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CTV8, part of WTV, have signed up to join Freeview from 2009, making them New Zealand's first free-to-air national Chinese programming channel.CTV8 sources is programs primarily from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. They say their content will only be available in Chinese with Mandarin audio, but that there will possibly be English subtitiles. English titles may have to be included in the program descriptions, as this could cause difficulty with the on-screen EPG and Online Progam Guide.An official launch date has not yet been set, and it is not yet clear whether CTV8 will be broadcast on terrestrial or satellite transmission.CTV8 is currently available free-to-air in Auckland on UHF 62.
NZ First leader Winston Peters has always enjoyed criticising the media and seems to love making an interview as challenging as possible - (see this Campbell Live video)
.His relationship with New Zealand's media has perhaps hit it's lowest point ever this week, with Peters walking out on a stand-up interview with journalists at parliament this afternoon. Mr Peters was apparently unhappy with the way the journalists were standing (yes, you read correctly), and when they would not move from a lower step he stormed off refusing to answer any questions.The journalists were seeking Peters response after ACT leader Rodney Hide lodged a complaint this morning with the Serious Fraud Office over large undeclared donations to the NZ First party being collected by the Spencer Trust. The SFO has said it will assess the complaint and decide if an investigation is warranted.Peters has accused the media of generating hysteria over the undeclared donations, and insists that he has not broken the law.Associate Professor Jim Tully of Canterbury University says that due to his fragile history with the media, they will not give up on pressuring the politician over the donation scandal. After today's incident at parliament, it is fair to say that the media will in fact be working in overdrive to catch Peters out.
There is no denying the vast difference in ratings between TV3's Sunrise and TV One's Breakfast. Despite this, TV3 news chief Mark Jennings said earlier this year that he did not see any major problems with Sunrise and that there would not be any drastic changes to the show.However, Media Fetish can reveal that after being appointed Associate Director of Programming across both TV3 and C4, former C4 Director Andrew Szusterman has been given the job of increasing ratings for the TV3 morning show. But what changes will Szusterman bring?NZ Herald's John Drinnan, among others, has speculated that viewers can expect to see "a less newsy, more entertainment-focused show". Total Media managing director Martin Gillman has always hoped that TV3 refrain from cancelling the show. "Morning television is an important growth area for free-to-air TV," says Gillman.If Sunrise is cancelled now, then Breakfast will be set in stone as New Zealand's only choice for morning entertainment and information (aside from radio). This would be bad news for both TV3 and TV One fans, for if Breakfast is without a competitor then it will not have as much pressure to provide an increasingly better service. If given more time, we believe that Sunrise will find it's feet and slowly achieve those ratings that it is after - for there is hardly ever a news show that beats it's competitor in the first year of broadcast.The most important change needed at Sunrise is for them to stop allowing Ali Ikram to sing karaoke!
Telecom have formed a partnership with TVNZ that will see the mobile phone provider offer their customers free video coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.Telecom customers with 3G video-capable phones will be able to stream up to 20 clips per day free of charge. The clips provided by TVNZ will be up to three minutes long, and will feature the best of the broadcaster's Olympic coverage including New Zealand performances, athlete interviews, and key events of the day from Beijing. "Our customers will be able to get Olympic action over our 3G network direct to the palm of their hands - right from the opening ceremony", says Telecom GM of Consumer Marketing, David Craig."It's yet another example of the prevalence of mobile technology and the demand we're seeing for customers to have it all in one device," says Mr Craig.
It is common practice for a television news show to give their election coverage a catchy title and logo, but what happened when both of New Zealand's major networks decide they liked the sound of the same title? One of them had to give in.
Election coverage titles have differed over the years, in 2005 TVNZ used "Decision 05" while TV3 used "Vote 05". However, for use during the the current general election TV3 decided back in September 2007 to develop the Decision 08 brand with ownership rights and an internet domain.
Paul Gallagher, editor of TV3's Decision 08 website, said that "due to a leak of our sensitive commercial information that unfortunately got into TVNZ hands". TVNZ launched their "Decision 08" website under the platform of tvnz.co.nz around the same time TV3 launched decision08.co.nz leaving many people wondering why the two networks had given their coverage the same title - especially when it was obvious one had acquired the rights to the internet domain name.A couple of weeks later, after much discussion of the issue over the internet, it seems TVNZ have realised they were fighting a loosing battle and changed the title of their political coverage to "Election 08" (as seen in the logo above). This strange turn of events leaves us wondering why TVNZ ever decided to bring back the "Decision" title to their coverage in the first place.
There have been recent claims that Rupert Murdoch's FOX News Channel is using "racism, prejudice, and fear" to smear Barack Obama and his family in an attempt to lessen his chances of becoming the next United States President.
Protesters gathered outside FOX News Channel on Wednesday to denounce the networks racist campaign coverage, which includes a pundit calling Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama a "terrorist". The group of around 150 people was led by activist groups MoveOn.org and ColorOfChange.org who have collected more than 600,000 signatures for a petition objecting to news coverage by FOX, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. "Putting racism on national television and calling it news is never funny," said Andre Banks of ColorOfChange.org.
The groups have highlighted incidents on FOX including an on-screen graphic labelling Michelle Obama as "Obama's baby mama" and a pundit who confused Obama with Osama bin Laden and joked they should both be assassinated. Bill O'Reilly discussed calling a "lynching party" to deal with Michelle Obama after criticising her patriotism, and another anchor called a televised fist bump between Obama and his wife a "terrorist fist jab".
Among the protesters on Wednesday was hip-hop star Nas, who says the FOX News coverage inspired the song "Sly Fox" from his new album. "FOX poisons this country every time they air racist propaganda and try and call it news," he said.A FOX spokesperson said: "FOX News believes in all protesters exercising their right to free speech, including Nas, who has an album to promote."
FOX News Channel is shown in New Zealand on Sky Digital channel 92.
C4 is slowly moving away from being the channel "where music lives" in what some are describing as a return to it's 'TV4' roots.The station originally branded as 'TV4' relaunched as music channel C4 in 2003. At the time of the relaunch C4 was over 90% music video content, however in recent years this figure has dramatically decreased as the channel is moving towards being a youth orientated general entertainment network.The reduced focus on music at C4 continued this month when parent company TVWorks announced they are amalgamating the programming functions at TV3 and C4. Kelly Martin, formerly the Director of Programming at TV3, assumes a new programming role in which she will oversee the content and scheduling of both TV3 and C4. Andrew Szusterman, formerly Director of C4, becomes Associate Director of Programming. Szusterman will remain responsible for the day-to-day management of C4, but also become involved in TV3’s programming strategy.On July 1st C4 moved to channel 12 on the Sky digital platform to reflect the broader content the channel is now offering. Such content includes The Office, 30 Rock, British drama Skins, sci-fi hit Battlestar Gallactica, E!'s Girls of the Playboy Mansion, and a selection of cult 80's film and drama.Approximately 1.5 million New Zealanders tune in to C4 every month.
Choppy conditions on Lake Karapiro today saw a boat carrying photographers and television camera operators capsize.
Seven camera crews, including those from TVNZ, TV3 and the New Zealand Herald, were on board shooting footage of a rowing event that included Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell.
No lives were lost, however around $340,000 worth of equipment went down with the boat.
Today's loss of equipment has seen a bad month for TV3, as just two Sunday's ago the network had broadcasting equipment stolen from a Satellite News Gathering truck while it was parked in a Wellington street.TV3 has offered a $10,000 reward for the return of the equipment, publicist Stephanie Taylor saying "the equipment is critical to our live broadcast operation, and we need it back." Taylor also said the equipment would be “absolutely no use” to anyone, except a television broadcaster. She said the gear would not be easy to re-sell as it is branded with the TV3 logo.TV3 Wellington are asking anyone with information on the whereabouts of the equipment to phone the newsroom on 04 802 1803.
Executives of United States television network NBC have announced that from June next year Conan O'Brien will replace Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show.NBC reportedly wants to keep Leno - who replaced Tonight show host Johnny Carson in 1992 - employed with their network, finding him another presenting role. They expect the transition to run smoothly, however there is speculation that he may be poached to rival network ABC in hope of attracting more ratings than O'Brien in the Tonight show timeslot.Despite rumours Leno will switch networks in 2009, NBC's Ben Silverman says "we really believe in the decisions we've made" and he is adamant that they will stick by them.CBS's Tonight show rival Late Show with David Letterman screens in New Zealand on PRIME.
Former One News weatherman Brendan Horan has joined the New Zealand First party with the hope of becoming their 2008 candidate in the East Coast electorate - a seat currently held by National's Anne Tolley.Horan was dropped by TVNZ in 2007 in order to return veteran presenter Jim Hickey to our screens. He has since been working as a professional singer based in Mount Maunganui, and performed at the NZ First party conference last weekend as part of their 15th birthday celebration.Horan has said that after surveying New Zealand's political parties, NZ First was the only party that fully satisfied him on the issues he sees as most important: fair tax, less bureaucracy, getting tough with gangs, health, and education.
Tony Veitch has this afternoon announced his resignation from presenting roles at both TVNZ and The Radio Network.This comes two weeks after the Dominion Post published a story revealing Veitch assaulted former partner Kristin Dunne-Powell in 2006. There have since been allegations he paid Ms Dunne-Powell $170,000 to remain silent, and also that the injuries she sustained included a broken back and put her in a wheelchair.Both media companies admitted knowing of the incident, but say they were unaware of it's severity.Tony Veitch's statement:"I have tendered my resignation to TVNZ and The Radio Network today.
I need to take stock of my life and spend time with my family before I make any decisions about my future. At the time I undertook counselling and am still continuing to do so. It has been a great help. I am extremely grateful for the love and support of my family and friends.
I would ask that people now respect the agreement Kristin and I made to keep our personal affairs private. At all times I have been honest with my employers and at all times I have tried to do the right thing for everyone. TVNZ has been my life, I have loved my job. There have been a lot of statements made that are untrue which make it untenable now for me to continue in my current roles with TVNZ and the Radio Network.
I would like to thank both TVNZ and The Radio Network for their ongoing support. I would also like to thank the many individuals who have reminded me of their belief in me at a time such as this. It gives me strength for the future."
TVNZ announced tonight that veteran broadcaster Peter Williams will be replacing Tony Veitch as the prime-time host of the Beijing Olympics.
Williams will present One News at 6pm's sports coverage live from China during the Games, as well as TV One's evening Olympic coverage. Williams began covering the Olympics for TVNZ in 1984, making Beijing his eighth Olympic Games. He was also the host of TVNZ's Sport on One programme from 1980 to 1992.
Veitch was pulled from the line-up when allegations of assault against former partner Kristen Dunne-Powell were made public by the Dominion Post last Monday. Ms Dunne-Powell was allegedly paid more than $150,00 by Veitch to keep quiet about the incident, which has now incurred investigations by both the police and the government.
Neil Waka will fill in for Williams on Breakfast and One News at Midday until he returns from Beijing.
Well for about 5 minutes anyway...
Sky's free-to-air channel PRIME accidentally broadcast content from hardcore pornography channel SPICE: Xcess at 3.00pm this afternoon during Toyota Grassroots Rugby. Blogger 'Lucas73' from Throng says that "the channel played hardcore porn scenes for a few minutes until the XXX movie "Desperate Blackwives 2" began playing". This continued for approximately 5 minutes, until being replaced by a static Sky logo.This can only be described as a disastrous mistake for Sky and PRIME, and considering the recent feuds between Sky and other networks such as TVNZ, it will be interesting to see the media responses.UPDATE:
On tonight's PRIME NEWS, Eric Young apologised on behalf of Sky.
TV3 reports their newsroom was "flooded" with calls regarding the issue.
Broadcasting Standards Authority say that in the most severe case PRIME could be taken off air for a period of time, as was the case for Alt TV earlier this year.
CTV8, part of WTV, have signed up to join Freeview from 2009, making them New Zealand's first free-to-air national Chinese programming channel.
