Michael Jackson memorial live on both TV One and TV3

New Zealanders will have their choice this Wednesday morning, with both TV One and TV3 planning to provide live coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial service from 5.00am.

TVNZ's broadcast of the Los Angeles memorial will be hosted by Breakfast presenters Ali Mau and Paul Henry, and will run through until 9.00am. TV3's will likely be introduced by Sunrise hosts Carly Flynn and Oliver Driver. Although one does hope the networks will not have "hosts" speaking too much throughout the service.

E! Entertainment Channel will also provide live coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial on Sky channel 11.

The service will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angles, and 11,000 free tickets were given out to fans. A further 6,500 tickets were available for fans watch the service live on the big screen across the road at the Nokia Theatre.

Jackson family spokesperson Ken Sunshine said that "everything about the memorial has to do with accommodating as many fans as possible. It is all about the fans."

Comedy Central begins on Sky

Comedy Central went live on Sky channel 010 yesterday, rather fitting for April Fools day.

The channel will be run by MTV Australian & New Zealand, who also operate our MTV and Nickelodeon channels on Sky.

Although Comedy Central is perhaps the world's biggest comedy brand, this is the first time the channel has been available in the Southern Hemisphere.

The 24/7 Sky channel will feature classic comedy shows such as Frasier, The Goodies, Seinfeld, and The Young Ones as well as recent hits including 30 Rock, Entourage, and How I Met Your Mother.

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.

Tony Veitch returning to television

Disgraced broadcaster Tony Veitch is set to return to television this Wednesday after resigning from his jobs seven months ago amid allegations of assault against former partner Kristin Dunne-Powell.

Veitch will appear as a panelist on the Sky Sport show Deaker on Sport.

Host Murray Deaker believes that Veitch deserves another chance and "couldn't care less" about those who are critical of the move.

"He hasn't had any work for six months and the case is many months away from being heard so, in my opinion, it's time he got back on the horse again."

Deaker on Sport screens at 8.30pm Wednesday on Sky Sport 2.

Kiwi head of news at BBC World News

BBC World News has really been getting a Kiwi feel to it lately. First there was a haka performed live on air this week, and now the announcement that a New Zealander has been appointed head of news at the network.

Andrew Roy, 49, has been made head of news after 20 years at the network. He had previously been the deputy head of news

Roy, originally from Christchurch, studied journalism in Timaru and began his career at Radio New Zealand.

BBC World News reaches an estimated 76 million viewers worldwide.

Andrew Roy's appointment as head of news made the headlines in Britain for being accidentaly leaked by his boss on internet site Twitter. English tabloid The Sun ran the headline "Bumbling BBC Chief in Tweet Gaffe".

Former Juice TV presenter joins Shortland Street cast

The Juice TV presenter formerly known as "Verge" has joined the cast of TV2 soap Shortland Street.

Virginie Le Brun began filming as new head of surgery Dr Gabrielle Jacobs a few weeks ago and will debut on screens during March.

The character of Gabrielle Jacobs will have Aspergers Syndrom, a type of high-functioning autism that has seen her do well in her career, but not helped with her social life.

Virginie Le Brun has also featured as a presenter on kids show What Now?

ALT TV to be sold

Media sources are reporting that Oliver Driver and his other business partners are looking to sell alternative music channel ALT TV.

Driver and the three other 25 per cent shareholders - founder Thane Kirby, Ricky Newby and former Sky Entertainment corporate boss David Kennedy - are reportedly already in talks with an interested party.

ALT TV began on a weak UHF frequency in Auckland but gained popularity when moving onto the Sky platform. There are also still talks to include ALT TV on Freeview.

ALT TV often gained media interest due to controversial interviews, as well as the introduction of the naked newsreader Lisa Lewis (pictured right).

The group are adamant that there are no financial issues surrounding their departure from the channel, but that they are simply moving on to new ventures.

Founder Thane Kirby is to become programme director at dance radio station George FM.

Oliver Driver is the co-presenter of TV3's morning current affairs show Sunrise.

Looking back on 2008

2008 is gone, and the new year has arrived! Media Fetish will be better than ever in 2009, but to kick things off let's look back at some of our most popular stories of the previous year.

July 2008
PRIME accidentally screened hardcore pornography during it's Grassroots Rugby show.
Tony Veitch resigned from TVNZ and was replaced by Peter Williams for their Olympic coverage.
Jay Leno announced he will be leaving the Tonight show in the US.
TVNZ changed the name of their election coverage to Election 08 after Decision 08 also appear on TV3.

August 2008
Another error by ISP Slingshot saw customers lose their privacy on sites such as Bebo, Facebook and Trademe.
TelstraClear entered the NZ cellphone market.
The Beijing Olympics were criticised for fake child singers and fireworks but Kiwis tuned in by the millions.
News of a gold medal win for NZ was screened by TV3 before TV One, despite One being the Olympic broadcaster.

September 2008
TV3 revealed great new sets for their news and current affairs shows.
Peter Williams joined Bernadine Oliver-Kirby as a weekend presenter for One News.
Allyson Gofton announced she is leaving Food in a Minute in January.
TV3 cancelled their leaders debate.

October 2008
Oliver Driver replaced James Coleman on Sunrise.
One News reporter Hannah Hodson physically fought with Pink's staff over an interview tape.
Campbell Live was in hot water over the staged medal thief interview.

November 2008
Freeview announced the launch of a digital recorder - myfreeview.
TV3 confirmed New Zealand's Next Top Model.
TV3 announced the 2009 launch of a +1 channel on Freeview.
Hannah Hodson resigned from TVNZ following the Pink incident.

December 2008
The Goodnight Kiwi returned to TVNZ for a series of holiday idents.
Sky announced the April 2009 launch of The Comedy Channel.
For the first time, a complaint was upheld by the BSA over a Shortland Street love scene.
One News reporter Barbara Dreaver was sent packing from Fiji.

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.

Comedy Central to launch on Sky for April Fools

Sky is finally launching a dedicated comedy channel, which will be run by MTV Australia and New Zealand.

Comedy Central will launch on Sky channel 10 on April 1st 2009, and will run 24/7.

The new channel will feature animation, stand-up comedy, and sitcoms aimed at a demographic of 18-54. Some of the shows named for Comedy Central include South Park, The Colbert Report, Reno 911 and Chappelle’s Show.

Chris Keely General Manager for MTV Networks NZ said: "The launch of Comedy Central delivers good news for our NZ viewers and a business growth story which are currently are few and far between. With our platform partner Sky Television we are fortunate to be able to introduce the worlds top comedy brand to the NZ Market for the very first time."

The launch of Comedy Central will be managed Hilary Coe, former director of the NZ Comedy Festival.

Over half of New Zealand watching digital TV

A recent report commissioned by NZ On Air has announced that around 55% of New Zealand households are now watching digital television.

This figure is made up of 45% who use Sky TV and 10% who use Freeview.

The Government has said that they will announce the date they will switch off the analogue television transmission in either 2012 or when 75% of the country are watching digital television, whichever comes first.

The future of digital television is becoming more of a reality every day - you only need to flick through your latest Noel Leeming catalogue to see that a large number of new televisions are coming with FreeviewHD built in!

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.

The Country Channel launches on Sky

The Country Channel, a dedicated farming news, information and lifestyle television channel, is to be launched on Sky digital channel 99 on Monday 1st October.

The Country Channel will will feature daily updates on new farming products and systems as well as rural based news and lifestyle shows. Farmgate, a one-hour daily news and information show, will be the centrepiece of programming on the channel with 20-minute sponsored slots inside the show being available to businesses and organisations. The channel will include other local programming and previously unseen shows from sources such as the BBC, ABC Australia and the PBS Network from the U.S.

The channel will be included in Sky's start-up package for the month of October.

Protesters denounce FOX News coverage as racist

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.

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.

Battle of the boxes: TVNZ vs. Sky

The contract between TVNZ and Sky TV which sees TV ONE and TV2 broadcast on the pay-tv network is due to expire in 2011 - so what does this mean for the fate of New Zealand's two most watched channels?

TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said last year that the state broadcaster had made no commitments beyond 2011, but there have been rumours circulating recently that the channels will be pulled from the Sky platform in order to make Freeview more attractive to potential customers. The government has announced that the date for the switch off of the analogue TV service will be announced either when 75% of the country receives digital television or in 2012 - whichever comes first. This means that by about 2015 viewers will need either Sky TV or Freeview in order to continue to watch television - including the free-to-air channels.

The recent war between TVNZ and Sky over the rights to airing sports games has seen the rift between the two companies increase even further. Sky's digital service currently reaches 47% of the New Zealand audience, while Freeview reaches only 6%. Many see Sky's continued success based largely on their sports coverage. If TVNZ are not successful in gaining the rights to popluar sports games for Freeview, their next best move may be to restrict access to TV ONE and TV2 - the two channels that consistently gain the best ratings in the country.

Sky TV currently gets to screen TV ONE and TV2 for free, so some have also suggested that rather than pulling them completely, TVNZ will renegotiate the contract to see Sky paying a fee if it wants to continue with the channels as part of it's digital service. This move may be best for TVNZ, because until Freeview's viewership numbers increase dramatically, removal of TV ONE and TV2 from the Sky platform could end up as a ratings suicide.