The Who We Are update: Week 30

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

This week's forum is now a heritage item - worth studying but no longer current. For the latest on Australian attitudes and media trends, go to blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

To learn why Kyle and Malcolm are victims of social change, go to The Tribal Mind.
To find out how to abolish State Governments, go to Who We Are.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
After a strong start, thanks to Meryl Streep and Shaun Micallef, it's back to business as usual for Channel Ten -- or no-business-as-usual, to be precise -- now that its 7pm drawcard has vanished. The week ended with the prime time audience shares thus: Seven 28.7 per cent, Nine 23.8, Ten 21.5, ABC 17.1, SBS 8.9 (thanks entirely to cricket).

Time for your prediction: how will Australian Idol go this year? Will the removal of Kyle lift its popularity, or had it passed its prime in any case? Go to Comments to predict Idol's Sunday night audience over the next three weeks.

This was Pay TV's account of itself for the week: "194,000 viewers saw the Australian cricket team take the ascendancy in the fourth Ashes Test on Saturday night in Live: Cricket: Ashes: Day 2 Session 1 on FOX Sports. On Monday night football 317,000 people viewed Live: NRL Wests Tigers v Sea Eagles, the Sunday afternoon Aussie Rules game, Live: AFL West Coast v Essendon was seen by 191,000 people and 93,000 subscribers watched the 2009/10 A-League season kick off with Live: Football: A-League Melb v C Coast (all on FOX Sports).

"This week's episode of America's Next Top Model on FOX8 was watched by 152,000 viewers (a record for the season so far), the Sunday night broadcast of NCIS on TV1 was seen by 142,000 people and Wednesday night's Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel was watched by 108,000 people. S.W.A.T. premiered on TV1 with 97,000 viewers, Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr. had its best audience of the year with 88,000 viewers and Law & Order on W was seen by 86,000 people.

"In week 32, STV channels represented 21.7% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 20.9% of all regional viewing and 56.8% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

Just for a change, what viewers aged 16-39 watched, week ending August 8
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 593,000 187,000 190,000 97,000 55,000 65,000
2 THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA RPT Ten 562,000 147,000 191,000 100,000 63,000 62,000
3 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 549,000 168,000 183,000 89,000 40,000 69,000
4 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 513,000 133,000 168,000 101,000 58,000 52,000
5 THE SIMPSONS WED Ten 488,000 129,000 174,000 91,000 54,000 39,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 477,000 121,000 140,000 106,000 55,000 56,000
7 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 474,000 122,000 142,000 85,000 65,000 60,000
8 THE ALL NEW SIMPSONS WED Ten 457,000 102,000 167,000 94,000 42,000 51,000
9 WORLD'S STRICTEST PARENTS Seven 440,000 130,000 112,000 92,000 51,000 55,000
10 MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON PLANE CRASH Seven 409,000 128,000 114,000 75,000 35,000 57,000
11 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 405,000 101,000 123,000 90,000 40,000 51,000
12 ERAGON Ten 401,000 127,000 116,000 70,000 43,000 44,000
13 RUSH Ten 393,000 95,000 165,000 63,000 32,000 37,000
14 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 391,000 82,000 142,000 84,000 33,000 48,000
15 UNITED STATES OF TARA ABC1 382,000 102,000 111,000 71,000 47,000 52,000

16 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Ten 380,000 88,000 119,000 93,000 25,000 55,000
17 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT RPT Ten 376,000 68,000 128,000 95,000 32,000 53,000
18 THE AMAZING RACE Seven 372,000 132,000 96,000 67,000 38,000 40,000
19 TV BURP Seven 370,000 116,000 113,000 58,000 35,000 48,000
20 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 368,000 142,000 98,000 66,000 29,000 32,000
21 BONES Seven 366,000 125,000 92,000 73,000 33,000 43,000
22 DANCING WITH THE STARS 9 Seven 365,000 90,000 111,000 93,000 31,000 39,000
23 60 MINUTES Nine 364,000 127,000 116,000 64,000 26,000 31,000
24 NCIS EP 2 RPT Ten 362,000 82,000 109,000 87,000 34,000 51,000
25 THE LIBRARIANS ABC1 358,000 95,000 122,000 66,000 36,000 39,000
26 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 348,000 112,000 72,000 81,000 39,000 44,000
27 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP2 Nine 347,000 99,000 127,000 44,000 34,000 44,000
28 NCIS RPT Ten 346,000 94,000 94,000 76,000 41,000 41,000
29 DOUBLE TAKE Seven 334,000 108,000 79,000 60,000 37,000 51,000
30 HOME AND AWAY Seven 333,000 97,000 80,000 71,000 38,000 47,000
31 SURF PATROL Seven 333,000 94,000 91,000 74,000 29,000 46,000
32 CRIMINAL MINDS (R) Seven 330,000 99,000 80,000 77,000 32,000 42,000
33 TRUE BEAUTY Seven 328,000 106,000 95,000 48,000 30,000 48,000
34 20 TO 1 Nine 327,000 108,000 93,000 63,000 29,000 34,000
35 AIR WAYS Seven 325,000 79,000 93,000 72,000 36,000 46,000
36 FAMILY GUY Seven 324,000 113,000 101,000 51,000 33,000 26,000
37 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 318,000 101,000 100,000 59,000 19,000 38,000
38 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 316,000 91,000 91,000 46,000 38,000 50,000
39 ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? Ten 316,000 82,000 101,000 46,000 48,000 38,000
40 THE FARMER WANTS A WIFE Nine 315,000 95,000 101,000 59,000 22,000 37,000
41 SCRUBS-WED (R) Seven 313,000 102,000 76,000 58,000 36,000 41,000
42 SUPERNATURAL Ten 312,000 55,000 93,000 71,000 38,000 55,000
43 NEIGHBOURS Ten 310,000 73,000 87,000 71,000 36,000 44,000
44 ALL SAINTS Seven 309,000 90,000 104,000 34,000 37,000 44,000
45 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP1 Nine 301,000 86,000 106,000 39,000 28,000 41,000
46 RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS Nine 301,000 97,000 94,000 59,000 19,000 31,000
47 LAW AND ORDER: SVU WED Ten 300,000 65,000 121,000 45,000 39,000 31,000
48 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 300,000 86,000 95,000 53,000 29,000 35,000
49 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 294,000 68,000 96,000 66,000 28,000 36,000
50 COMMERCIAL BREAKDOWN ADULTS ONLY Nine 293,000 104,000 101,000 36,000 24,000 27,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,429,000 382,000 367,000 329,000 147,000 204,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,052,000 243,000 342,000 208,000 147,000 111,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,050,000 290,000 302,000 229,000 113,000 116,000
4 M-MEET THE ROBINSONS Seven 898,000 253,000 233,000 176,000 110,000 126,000
5 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 893,000 251,000 279,000 164,000 94,000 104,000
6 RICHIE RICH -RPT Nine 865,000 254,000 290,000 149,000 83,000 89,000
7 THE BILL ABC1 801,000 213,000 222,000 121,000 93,000 152,000
8 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC1 734,000 206,000 204,000 140,000 100,000 84,000
9 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SAT Ten 695,000 162,000 153,000 127,000 114,000 139,000
10 EAST OF EVERYTHING ABC1 689,000 190,000 171,000 137,000 79,000 113,000
11 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 635,000 299,000 88,000 157,000 90,000
12 THE 2009 ASHES: TEST4 DAY2 S1 SBS ONE 633,000 218,000 181,000 127,000 52,000 55,000
13 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 622,000 70,000 279,000 34,000 81,000 159,000
15 M-AIR FORCE ONE Seven 585,000 207,000 151,000 99,000 65,000 63,000
17 THE 2009 ASHES: TEST4 DAY2 S2 SBS ONE 481,000 129,000 154,000 70,000 55,000 72,000
18 M- 16 BLOCKS -RPT Nine 419,000 93,000 156,000 69,000 51,000 51,000
20 M-HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL Seven 374,000 89,000 157,000 42,000 37,000 50,000
62 STEPTOE AND SON -RPT Nine 111,000 35,000 30,000 24,000 4,000 17,000
79 SEVEN'S R.U: TRI-NATIONS: S A V AUS Seven 86,000 21,000 29,000 16,000 12,000 8,000
99 SIMPLY FOOTY Ten 64,000 64,000
117 RUGBY UNION: SHUTE SHIELD (NSW) 2009-PM ABC1 47,000 47,000
132 RUGBY LEAGUE: (QLD) 2009-PM ABC1 32,000 32,000
135 WAFL LIVE LEAGUE FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 31,000 31,000
142 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 28,000 28,000
154 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 23,000 6,000 8,000 9,000
175 SATURDAY LATE NIGHT AFL Ten 16,000 16,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,460,000 413,000 458,000 231,000 167,000 190,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,430,000 424,000 368,000 286,000 175,000 178,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,287,000 351,000 352,000 281,000 145,000 159,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,126,000 308,000 373,000 224,000 126,000 95,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,124,000 318,000 302,000 209,000 153,000 142,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,021,000 303,000 328,000 190,000 97,000 103,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 974,000 255,000 365,000 172,000 107,000 74,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC1 927,000 348,000 246,000 110,000 105,000 118,000
9 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 856,000 225,000 262,000 154,000 100,000 116,000
10 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 19: CARLTON VS GEELONG Seven 721,000 16,000 438,000 18,000 134,000 115,000
11 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 720,000 230,000 177,000 146,000 89,000 77,000
13 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 675,000 163,000 249,000 132,000 69,000 62,000
15 HOT SEAT Nine 665,000 194,000 191,000 140,000 73,000 68,000
17 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Ten 658,000 194,000 201,000 120,000 73,000 70,000
19 THE 2009 ASHES: TEST4 DAY1 S1 SBS ONE 608,000 189,000 198,000 103,000 62,000 57,000
21 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 596,000 349,000 247,000
30 SUNRISE Seven 396,000 122,000 89,000 98,000 39,000 49,000
43 TODAY Nine 288,000 83,000 96,000 62,000 16,000 31,000
40 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 326,000 192,000 134,000
52 PLAY SCHOOL-AM ABC1 233,000 90,000 76,000 20,000 24,000 23,000
67 THE MORNING SHOW Seven 188,000 66,000 50,000 34,000 17,000 21,000
83 MORNINGS WITH KERRI-ANNE Nine 129,000 37,000 44,000 34,000 6,000 8,000
86 TORCHWOOD ABC2 123,000 21,000 27,000 22,000 26,000 27,000
91 THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW Nine 114,000 38,000 30,000 24,000 15,000 6,000
145 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 47,000 25,000 11,000 11,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Friday
With two days of the ratings week still to go, and only football to look forward to on the commercial stations, the average prime time audience shares stand at: Seven 29.6 per cent, Nine 24.0, Ten 22.9, ABC 16.7, SBS 6.9.

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,450,000 378,000 393,000 309,000 174,000 195,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,408,000 345,000 393,000 309,000 176,000 186,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,235,000 367,000 357,000 242,000 119,000 150,000
4 RUSH Ten 1,218,000 328,000 470,000 156,000 122,000 143,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,214,000 324,000 306,000 248,000 176,000 160,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,111,000 308,000 361,000 211,000 119,000 111,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,107,000 320,000 372,000 195,000 92,000 127,000
8 20 TO 1 Nine 1,091,000 313,000 308,000 240,000 97,000 133,000
9 THE AMAZING RACE Seven 1,060,000 332,000 283,000 179,000 132,000 134,000
10 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,030,000 297,000 337,000 209,000 88,000 99,000
15 DOUBLE TAKE Seven 832,000 276,000 195,000 133,000 105,000 124,000
19 TV BURP Seven 774,000 231,000 204,000 131,000 99,000 110,000
21 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 720,000 227,000 166,000 165,000 86,000 75,000
22 HOT SEAT Nine 702,000 197,000 210,000 140,000 88,000 67,000 23 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 695,000 168,000 212,000 165,000 63,000 87,000
26 TRUE BEAUTY Seven 613,000 183,000 172,000 93,000 71,000 94,000
28 Q & A ABC1 551,000 229,000 130,000 96,000 47,000 49,000
36 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS ONE 371,000 101,000 124,000 60,000 40,000 44,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,535,000 411,000 441,000 316,000 144,000 223,000
2 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,508,000 467,000 492,000 262,000 143,000 143,000
3 WORLD'S STRICTEST PARENTS Seven 1,499,000 416,000 445,000 272,000 183,000 183,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,345,000 381,000 361,000 284,000 132,000 188,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,240,000 352,000 335,000 255,000 158,000 140,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,202,000 341,000 401,000 230,000 108,000 122,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,162,000 287,000 370,000 256,000 134,000 115,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,127,000 257,000 384,000 249,000 126,000 110,000
9 UNITED STATES OF TARA ABC1 1,065,000 352,000 331,000 171,000 98,000 113,000
10 RPA Nine 1,053,000 276,000 325,000 200,000 131,000 120,000
11 THE LIBRARIANS ABC1 1,053,000 356,000 333,000 178,000 89,000 97,000
22 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 757,000 201,000 240,000 128,000 77,000 111,000
27 AUSTRALIA'S PERFECT COUPLE Nine 672,000 193,000 223,000 118,000 58,000 80,000
28 THE COOK AND THE CHEF ABC1 660,000 209,000 206,000 95,000 62,000 88,000
29 JAMIE SAVES OUR BACON Ten 543,000 148,000 207,000 62,000 55,000 72,000
35 FOOD SAFARI RPT SBS ONE 456,000 139,000 147,000 86,000 42,000 41,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
For the first three nights of the ratings week, the networks are averaging these prime time audience shares: Seven 31.0 per cent, Ten 23.9, Nine 22.6, ABC 15.1, SBS 7.3. Very slowly, The 7pm Project seems to be rising, but last night's lift could be because some people switched to Ten early in anticipation of Two Apostrophes.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,878,000 577,000 591,000 283,000 197,000 230,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,609,000 468,000 394,000 360,000 171,000 216,000
3 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,513,000 476,000 489,000 225,000 139,000 183,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,485,000 421,000 401,000 302,000 157,000 203,000
5 SURF PATROL Seven 1,416,000 392,000 395,000 267,000 179,000 183,000
6 AIR WAYS Seven 1,379,000 386,000 392,000 247,000 172,000 182,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,259,000 381,000 332,000 228,000 165,000 155,000
8 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,184,000 357,000 365,000 142,000 163,000 157,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,166,000 312,000 403,000 201,000 131,000 119,000
14 GRAND DESIGNS ABC1 1,086,000 344,000 312,000 185,000 104,000 141,000
23 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 780,000 255,000 238,000 141,000 65,000 80,000
27 COMMERCIAL BREAKDOWN ADULTS ONLY Nine 658,000 214,000 222,000 86,000 68,000 67,000
75 LIBERAL RULE SBS ONE 191,000 103,000 47,000 16,000 13,000 13,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,729,000 479,000 482,000 354,000 190,000 224,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,623,000 471,000 400,000 366,000 169,000 218,000
3 MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON PLANE CRASH Seven 1,490,000 485,000 381,000 273,000 153,000 198,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,423,000 373,000 422,000 320,000 153,000 155,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,421,000 442,000 370,000 272,000 167,000 169,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,273,000 331,000 402,000 280,000 151,000 108,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,199,000 277,000 410,000 271,000 138,000 103,000
11 THE FARMER WANTS A WIFE Nine 1,001,000 317,000 286,000 185,000 87,000 126,000
14 AUSTRALIAN STORY (about Malcolm Turnbull) ABC1 941,000 315,000 251,000 166,000 95,000 113,000
15 ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? Ten 904,000 252,000 296,000 133,000 118,000 104,000
21 THE SIMPSONS Ten 820,000 244,000 247,000 122,000 99,000 109,000
22 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 748,000 204,000 216,000 138,000 92,000 97,000
23 SPOOKS ABC1 725,000 213,000 207,000 116,000 99,000 90,000
25 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 606,000 Not shown 379,000 Not shown 99,000 128,000
26 M-KNOCKED UP Seven 512,000 322,000 Not shown 190,000 Not shown Not shown
43 DROP DEAD DIVA Nine 300,000 209,000 Not shown 91,000 Not shown Not shown Not shown

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Channel Nine would have expected better than 1.1 million for its new cop drama, since it stars a familiar face from Underbelly (go to Comments, below, for the verdict of this column's alert readers). But Ten trumped Nine with a chickflick, and the audience shares came out this way: Seven 30.0 per cent of the prime time audience, Ten 26.6, Nine 23.5, ABC 11.7, SBS 8.2. Ten won Sunday night with viewers aged 18-49, which means Seven's audience was mostly geriatrics.

The ABC needs to take a serious look at its Sunday lineup, since this should be one of its biggest nights of the week. Should we anticipate a return of Monsieur Poirot, Miss Marple, Doctor Who or the Messrs Midsomer?

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,806,000 489,000 532,000 396,000 175,000 216,000
2 DANCING WITH THE STARS 9 Seven 1,592,000 468,000 433,000 357,000 162,000 172,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,512,000 463,000 463,000 297,000 170,000 119,000
4 THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA RPT Ten 1,238,000 365,000 396,000 205,000 134,000 139,000
5 BONES Seven 1,190,000 393,000 322,000 227,000 113,000 135,000
6 60 MINUTES Nine 1,190,000 337,000 389,000 234,000 109,000 121,000
7 ERAGON Ten 1,175,000 407,000 334,000 178,000 117,000 139,000
8 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 1,135,000 357,000 323,000 202,000 118,000 135,000
9 RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS Nine 1,099,000 269,000 354,000 246,000 109,000 120,000
10 BONES (R) Seven 925,000 324,000 263,000 139,000 102,000 98,000
11 ABC NEWS-SU ABC1 866,000 281,000 242,000 146,000 91,000 106,000
12 WALL OF DEATH ABC1 808,000 270,000 238,000 131,000 83,000 87,000
15 CSI: MIAMI Nine 645,000 155,000 198,000 125,000 86,000 81,000
18 THE LAST ENEMY ABC1 500,000 149,000 153,000 81,000 60,000 58,000
19 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 18: PORT ADELAIDE VS HAWTHORN Seven 482,000 5,000 330,000 6,000 132,000 9,000
20 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 469,000 296,000 173,000
23 LAS VEGAS Seven 410,000 120,000 126,000 67,000 46,000 51,000
26 THE 2009 ASHES: TEST3 DAY4 S1 SBS ONE 348,000 96,000 117,000 62,000 32,000 41,000
32 OUT OF THE BLUE SUN Ten 292,000 74,000 87,000 53,000 28,000 51,000
33 MACGYVER Ten 280,000 86,000 74,000 63,000 22,000 35,000
55 AFL GAME DAY Seven 184,000 111,000 35,000 38,000
71 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 18: WEST COAST VS ESSENDON Seven 128,000 128,000
82 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 18: MELBOURNE VS RICHMOND Seven 104,000 61,000 43,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)
David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

Due to fond memories of Police Rescue (ABC) and the opportunity of seeing the blue eyes of Peter Phelps (ahhh), I decided to risk changing the channel to nine last night to check out their new police rescue/special ops type show. Firstly couldn't find the button on the hand control as it had gone into hibernation but after much effort managed to turn over. Wish I hadn't bothered really. Now have even fonder memories of Police Rescue.

by Suze on August 03, 2009 at 09:52 AM

***spoiler alert for Rescue Special Ops***
9 gave away the ending for its new show with its new "home is 9" advertisement on the first ad break in, with the first footage shown in the commerical. 9 only cares about self promotion and would not dare to think about its viewing audience.
Hopefully they will tone down the music for future episodes and replace it with something worth listending to.

by dab on August 03, 2009 at 09:52 AM

I see Channel Go! is starting up on Sunday. Being a non-Foxteller I'm pretty excited we're finally getting up to a decent number of FTA channels. I'll certainly watch Seinfeld repeats, but I can't see Weeds in their schedule yet - Dammit I wish they would hurry up.
I found the full schedule on MediaSpy. Movies in the first week are National Lampoon's Vacation on Sunday and Outlaws (Colin Farrell pap) on Saturday. Not exactly groundbreaking.

by Wendell on August 03, 2009 at 09:58 AM

'Rescue Special Ops' (still hate the title!) started off really flashy like 'The Strip' with all its rock music, sweeping scenic views and fast pace, so I thought it was going to be all flash but really trash. It got better though for the rest of the episode when they concentrated on the storyline and characters. It was a lot like All Saints with good character relationships and a bit of humour chucked in. In fact, it was a lot like the new All Saints Medical Response Unit storylines, so having another show so similar might be a big problem.
Also like The Strip, I wasn't that impressed with all the sex talk. Why do they think it's good for these characters to show that they have lots of meaningless sex and one night stands? Do they think that makes them look cool? Maybe that's something to be explored down the track and isn't necessary to have in every second scene.
A few accuracy problems too. I realise they were trying to show that Libby Tanner's character was addicted to coffee but sipping on a take-away coffee cup in the Blue Mountains was silly after she just finished saying it would take 50 min to 1 hour to get there. Did they stop off for cappuccinos at Katoomba before they started? Also, if Sacha Horler's character had been out in that plane for three days and she was severely dehydrated, why was there so much saliva and blood coming out of her mouth? Also, a continuity problem there with her bloodied teeth being so white and clean when she died.
Totally agree with all the comments about it being screened on the wrong night. Nine should have picked Wednesday for this. Lack of Aussie drama there at the moment.

by J Bar on August 03, 2009 at 10:28 AM

I would've thought, JBar, the problem with 'Rescue Special Oops' is not the similarity to another show ('All Saints') per se, but the similarity to another show ('All Saints') which has just been canned. Nine are working on shows called 'Yolanda's Getting Married' and 'Tooken Out' as we speak. Didn't watch PSO myself as I was rewatching the Glorious Meryl and Anne and recently seem to be forgetting that Nine exists. At least Ten seems to have learnt how to repeat the RIGHT movies (I'd prefer a decent repeat to a premiere of 'Superman Returns' any day). And 'Little Miss Sunshine' next week another nail in RSO's coffin. Although their audience-holding ability may be compromised by a certain fathead's appearance in pre-recorded auditions for Aus Idol.
Agree with you, TM about the ABC's Sunday nights. They've fallen down a bit recently. 'FingerSmith' could do with a re-run. They must have heaps of BBC period pieces lying around. No to Poirot though. Ditto Aggie and Midsommer. Challenge us.

by darren on August 03, 2009 at 11:25 AM

The ABC on Sunday night is just fine thanks. Excellent nature doc at 7.30, followed by The Last Enemy at 8.30pm. You do need a bit of nouse and the ability to concentrate for The Last Enemy. Those who enjoy watching people cook dinner or go on dates obviously fail in both departments. Please do not bring back old chestnuts like Poirot or Marple, but yes to Dr Who or similar.
Will watch the final Spooks tonight, and will see if my DVD recorder can still find channel 9 after all these years, in order to record Drop Dead Diva. Yes I know it will probably end up being moved to the wee small hours, but I'd like a look. Haven't watched anything on 9 for years!
Spooks has been the best program so far this year. Absolutely gripping, edge-of-your-seat stuff. Bravo ABC!

by Sal on August 03, 2009 at 01:58 PM

darren, I caught bits of "Superman Returns" and, yup, a decent repeat would have been far preferable. Although it was fun to nitpick and bitch about it all.
Last night we watched the second half of an amazing doco on ABC2 on origami. No, really. Amazing stuff, mathematical and physics applications, and gorgeous art. Wish I'd paid closer attention to the TV guide so I could have tuned in earlier. (That way I also would have realised that "The Last Enemy" was a three parter, not a two parter. Oh bugger, we failed to record it.)
I'd be up for a repeat of "Fingersmith"! I've been working my way through Sarah Waters' back catalogue, and kicking myself for not watching the BBC adaptations when they screened a few years ago.

by tqd on August 03, 2009 at 02:57 PM

Sal, I'm with you with our ABC, although I would like a dollar for every time the voice-over said "wall of death" on the nature doco. Not sure how the little kiddies (that's the ones watching) not the ones being eaten, felt about all the little Bambies going "off to the farm" one way or another. The Last Enemy's fog of confusion is lifting, but they certainly don't give all the plot out in one big hit. tqd - the previews for next weeks episode didn't mention the word "final". I'll be flicking between Spooks & the cricket tonight, got to love the 5 day day game.

by PJ453 on August 03, 2009 at 03:40 PM

Does anyone know what's happened to Chris Bath? Here one minute saying she's definitely taking Roscoe's job when he packs it in, then 'gone' before the dust settles. Anyone?

by David @ Green Point on August 03, 2009 at 03:48 PM

ABC1 sunday night line up not too bad - next week is Stephen Fry in America at 7.30 - methinks a bit of a hoot, plus more of the Last Enemy - tqd it is more than 3 parter - think 5 or 6 - think you can catch up on missed eps on ABC's iview - I have done so in the past.

Spooks replacement next week is Ashes to Ashes - Gene Hunt in the early 80s - scary thought!

by Cathy on August 03, 2009 at 04:33 PM

Saturday night's screenings of Superman Returns and Meteor didn't leave much to the imagination - woeful! At least there was Foyle's War later that night (which hopefully will return to screens with 3 new eps soonish - maybe on a Sunday night) and a great Michael Jackson tribute on Rage.
To fill the 8.30pm Sunday slot on Aunty could be more period dramas! There's a 2008 BBC Sense & Sensibility and 2009 Wuthering Heights floating about somewhere which I don't believe have been aired here.
Is it time to celebrate good times with Vyle off "family program" Idol? Yes, I will.

by Kym on August 03, 2009 at 04:42 PM

With some the worst ratings ever, how long before 60 Minutes starts showing infomercials like A Current Affair now does now with backward robes, foot scraping eggs and all purpose chamois?

by infomercial watcher on August 03, 2009 at 09:40 PM

David@greenpoint.. I've also been wondering about Chris Bath Although Samantha Everidge is doing a fine job.

by bobmar28 on August 04, 2009 at 05:44 AM

Is it me, or is the sun shining just a little brighter this morning? The birds are singing, the traffic's flowin', the air smells like....a Silverwater factory blaze....but that's okay. Now we can all get back to not watching Idol simply because it's garbage and not because of Kyle. Life is beautiful.
Kyle and Tamara can go off to L.A. and conquer America. Maybe he can get work producing the next season of 'Dance Your Ass Off' or host a show called 'What's That Smell?'.
Actually, I can see them having their own fly-on-the-wall Reality show a'la Jessica Simpson and Nick Lache. It's what all the talentless nothings are doing these days. We can follow them as they try to remain famous and fail. As humanity evolves and they don't. Kyle sits on the couch listening to recordings of "is that your only sexual experience?" and crying whilst trying to refluff his faux-hawk with whipped cream (one for Kyle, one for Kyle's hair). Tamara gets a job teaching obese teens pole-dancing to the strains of "Oooh Aaah I lost My Bra" and the many hits of 'Scandl'us'.
Jackie O will find a job reading RSPCA DogWatch ads on Community Radio in Wagga Wagga ("Rosie is a four-year-old Kelpie-Cross with a mild ringworm infection and an over-excited bladder"...).
This is what a balanced Universe feels like. Feels good. Just let me hold on to my dreams for a little while.....

by darren on August 04, 2009 at 05:52 AM

Make that Samantha Armitage.

by bobmar28 on August 04, 2009 at 06:14 AM

Will keep it short, as I'm in the middle of one of the biggest weeks of my working life so time is of the essence - so long Vile, don't let the door hit that huge, ginormous a*& of yours on the way out. At least channel 10 had the guts to DO something about it - something Austereo should learn from.

by Beckala on August 04, 2009 at 06:35 AM

All I can say about Vyle being dumped from Idol is , Karma's a bitch ain't it Vyle!
Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.
Before I left for work this morning, Today had an interview with Mark Holden who seemed to be sporting a slight smirk. He looked quite pleased that Vyle got his just deserts. Would you believe Holden is studying to be a Barrister? Can you just imagine it? Holden in court. Touchdown!
Now I wonder who will be the new judge on Idol. Any fellow bloggers care to speculate?

by em on August 04, 2009 at 07:39 AM

Watched Drop Dead Diva on 9 last night and I liked it - and I'm sure that's a bad thing as 9 has a terrible track record with anything quirky - actually they have a terrible track record with just showing a full season of just about anything that's not 2 and half Men (such a lame show) - CSI NY anyone? Here one week, gone the next. DDD reminded me of Ally McBeal and Eli Stone - both of which I loved. It was also a bit like Pushing Daisies which 9 didn't have the cojones to show even after issuing a promo DVD with the Sunday paper. As for RSO, I didn't mind it. It was OK and I'll probably give it another go next week. Am taping The Last Enemy -it requires concentration but is worth the effort.

by LAH on August 04, 2009 at 07:48 AM

What was so bad about Superman Returns? I'd never seen it before and I knew it got good reviews and I was pleased to catch it for a bit of nostalgia value and to keep up to date with the Superman canon. Even Margaret and David gave it 3 stars each. Would you rather some CSI or two and a half men repeats?
Everyone's entitled to an opinion but I'm not going to complain about a first run movie with solid reviews.
In fact, I think Nein's programmers deserve some recognition for a mini-Brian Singer/Kevin Spacey/Richard Donner film festival between Superman, Lethal Weapon and the Usual Suspects on Saturday night (though the Richard Donner inclusion may have been inadvertant)...

by Wendell on August 04, 2009 at 09:19 AM

Edge of the seat stuff with Spooks final last night. Certainly Connie will never be the same, & I wonder if Harry likes holidaying in one of the delightful Russian gulags. Hopeful though, he'll probably be left in a boggy marsh somewhere just out of London & told to find his way home.
Wendell...if you want "a bit of nostalgia" The Birds & the original King Kong are on ABC2 on Sat night. Black & white films look great on full HD.
Well down Ch10 for pulling Kyle's pin, it may help Austero to get some backbone & tear up his contract as well. One can only hope.

by PJ453 on August 04, 2009 at 09:46 AM

Is ABC2 showing the beautifully restored version of King Kong (released on DVD in USA to help promote the Peter Jackson re-make for Universal) or the scratchy old RKO print they've been showing for years?

by David @ Green Point on August 04, 2009 at 09:57 AM

Yep, I'll be catching The Birds. I LOVE the ABC2 Saturday night classic movie slot. Have been catching up on lots of missed gems like the African Queen, Suspicion, Silent Running, Roman Holiday etc etc. No chance of seeing quality like that on Ch9...

by Wendell on August 04, 2009 at 10:03 AM

Oooh, I miss a couple of episodes of "Spooks" and everything changes! One character gone, one character an evil commie traitor! I'm glad I caught the final of the season, although it is always such tense viewing. (I was watching through my fingers towards the end. I'm such a wuss.)

Lovely to see Vyle go. Watched "Media Watch" last night, and it was excruciating. I'm glad they're both gone, and I do hope darren's dreams come true.

Recorded "Drop Dead Diva", but I'm not sure it'll be back next week with those ratings! (Mr Dale, or anyone else who knows, why was it - and "Knocked Up" - only shown in a few cities? What were others watching in the meantime?)

And thanks for the info about "The Last Enemy", but in a fit of "well, we missed the last episode" we deleted the previous two (unwatched) episodes. I may have to get technologically advanced and check out iView one day...

by tqd on August 04, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Re Wendell on Superman Returns, I caught it in cinemas because reviews were generally good. I thought it was oh wonderful, but it must've been something to do with sitting in Gold Class, because a few hours later my friends and I concurred it wasn't that crash hot. Definitely not Bryan Singer's best, and I agree with Margaret and David's review - added together it'd be a 6/10. All in all, it's not the worst film, just meh. I give honours to Kazaam as the worst film ever!
Really did adhere to the ad for Spooks - only used the edge of my seat. Hopefully Aunty won't delay the airing of the next season too much.
GNW was really good last night, everyone was on the ball. Now that's a lineup that can't really go too wrong.

by Kym on August 04, 2009 at 10:55 AM

Caught Media Watch. Wow if that's the sort of stuff that DOESN'T get complained about, I can only nightmare about their other wacky hijinks. Don't let the door hit him on the arse on the way out. Let it hit him in the head. Repeatedly.
Why was "Knocked Up" only shown in a few cities? The AFL factor? The Heigl is a Shrew factor?

by Bereft Skerrick on August 04, 2009 at 11:26 AM

In defence of Kyle
While I'm no fan don't even recall watching or listening to anything he has
been involved with, and that his comments after the girls disclosure were
in very poor taste.
However shouldn't the owners of the station be held accountable to some degree ?.
I'm sure anything being put to air should/has been review by their legal
representatives etc. Or does Kyle have complete run of the station ?.
In which case, I don't see him getting the boot.

by sygul on August 04, 2009 at 11:49 AM

It seems Australian Story suffered a drop in the ratings in the same way that Malcolm Turnbull suffered a drop in the opinion polls. Ouch!
Goodbye Jonathan Ross. Welcome back Boston Legal repeats from next week. Goodbye Kyle Sandilands. Welcome back Mark Holden?

by J Bar on August 04, 2009 at 12:13 PM

Regarding "Superman Returns": well, he's just the naffest of the men in tights. He can't be hurt, he's super strong, he can fly, and then he's all so all-American. And let's not discuss his "disguise". How come no one recognises him with his glasses on?
I know I shouldn't expect realism from my superheroes, but I really do prefer the ones with a bit of angst and personal issues, and with the distinct possibility that maybe the baddies would win. Superman can never lose, hence he's the dullest of the dull.

by tqd on August 04, 2009 at 12:46 PM

The Last Enemy is in 5 parts, ends on the 16th. Ashes to Ashes still received good reviews but not as good as Life on Mars. There were two series, 2008 & 2009. Don't know if we will get the second series as the DVD's came out last month.

by Gary on August 04, 2009 at 01:38 PM

It looks like I am alone in thinking that the sacking of Kyle from Idol is wrong. I don't mind the guy and the ratings of his breakfast show perhaps show that many others don't mind him either. He is far better than Merrick and Rosso and they have just dragged Kate Ritchie down with them. I used to like her.
I thought Kyle was good on Idol. He is far better than Dicko. He is not boring or predictable and that is why I will miss him on TV (and radio if they sack him too).

by Irish on August 04, 2009 at 02:18 PM

I'm sorry that you'll miss him Irish, but I ask one question - citing the example on Media Watch last night - "reuniting" an aunt with her never-met niece only to tell them if she chooses the wrong door they won't meet, and then essentially making the relatives beg to meet each other. This is akin to torture. Emotional cruelty.
You're saying you "don't mind" these sort of antics? You're saying that you didn't mind interrogating a 14 year old about her personal life (rape revelation aside - the QandA panel last night got it right discussing how inappropriate the questioning was. Any other grown man asking a 14 yr old girl about her sex life would be tarred as a paedophile).
As for the ratings. What's the sample size for Sydney radio TM? You can make statistics look like anything you want them to. Popular opinion is that Vyle in general is an oxygen thief. And it's not just the fogies on the bandwagon. Had you seen Twitter traffic last week it was the consensus there as well. I would say the sample size there was MUCH greater.
And if the duo were so popular, wouldn't any of their other TV antics be still on the air? Big Brother anyone? Undercover Angels? Evey TV show Skanky has turned her hand to has been axed. And AusIdol ratings last year dived lower than his morals.
His breakfast antics are Lowest Common Denominator stuff, and the airwaves are a better place without him.

by Bereft Skerrick on August 04, 2009 at 04:53 PM

Channel 7 achieved a new level of cross promotion tonight (Tuesday). Packed to the Rafters had the very dramatic scene where the youngest son was accused of spiking a girl's drink with a date rape drug. Straight into the break they cut to Sunrise's Melissa Doyle and Grant Denyer (fill in host while Kochie is off climbing a mountain - how is it my mind manages to hold on to these irrelevant details?!) almost like they were mid conversation "Just makes you realise how careful you have to be. Tomorrow on Sunrise, the truth about nightclub drink spiking". Nice neat little parcel, all tied in together. Wow. Is this comparable to ACA's stories on the Snuggie.
On another note, right on Bereft!! Excellent analysis of the whole Vile media situation - anybody who saw that episode of Media Watch has to be deeply disturbed at the lengths these people will go to in the battle for ratings - it seriously made me feel ill. I've never been a fan, any time i've flicked on to the show (you know, sometimes there's a boring song, you flick over to waste the next 3 minutes) i've been seriously disturbed by what i've heard. One incident I did hear which really reminded me why I don't listen to their show - was travelling with a friend and was therefore forced to listen for an extended amount of time: for fun, they convinced the news reader that Vile was dis-inviting him to his wedding because he wasn't able to attend some pre-wedding function, convincing the news reader that he had deeply offended Vile and his fiance. Vile and Tacky were killing themselves laughing about the fact that they had planned the whole deception at a team meeting, taken home recorders so they could record the guy in tears, talking about the fact that they predicted who he would call - "we knew one of the first things he would do would be to call Jackie, so of course Jackie took home recording equipment and set it up on her phone so it was great when he did call, falling right into our trap, ha ha ha". The poor guy was left feeling like he was (a) dis-invited from the wedding of a close friend (b) had possibly lost Vile as friend (not that for a lot of people that would be a great loss) because he had inadvertantly offended him and (c) possibly at risk of losing his job - all for a 5 minute spot where they laughed hilariously about making the guy feel horrifically bad and cry on air, while again, they laughed at his pain. Emphasising again - it was so funny, because in our planning meeting we were all predicting who you would call and what you would do, and you just did exactly what we said", like they were the puppet masters in control, creating misery, confusion and sadness for a few cheap laughs. And people are trying to claim that the two of them are the victims here? And before the predictable comments come - I didn't choose to listen, I was in a friend's car. I choose quite deliberately not to listen to them because I believe they are smutty and tacky. I believe that questioning a 14 year old girl about her sex life is bordering on criminal - at the least it was harrassment, and as was pointed out, if it was in any other kind of situation, the assumption would be that a 35 year old man trying to question a 14 year old girl about sex could be called a sex offender, given a different context.
darren, I have my fingers crossed that your dreams will become a reality... I have been comforted by many of the contributers to the website The Punch who have published some really good articles about the situation - using an excellent metaphor about Vile and Tacky being like the spoilt child that some people inflict on society. Interesting reading, if you feel like seeing some comments about the situation that don't contain phrases like "OMG, poor Kyle is just a victim" or "OMG, why doesn't everybody just get a life, Kyle makes me ROFL"....

by Beckala on August 04, 2009 at 08:55 PM

tqd. re Superman.
Kryptonite.

by merciless on August 04, 2009 at 11:28 PM

Beckala, thanks for the suggestion but I've decide to take Hughsie's advice (one time only) and never mention That Person again. Ding Done the Dick is dead and that's that. Next!
Tqd, agree about SuperMan. He's always been a bit wet. I just rewatched 'Watchmen' on DVD over the weekend (just before watching 'SuperMan Returns', and sorry, but SuperMan (the label and the man), in comparison comes off looking like Mel Doyle at a mother's meeting. Time to retire him and invent new heroes.

by darren on August 05, 2009 at 05:52 AM

Re LAH aug 4.
Yes LAH, two and a half men is such a lame show that after running for five years it can still attract an audience of 1.4 million.

by bobmar28 on August 05, 2009 at 06:31 AM

Rumour has it that Bug Eyed Guy may be about to get spot as Idol judge? Or Ruby Rose? Why not just put Dave Hughes on? That would be just as stupid.
Can't Ten come up with any better ideas?
Also heard that another pick may be Tina Arena? Now that would be a better choice. She is a great performer with years of experience and an ideal judge. I also think Guy Sebastian would be a great pick. He doesnt seem to be doing much and he knows what the whole show is about.
But Mathieson or Ruby Rose is just silly.
Don't think I'll be watching anyway. Never watched last year and even with Vyle gone I think Idol has well and truly had it's day. Much like Big Brother had.

by em on August 05, 2009 at 07:50 AM

tdq (August 04, 2009 at 10:29 AM), I can't argue with your analysis - Superman's way too perfect and dull. I don't see any more legs in the franchise. And merciless, breaking out the Kryptonite in EVERY SINGLE MOVIE gets a bit tired. Maybe they'll kill off Lois and he'll get on the vengeance bandwagon ("The Dark Blue Red and Yellow Knight", anyone?).
Still, I maintain I was happy with a first run, well reviewed blockbuster in primetime on a Saturday night from Nein. Beats the hell out of Richie Rich and 16 Blocks(?) for this weekend...

by Wendell on August 05, 2009 at 08:16 AM

Superman with angst? Dear God no. It's called Smallville, it's about to start its NINTH SEASON and it's god awful. Emo Superman.

by genfie on August 05, 2009 at 09:15 AM

Beckala, that wasn't the only cross promotion on Packed to the Rafters last night. There was also a promo for a Today Tonight for a some story where they mentioned the dilemma of pregnancy for an older couple, just like Dave and Julie.
I was rolling my eyes at both of these and was wondering thinking that they were being really clever/sneaky with their cross promotions but then it reminded how much I hate it when Nine cross promotes everything all the time, to the point that I almost can't stand watching anything on that network any more.
Not sure if this is as bad as the advertorals on A Current Affair but it certainly is annoying.

by J Bar on August 05, 2009 at 09:59 AM

Had to double check (opening eyes and ears wider) if they blatantly cross promoted Sunrise with the spiking in PTTR. Shameful. Meanwhile where's Koch? Nothing much out of it, just Grant Denyer as a replacement? Become a "weather persona" on a morning show and one day you can play host too. Aspiring stuff.
Maybe Idol should consider what they do with SYTYCD (US) - two permanent judges and a guest one each week. Agree em it would be plain silly to have Bug Eyed or Ruby Rose.

by Kym on August 05, 2009 at 11:42 AM

Ventured into Nein territory this week - recorded drop dead diva & police rescue special ops. Diva not a bad show quite liked it. Caught up with my recording of special ops last night - and I concur with some of the comments other TMers made - one thing that annoyed was the slow mo of everyone's face - and the shot of Sacha Horler when she died - was it just me or did her head suddenly become gigantic and out of proportion - it was like she had been to a reverse head shrinker. Will give it another shot just to see - not overly inspired.
Noted the cross promos on Packed to the Rafters very sly - would not make me watch either Sunrise or Today tonight.
On the Vyle issue I'm with darren beckala and all the others if he is off all media permanently the world would be a better place. - found monday's Media Watch compelling viewing for its analysis of Vyle & Tacky radio show.

by Cathy on August 05, 2009 at 12:22 PM

Oh that's right J Bar, I did see that one too, just forgot about that one. Channel 9 are worse though - when Ray Warren starts discussing Sea Patrol during the football it's time to give it away!!
I suspect that Idol will do what SYTYCD US does - alternate the third judge spot with a variety of music personalities. That way, it keeps the show fresh, and they can audition for a permanent judge for next year at the same time rather than putting someone in permanently then later find out they are crap!

by Beckala on August 05, 2009 at 12:25 PM

Can I just say - I like the 7pm Project. Yes it had a slow start, yes there are stuff ups and pauses, but it is getting better! The comraderie of the team seems to get better and the show is improving. I am hoping it stays - I am definitely a fan.

by Jess Purrier on August 05, 2009 at 12:31 PM

I thought I saw something during TAYG last night where an ad for Idol mentioned "guest judges" with the faces of Brian and Delta popping up.
I would imagine the timing of Kyle's sacking is rather "oh, crap" at Ten due to the fact that they wil only have two weeks of audition/top 100 before the live performances.
How many "judges" will have free schedules?
Tina lives in France and Darren in the UK, so maybe Ten will need to wave the chequebook.
However I expect that they will sell it as a revolving door of judges as maybe they can each only commit to one or two weeks each?
They can then cut costs by selling the fourth "mentor" chair. Won't be needing that now.
For those who don't follow or did not watch last year, they introduced artist mentoring that meant that they needed four seats each week for the three judges plus the mentor.

by Glory Days on August 05, 2009 at 01:54 PM

There could be a big surprise on Australian Idol with talk that they might be having a completely new judge, who is big in the music industry and a great new find but nobody in Australia really knows. A bit like Dicko from a few years ago or the ad guys on The Gruen Transfer.

If this rumour is untrue then I vote for James Kerley. He's a crack up. A brilliant host on 'Taken Out', even though that show flopped and a brilliant personality on the Nova Nights radio show, as featured in The Guide this week.

by wing ding on August 05, 2009 at 02:32 PM

Opinions are what make the world an interesting place. You say we are better off without him, I say I will miss him. Both are our opinions. An opinion is just that...an opinion. It is neither right or wrong.
I said I will miss the guy. I never said I agree with what his radio show did. There are comments on blogs that I don't agree with but they are peoples opinions. Can't stop them and can't change them and wouldn't waste my energy trying.

by Irish on August 05, 2009 at 02:43 PM

Those Tuesday ratings were awful again for Nine. Will they make another change to their Tuesday night schedule? They've had different programs in different timeslots every week for the past four weeks. Do they want to go for five?

by J Bar on August 05, 2009 at 02:49 PM

T.M. you must be psychic after Monday's comments about the ABC. "Midsomer Murders" returns to ABC1 on August 23.

by Gary on August 05, 2009 at 03:16 PM

Good to be reading that the departure of That Person from Aus Idol won't be affecting to Kwality of the brand. James Mathison is odds-on favourite to take the spot with such muzikal luminaries as Danniiiii Minogue also being put forward. Good ol' fashioned crap....
Re the ongoing sucky cross-promotional incest on TT and ACA and PTTR and all that, it's called symbiosis but is usually only observed in The Natural World. You know: You (little birdie) pick rotting shreds of meat from my (crocodile) teeth, I let you live. You (ant) sting predators and I (aphid) give you honey flavoured excretions from my bott-bott. You (cattle egret) pick ticks and ear-wax from my (cow) hide, I let you get a feed.....
Don't know what it's called in The Unnatural World of tellie....

by darren on August 06, 2009 at 08:42 AM

UNITED STATES OF TARA is my favourite new show! Toni Collette is great, so is John Corbett as the husband.
However, a big thumbs down for THE LIBRARIANS: awful trash, it shouldn't be in the much prized 9PM timeslot, vacated by the Chaser boys.
As for Channel 9: They'll probably put TWO AND A HALF MEN on all 7 days of the week, that seems to be their strategy LOL

by Evan on August 06, 2009 at 08:54 AM

Absolutely awful ratings for Australia’s Perfect Couple. Good ratings for the repeat of Rescue Special Ops at 10.30pm. This show would have done better in a Wednesday night slot.
The Librarians benefitted from being sandwiched between Spicks and Specks and the United States of Tara, but Tara down on last week when it followed The Chaser finale.

by J Bar on August 06, 2009 at 09:19 AM

darren: Now that the AusIdol gibbons have taken out the trash, why can't they get rid of the other rubbish. The one who is currently pimping herself out the the Daily Terror again - shrieking that ""I'd never experienced a break-up before and I don't think people realise that". Or give a flying for that matter.

by Bereft Skerrick on August 06, 2009 at 10:22 AM

Darren

SURVIVAL

by Furlozza on August 06, 2009 at 10:39 AM

Are you people trying to tell me that A Current Affair and Today Tonight no longer do hard hitting current affairs reporting? Surely not. And are you also trying to tell me that television networks sometimes sneak in promotions for their other shows in the middle of a show that you are currently watching? Gasp. Next you'll be telling me that reality shows aren't actually real and they fabricate some of the content to create drama. No!
On another subject, it was quite interesting that digital radio had its launch at Martin Place today with all the radio stations broadcasting out of there at breakfast. With Kyle and Jackie O being replaced with temporary hosts at 2Day, that means both Austereo FM stations have temp hosts because 2MMM dumped their breakfast team a few weeks ago too.

by Bloke from the Sticks on August 06, 2009 at 11:19 AM

Could 2DAYFM be about to rehire Wendy Harmer and Peter Moon for the breakfast shift? They appeared on the launch of digital radio this morning.
Made me nostalgic for the days of decent FM breakfast shows(Uncle Doug, the morning crew etc).

Tribal Mind wonders:Could they join Kyle in the 2WS Radio Hall of Failured?

by Evan on August 06, 2009 at 12:38 PM

I know that the US of Tara is supposed to be a great show. And it is probably just me but I just can't seem to get into it. I am a fan of John Corbett (loved him in both Sex & the City and Northern Exposure) but have never really like Toni Collette. And I find all her characters to be so over the top that I just can't like the show yet. I am willing to keep watching for awhile but I don't find it funny or even mildly amusing.
But then I have never understood why people like Packed to the Rafters either.
Tribal Mind interrupts: What do you think of The Librarians? Did they damage Toni's audience?

I must be getting overly critical in my old age.
And Bereft, I agree about the Shrieking one. I saw that bit in the Daily Terror too.
I still don't know what purpose she serves on Idol. Doesn't she just sit there and stick mikes in the faces of the contestants after they sing? Surely a trained monkey could do that. And at least that would be interesting.

by em on August 06, 2009 at 12:43 PM

Sorry Eva, US of Tara is alright but nothing to rave about. Toni is great but the show is just another ones out to shock with its strong sex talk. Just like Weeds tries to shock with its strong drug storylines. The Librarians on the other hand is hilarious.
Meanwhile at the commercials. Australiaï¿½s Perfect Couple is in no way perfect and should be axed with those ratings, they are a lot lower than shows like Celebrity Singing Bee which Nine axed after one week. Nine should move Getaway to Wednesdays because I'm never home on Thursdays because I'm shopping till I drop so I would rather see this on another night.

by Irene on August 06, 2009 at 01:06 PM

Interesting point Bloke from the Sticks. One thing that the media hasn't latched onto yet. Ugly Phil, who was dumped by Triple M a few weeks ago is the ex-husband of Jackie O (hence the 'O' in her name) and now Jackie O and Kyle were dumped from 2 Day FM. Many moons ago, Kyle had actually replaced Ugly Phil on the Hot30 countdown radio show at nights on 2 Day FM. Recently, the exes were both working for Austereo and interestingly their lives and careers continue to follow similar paths.

by Dimitri on August 06, 2009 at 01:59 PM

TM, Didnt watch the Librarians. Forgot it was on as I was watching The Tudors over on Showtime. Must get my Jonathon Rhys Myers fix! (the real Henry never looked that good)
But I will try to remember to catch it tonight on ABC2.

by em on August 06, 2009 at 02:20 PM

I thought Shrieky-Lee was dead or something. I forgot she'll be on that show I won't be watching.
Is the barely contained desire to shove those microphones into the dark and vocaliscious cake-holes of all those kiddies playing rock-star dress-ups every time I hear that bloody Mariah Carey tune a bad sign? Can't help it.
Getting Delta-So-Goodrem-on-Your-Cereal and Brian-I'll-Hunt-You-Down-and-Kill-You McFadden as guest judges is a great start! I'll be not watching even harder.
That's alotta hyphens.

by darren on August 06, 2009 at 02:52 PM

I think Wendy Harmer and Peter Moon are a bit over the hill for 2Day nowadays, besides - aren't they supposed to hate each other?

by Jill on August 06, 2009 at 03:18 PM

Frances O'Brien is hot? Like George Colombaris from Masterchef is a sex symbol. ha ha. Each to his own I suppose.

by Warrigul on August 06, 2009 at 08:30 PM

Jill: I vaguely remember that Peter Moon used to broadcast from Melbourne and Wendy Harmer from Sydney. Whether that was because if mutual hatred or Moon being a diva I'm not sure. I'm was listening to Uncle Doug Mulray (ahh Bogdan The Turnip Boy, how I miss thee) or Club Veg.

Sigh. Whatever happened to genuinely funny breakfast teams.

by Bereft Skerrick on August 06, 2009 at 08:35 PM

Bereft Skerrick. You got old and are stuck in an 80s timewarp of nostalgia. Merrick and Rosso are very funny on Nova. You just need to move with the times or risk being left behind.
Irish. That line about Kate Ritchie being dragged down by Merrick and Rosso is directly from the 'gospel according to Kyle'. You have been brainwashed by the vitriol that he spews forth from his microphone.
em. Toni Colette is a great actress.
Evan. United States of Tara is not a great show. The Librarians is satirically brilliant.

by Mr 40 plus on August 07, 2009 at 07:49 AM

'The Amazing Race' again reliably not the worst thing on tellie last night. Same old. But did anyone else notice in the promo at the end for next week's episode, the huge graphic plastered on the screen that said "THE DEAF GUY"? (as in: "What will they do when THE DEAF GUY unleashes his secret weapon"...whatever that means). I was surprised to see that. Or am I just a moron who thinks people should be called by their actual names? Looking forward to seeing Seven advertising Gerard on DWTS as 'The Blind Guy' (they may have done that already when I always wasn't looking), Ian Ross as 'The Boring Old Guy', Joanna Griggs as 'The Tall Chick with Big Jugs' and Kochie as 'The Bald Totally Unfunny Guy'. They've gotten tangled up in their own promotastic exploitation-speak.
By the way did anyone see 'First Tuesday Book Club' the other night (can't remember which night...was it Wednesday or Monday?)? They were reviewing Jeffrey Eugenides' 'Middlesex' which is a pretty good read and interesting to boot. Will have to tune in for the repeat on Sunday (tqd, tqd, where art thou, tqd?)....
Re Frances....TM, I think it might be just you.

by darren on August 07, 2009 at 08:44 AM

How not to live your life (ABC2) was laugh out loud last night. Nice to find little gems hidden in the schedules. Amazing Race and Chuck were also very good again this week. Thursdays are becoming a good night me.

by ned on August 07, 2009 at 08:53 AM

Somebody above said something about TM having a crystal ball. Well heï¿½s got nothing on Channel Go who must have known John Hughes was going to pop his clogs this week when they chose National Lampoonï¿½s Vacation for their opening nightï¿½
And TM, did you catch First Tuesday Book Club? I saw Jack Reacher worked his way in there. Iï¿½ll catch the ABC2 repeat on Sunday

by Wendell on August 07, 2009 at 09:47 AM

I know Kyle is so last week but I am all astonishment at reports of his income. If indeed these reports are correct he earns about $3.2 million dollars a year with $1 million coming from Idol. However, (and I am again hoping I am quoting figures correctly), the Prime Minister earns about $330 thousand dollars a year. What the...!

by Suze on August 07, 2009 at 10:07 AM

Has anyone else noticed Channel 9 digital transmissions have changed this week with the launch of the new Go channel?
We haven't had channel 9 for 3 days now... it's very tempting to keep it that way too....

by chrisso on August 07, 2009 at 10:29 AM

chrisso, if your tv automatically loaded the new channels or you hit 'ok' when the message came up that it detected new channels there's a good chance that 9,90,99 were loaded into channels 350,351,352. It happened to me but I don't know why. It might have been some sort of stuff up. If you do an Auto retune of all the channels it then fixes the problem and puts 9 into 9, 9HD into 90 and Go! into 99.
Go! has been running a three minute loop of promos since Wednesday. It looks like Go! is going to be a fully American channel for Australia. The war on culture is over! America has won.

by J Bar on August 07, 2009 at 11:07 AM

I do like United States of Tara as a show. The reason mostly is the incredible Toni Collette - her performance is just amazing. But I like John Corbett - he is really good, and I like the son. The daughter I think needs to be settled down a little so she's not such a cliche. But in comparison to a lot of the crap that is around at the moment, this show is a gem!! I love it. For me, The Librarians is a bit hit and miss. I'm not a committed fan.
Always enjoy the infighting of Amazing Race. But I miss Cletus and Brandeen (not sure on the spelling of that, sorry!).
Mr 40 plus, i'm in agreement with you. I love Merrick and Rosso and Kate Ritchie. Vyle has always slagged anyone who is a threat. It makes me ill to think he makes that much money. However hearing that he bought that ridiculous car on a mortgage just shows the absolute ego he has - the depreciation alone makes it inaccessible except for the totally rich billionaires, think Murdoch or Packer. That he is in debt over that car shows he isn't the brightest.
Ms Skerrick, let's keep our fingers crossed for another Dragons victory!!

by Beckala on August 07, 2009 at 11:12 AM

Beckala: fingers, toes & follicles crossed. After we win tonight I'll be watching Ferris Buellers day off.

Why oh why does Ashes to Ashes have to be on at the same time as Dexter? No fair!

Mr 40+ I live on the South Coast so the only Sydney radio I get is via the internet. But a girl can dream can't she?

by Bereft Skerrick on August 07, 2009 at 12:32 PM

I have now watched ep 2 of United States of Tara and my reaction was blah - not sure if it is because I am not overly enamoured of Toni Collette as actress or just not keen on the whole offering. It is going off my recording schedule. Also been thinking about Boy Meets Girl (ABC2) tonight - was not keen on the first ep and upon further reflection it also goes in my reject pile. Am now at the end of the week and I think I will be able to see all stuff I have recorded and not watched tonight.
Ned - I am assuming you mean Chuck on Foxtel and not FTA?
Beckala and Suze was more fascinated with John Laws assessment of Vyle - Vega interviewed him for the Digital radio launch and Lawsy said - never met the man but he has no talent and think even if I met him I would not like him. Lawsy summed him up as stupid - now could be pot and kettle but was intrigued.
Darren with you on the Amazing Race - Deaf guy comment - but then again they always use descriptive terms - cheerleaders, blondes, hillbillies (oh wait that was us). Still was not a bad episode - shows that sometimes an earlier flight can stuff you up!

by Cathy on August 07, 2009 at 12:43 PM

I live in an age care place and so far I have re-tuned 7 digital TV sets to get nine. With the age of our residents there was no way they could work out how to do it themselves. Some sets were easy with just hit ok to update but others needed to go through the whole process of menu, set up, etc. Nine stuffed up with this change as I don't think they anticipated a lot of digital televisions needing re-tuning. Strangely enough it only happened to digital TV sets as my set top boxes weren't affected. I had to do a re-tune to get to see the 99 promotion. I can hardly wait for Sunday!

by Gary on August 07, 2009 at 12:51 PM

I just checked Nine's web site and found the following note:
As a result of the introduction of GO! some digital viewers may experience a small disruption. Click here to get all the essential tuning details.
When you click here you get details about re-tuning your TV. Small disruption is right.

by Gary on August 07, 2009 at 01:17 PM

Cathy, I know whatcha mean re "deaf guy" comment. Before I wrote that I thought "I think I've called him "deaf guy" myself...Have I called him "deaf guy"? But never let hypocrisy stand in the way of making a semi-outraged point. I think there's a difference between 'The Amazing Race' labelling the teams 'Cheerleaders' or 'Blondes' but at least they have the decency to not label them 'Flamboyant Homosexual Father and Son' or 'Midget Wogs'. The "Deaf Guy" thing was an add-on by Seven, and stoopid, I think. Most viewers would know him by name at this point...David. Or Dan....starts with 'D'.
Sounds like a job for ACA.

by darren on August 07, 2009 at 01:56 PM

Hot Seat is closing the 5.30 gap. Interesting to see how Melbourne loves Eddie's show, and Sydney prefers Deal. Nine must be please this is one show they wont have to bone....

by Jill on August 07, 2009 at 02:05 PM

We got the "small disruption" from Ch9 on Wed night when MrsPJ HAD to watch RPA. I thought the black screen had some real interest about it!! Searched then for the WIN station to appease her so she could watch. It was really a "last person out turn off the light" scenario for Ch9.
I still smile thinking about it.........Ch9 blank....ah, peace in our time.
Then our very intelligent tv advised us last night of NEW FTA TV STATIONS & guess what they were all Ch9 stations.
Movies - Looks like we have to go & see the Aussie film, Beautiful Kate from what David & Margaret said.
Books - Reading one of the Penguin $10 books at the moment "The Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. I had never heard of it, but the little snippet re the story sounded interesting.. New Orleans in the early 60's, but the more significant point was that the writer had so many knock backs from publishers that he finally committed suicide. His mother then took up the battle & finally got the book published 11 years later. The book then won a Pulitzer Prize in '81. I know "shIt happens", but that's just not fair. So far it's a good read.

by PJ453 on August 07, 2009 at 02:52 PM

Darren - only thing I felt we used was the hillbillies - deaf guy or blind guy in Dancing not so nice - but then again stupid guy when referring to some on TV (eg karl) appropriate - go figure.
PJ453 love the blank story... I too have bought a couple of the penguin $10 books - Sherlock Holmes because I did like the stories and am really looking forward to Robert Downey Jr as Holmes - I know nothing to do with the stories. Plus the Big Sleep because I have never read it. Not started either yet because I have large pile of novels to read and I do need to start on making the pile smaller.

by Cathy on August 07, 2009 at 04:33 PM

Am I the only one who had no trouble re scanning our TV?
All this talk about people having difficulty re scanning their TVs is giving channel 'GO' some free publicity.
Regarding Australian content, I don't think there would be enough available for all the new channels starting up anyway.

by bobmar28 on August 08, 2009 at 06:09 AM

TM, May I ask how American Dad rated on Thursday night on Seven?
Really enjoying this twice a week. Seven certainly know how to treat their viewers well and burn off niche shows late at night.

Tribal Mind replies: Number 40 on Thursday's chart, with 337,000 across the capitals.

by Samuel on August 08, 2009 at 11:19 AM

@ bobmar28, there would be more Australian content on Australian television if the networks produced more rather than wasting their money buying wall to wall American pap. For example, they axe All Saints and show programs like True Beauty in prime time.

by astro boy on August 08, 2009 at 12:50 PM

bobmar28, a lot of older people find this whole digital thing very confusing. So when nine disappeared on Wednesday night they had no idea what to do. There were a lot of people out there with these brand new sets who had to seek help to get nine back. As we go digital over the next few years there are going to be a lot of confused people seeking help.

by Gary on August 08, 2009 at 12:57 PM

So here goes for Aussie Idol predictions:
This Sunday - 1.45m
Next Sunday - 1.36m
Sunday after - 1-38m

I will admit I am a BIG fan. As someone who watches American Idol as well, I really think they ought to mirror the Yanks a little better. That show really gets it right. I hope they continue with guest mentors and theme weeks - keeps it interesting. I'm a lover not a hater, but Kyle was frustratingly negative, not at all funny, and frankly I miss the Mark, Marcia, Dicko combo...
Here's to a good season, unearthing some great Aussie talent!

by Daniel in Dubai on August 09, 2009 at 04:50 PM

First show on GO!!!11!!OMG!!1!! was Wipeout. If that's an indication of the quality of programming, does anyone know how to tune it out of my HDTV?

by Bereft Skerrick on August 09, 2009 at 11:12 PM

Quoth darren: "By the way did anyone see 'First Tuesday Book Club' the other night (can't remember which night...was it Wednesday or Monday?)? They were reviewing Jeffrey Eugenides' 'Middlesex' which is a pretty good read and interesting to boot. Will have to tune in for the repeat on Sunday (tqd, tqd, where art thou, tqd?)...."
Oh, I'm around. Just a busy weekend, with not nearly enough time online. (Ack! Fresh air!) I recorded the Bookclub, and watched it sometime over the weekend. I'd read "Middlesex" a year or two ago, and I liked their analysis. (Am looking forward to next month with "The Leopard" which I read earlier this year and thought it was rather magnificent, in a very dense and slow-moving way.)
Mr Dale, did you see their comments on Jack Reacher?
Didn't watch much TV on the weekend (recorded Stephen Fry), and have been unable to focus on any one book either. Mostly reading "Faceless Killers", the first Kurt Wallander murder mystery by Henning Mankell. I find crime an easy genre to read, which is just what I need at the moment.
Oh, we have Channel Nine (non-HD STB), but it's got no sound. No great loss.

Tribal MInd replies: If I'd known they were going to discuss Jack Reacher, I'd have watched. What did they say?

by tqd on August 10, 2009 at 09:31 AM

Mr Dale, it's apparently chock-full of testosterone, and Jack Reacher is the ultimate existential character as we know nothing about him (ahah! I now know what "existential" means! sort of!), the sex scenes are very silly, and, um, I can't remember a fourth point.
Can't say it sounds like my sort of book at all, but if I was going to ever pick up an airport thriller (don't hold your breath), this looks like a good place to start. (For one, Marieke Hardy disliked it. I never agree with her opinions.)
I'm sure you can get it on iView.

by tqd on August 10, 2009 at 12:21 PM

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