Prime News Special

Branching out from just being first at 5.30, Prime News is holding a special bulletin this Tuesday at 7.30pm.

Entitled "Australian Bushfires - The Aftermath", the special will be hosted by Eric Young and discuss stories of survival and tragedy through the disaster. It will also look at what is next for the residents of Australia, and what New Zealand can do to help.

The special sounds very similar to what One News has done in the past, and it is good to see Prime putting more emphasis on their news and branching out from just the 5.30 format.

Super Bowl interrupted by porn; PRIME anyone?

While the world is busy talking about Jennifer Hudson's fantastic rendition of the American national anthem, some residents of Tucson, Arizona will still have their minds on a different kind of entertainment seen during this years Super Bowl.

About 10 seconds of pornographic material, reportedly known as 18 'n' Up Wet Poons, was broadcast during KVOA-TV's Super Bowl coverage to viewers who receive the channel through Comcast's SD cable feed.

The pornographic interlude came within the final minutes of the game.

KVOA-TV says that their feed was sent out without any interruptions. Comcast has admitted their standard definition feed did cause the interruption and already have engineers seeking to find the cause.

A similar incident occurred on New Zealand's own PRIME channel last year, when the hardcore porn film Desperate Blackwives 2 interrupted the Grassroots Rugby show for several minutes.

PRIME's Fifty Years of Television in NZ

NZ On Air has allocated over $1 million to Fifty Years of Television in New Zealand, a seven-part documentary series celebrating the growth of television in NZ since it's introduction in 1960.

The series will screen on PRIME in 2010.

"It's a comprehensive overview of how television has evolved in New Zealand. From news and information to drama and comedy, sport, music and variety shows – even Telethons! It's all there, and it's all us. Some of it will make us laugh, now, but there is also so very much to be proud of," says NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson.

The documentary will be produced by John Bates for Cream Media Ltd.

Many bloggers have been saying that the fiftieth anniversary celebrations for NZ TV should be on TVNZ as it has been there for the whole ride, with PRIME only being around for 12 of the 50 years. However I tend to agree with the point that since most of the series will not involve PRIME the show will have less network bias.

TVNZ are likely to have their own celebration that focuses on their own achievements.

TV channels unite for Rugby World Cup

The NZ Herald reported this morning that peace has broken out between Sky and the free-to-air channels over the rights to the 2011 Rugby World Cup that is to be held in New Zealand.

The Herald stated that TVNZ, TV3 and Sky are jointly negotiating with the International Rugby Board to share the screening rights in 2011, which would mean more free coverage over a range of channels. Sky and TV3 confirmed they are negotiating over the rights, but would not comment on the joint approach. No word from TVNZ.

There has been tension lately between the free-to-air broadcasters and Sky due to the fact that a lack of Government regulation means Sky can use its financial superiority to outbid the other networks for major sports events.

The market dominance now held by Sky for national sporting events has prompted the Government to review broadcasting rules and look at placing controls over the way Sky can purchase programming.

There is no doubt that the sudden partnership between Sky, TV3 and TVNZ is in part an attempt by Sky to paint itself in a more positive light in front of the Government's review.

PRIME: Xcess - free-to-air channel screens hardcore porn

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.