by Tredrea on June 20, 2006 at 05:10 PM

Hi Tribal Mind
I�m not trying to spam your blog but if people are having reception problems they should go to the Australian website www.dtvforum.info/
At the bottom of the home page you will find an entire section devoted to coverage in all different areas of Australia. It even tells you if any channels are doing maintenance on their transmitters. Sydney seems to be covered in quite a lot of detail and it might give you some helpful hints regarding improving your reception be it Eastern Suburbs or North Shore. LOOK at the info already posted BEFORE posting a question for one of the Tech Nerds as it could have ben posed and answered before.
And if anyone is looking at buying a new TV or STB it is also very helpful uncovering the crap brands for different types of makes and models.
That�s all TM I hope it helps a few of you

• by Michael Curran on June 20, 2006 at 06:01 PM

Can anyone tell me when Channel 9 plans on screening the 3rd season of Nip/Tuck?
I remember seeing snippets of it during their promotions during the Commonwealth Games, so it must be sometime soon (I hope), and have been looking forward to it since the end of season 2, early last year.

• by Serg on June 20, 2006 at 06:34 PM

adam asks: Why would ch 9 purchase the rights to HBO content?
Because Nine has first rights with programs produced and/or distributed by Time Warner group and HBO is owned by Time Warner (as is Warner Bros).

• by Johnson on June 20, 2006 at 08:22 PM

Hey
Channel 7 did not skip any episodes of Grey's.
Channel 7 went ahead and played episodes from Season 2 last year and that is why this year they started a few eps in. NOTHING has been skipped. Check your facts Nick!
AARON

• by Aaron on June 20, 2006 at 09:33 PM

channel 7 didnt skip any grey's. they aired some of season 2 last time, and not just season 1. i think the first few episodes require a strong lead in, and DH is no longer a strong enough lead in.
also, how did closer to home compare?
it'll be interesting to see how house will go without thank god you're here. interesting that channel 10 has put bb as its lead in.

Tribal Mind replies: At 9.30 Monday, Close To Home got 1.1 million and Grey's Anatomy got 1.2 million.

• by Jasmine on June 20, 2006 at 11:20 PM

"CH 9 is a disgrace. I agree: Why buy HBO content at all if you don't have the right audience to watch it!"
Re the above comments - I agree wholeheartedly - output deals suck mostly.
I know that Ten has long campaigned for them to cease and for programs to be on the open market - essentially so competitors could not lock up shows which don't suit them - witness Buffy, The HBO shows, all the Star Trek's, the list goes on and on!
Interestingly Ten seems to have made more headway on this recently than ever before, if they didn't go in search of content outside of their deals we would never have seen Seinfeld (9) or Raymond (7) just last year they purchased 4 WB shows from 9 and took Futurama reruns from 7 and turned them into a ratings hit!

• by Jimmy James on June 20, 2006 at 11:45 PM

I still don't understand the logic of ch 9 having HBO content. In response to my earlier message, Johnson explained that Nine has first rights with programs produced and/or distributed by Time Warner and HBO is owned by Time Warner.
Couldn't ch 9 still on-sell the HBO component of the rights to ch 10/foxtel? just like ch 7 and fox?
History has shown that ch 10 has been able to broadcast shows such as 'everybody loves raymond' succesfully despite poor ratings on the other older demographic channels.

• by Adam on June 20, 2006 at 11:46 PM

Again, I must applaud WIN (Regional channel 9), who in my area had continued to screen 6FU at 10.30, and who also had the decency to let the final credits run in their entirety with no voice overs etc. The extra long credits were especially needed this week, to give the viewer time to process the montage that played at the end of the episode.
Also, I totally agree with Tredrea - people who don't want their TV 'spoiled' should not be hanging around blogs where people come to post discussion about current TV shows. Stop yer whining.

• by Kelli M on June 21, 2006 at 01:42 AM

Re: Missed Grey's episodes. I too was totally confused on Monday night Nick! However, I didn't watch the first season of Grey's the first time 7 showed it...I watched it when they reran it over the summer and it seems that while they did show Season 1 PLUS 7 episodes into Season 2 the first time around they didn't do that in their summer rerun. So yes, some of us were totally confused when it came back on Monday night and Christina was no longer pregnant and Dr McDreamy was in marriage counselling with his wife! I had a look at Grey's official site yesterday and realised that I missed a couple of episodes - and fairly critical episodes at that. Nice one 7!

• by Bee on June 21, 2006 at 07:44 AM

Re: Missing Greys. I wasn't aware that the when I watched Greys over the summer that it had already been shown on 7 (with the episodes they negelected to show over the summer), hence as Bee stated I would have missed 6 episodes. So Aaron, my facts were kind of right.

• by Nick on June 21, 2006 at 09:29 AM

Re: Grey's. It's not the lead in that's the problem, it's what it's up against. Last year, it was against Millionaire and L&O (I think), which skew more towards older viewers (and in L&O's case, probably male). I suspect quite a few of Grey's audience last year decided BB Adults Only is better perve material.

• by Bim on June 21, 2006 at 10:03 AM

Rove sucks so hard he distorts the space-time contiuum in his vincity. Also, he keeps stealing material from the Chaser's War on Everything. The fact that he has no sense of shame or embarrassment makes this no-talent, charisma-free hack even more repulsive.

• by Lex on June 21, 2006 at 10:33 AM

How many weeks have nine and seven won this year todate.

TribalMind replies: about equal.

• by navy on June 21, 2006 at 10:54 AM

The Wedge did very well last night. It seems to be picking up ratings. At least for those new viewers, they will be seeing the jokes for the first time. For the rest of us most of them are fourth time around. I watch it in the interest's of science just to see how bad a show can get. It's not like they just have the same characters each week...I mean Little Britain was all the better for it. It's the repeats of the jokes.
eg: The Bushey. Ok, flies piss him off. SO what. Each week we hear about the phone and other services being cut off and / or the bank repossessing something.
The Pokie slags. The kids are in the car...ok come up with something else. Now the fat chick is no Magda Szubanski. This girl who was in Fat Pizza has made a living out of being fat and that's the extent of her comic talent. The Brit Crackers sketch has potential but this girl just isn't funny.
The Sandra Sully impersonation - the joke was made week one. How many times can they milk this? The guy cutting things with scissors. Not sure if this is even meant to be funny but the canned laughter thinks so. It just goes on. I rate the show as the worst sketch comedy ever and will diligently continue to watch it out of amazement. Plus it follows Simpson's.

• by Dr DK on June 21, 2006 at 11:21 AM

I am absoultely gobsmacked that 'arrested development' has been cancelled. I think its the best comedy of all time, period. No need to have fake voice over laughs - I can barely breathe when that show is on!
5 episodes left? Monday nights (or is that Tuesday mornings 7?) just became a lot more important.

• by Adam on June 21, 2006 at 11:27 AM