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."

Winston Peters to appear on tomorrow's Q+A

Winston Peters has committed to an appearance on TVNZ political show Q+A tomorrow morning.

This will be the NZ First leaders first public appearance since his defeat on the 2008 election night.

Q+A screens at 9.00am Sunday morning on TV One and is hosted by Paul Holmes, Therese Arseneau, and Guyon Espiner.

Is Jason Gunn losing his touch?

It has been reported that Jason Gunn's Classic Hits radio show in Christchurch has lost a third of it's audience in the last year.

The 97.7FM breakfast show is down 33 per cent from last year, which is a drop from 21,200 listeners to just 14,100.

Gunn says that he does not pay too much attention to ratings, adding that creating a new show is "not an overnight thing and I'm not resting on my laurels. We are doing things that have never been done before. The best things take time."

Despite Gunn's insistence that the ratings are not the most important thing, bosses in the radio industry do measure a lot of their success on these audience research findings.

This news comes as Jason Gunn's shows The Rich List and Wheel of Fortune have been cancelled by TVNZ.

Breakfast found to be unbalanced

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has upheld a complaint about the unbalanced airing of "the reactionary views of an unqualified right wing individual" by TVNZ's Breakfast show.

A viewer lodged the complaint after an interview last December of Sensible Sentencing Trust's Garth McVicar.

During the discussion, Mr McVicar criticised the leniency of a 21-month prison sentence given to a gun collector convicted of illegally selling his large gun collection, saying the judge had "got it wrong".

Complainant Roger Brooking said: "No attempt was made to present the other side of the argument on sentencing and law and order issues."

The interview enabled Mr McVicar to "repeatedly air his right wing populist views about law and order, generally criticise judges for being too lenient on criminals and expound his belief this fails to send a message of deterrence to other criminals in the community".

Mr Brooking said a lawyer or a criminologist should also have been interviewed and it was inappropriate for the broadcaster to present "the reactionary views of an unqualified right wing individual as if he was the oracle of sentencing law". He also said the presenters expressed sympathy for Mr McVicar's views.

TVNZ refused to uphold his initial complaint, saying it had already balanced the story across its other shows.

However, in its decision, the authority said none of the items the broadcaster referred to offered any balance to the McVicar interview.

It found TVNZ breached the requirement for balance by providing only one viewpoint when discussing a controversial issue of public importance.

TVNZ defends Wendy Petrie after fist pump

A recent One News fault allowed viewers to see Wendy Petrie "fist pumping" after a live cross during the David Bain coverage.

Rumours are now circulating that Petrie will be called into a disciplinary meeting with TVNZ and that she has also threatened to have the accounts of the Youtube users who uploaded the clip deleted.

However a TVNZ spokesperson has dismissed both of these rumours, saying that it was not Petrie's fault and that technical staff failed to activate the switch to stop the broadcast after the cross to the studio had finished.

Video: Paul Henry: Moustache Gate

TV3 plan to revive Agenda

TV3 have confirmed that they are planning their own political show in an attempt to force TVNZ's Q+A off the air.

Funds for Q+A end in June and this is when TV3 are proposing to launch their own show, meaning that both shows will have to compete for NZ On Air funding.

"NZ On Air will have to decide whether it will fund Q+A or whether they fund ours. My pick is there won't be two political shows," said TV3 news and current affairs director Mark Jennings.

Making things even more interesting is the announcement that TV3's show will be called Agenda - the show TVNZ dumped in favour of Q+A.

Richard Harman, former producer of TVNZ's Agenda, approached TV3 as soon as his show was dumped by the state broadcaster. TVNZ recently decided to replace Agenda with Q+A so that they could produce it in-house.

TV3 say that their political editor Duncan Garner will most definitely be involved if their version of Agenda goes ahead, and that they will also approach Radio New Zealand's Morning Report presenter Sean Plunket to be co-host.

Q+A is presented by Paul Holmes, Therese Arseneau, and TVNZ political editor Guyon Espiner.

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?

Edie Britt leaves Wisteria Lane again

Not long after revealing two main characters are being written out of Grey's Anatomy, we can now also report that Nicollette Sheridan is leaving Desperate Housewives.

Sheridan plays controversial neighbour Edie Britt in the hit ABC series.

Unlike the Grey's announcement, this one was confirmed by the ABC network itself, but no details were given about when or why the departure will take place.

Sheridan's character left Wisteria Lane during the 2008 season of Desperate Housewives but returned for the 2009 season when the show had moved five years into the future.

It is being speculated the character of Edie will be killed off this time.

George and Izzie to leave Grey's Anatomy?

In what is probably a bit of a blunder, a co-star of TV2's Grey's Anatomy has told the media that Katherine Heigl (Izzie) and T.R. Knight (George) are leaving the show.

James Pickens Jr, who plays Richard, recently revealed this to Us Weekly magazine, also alluding to the fact that Knight is leaving the show of his own accord.

Publicists for the show and the actors are keeping quiet on this one - know knows, maybe Pickens Jr. has just lined himself up to be the next one on the chopping block.

TVNZ's Kate McCallum cleared of superbug

Close Up producer Kate McCallum tested positive for the superbug MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) while working undercover in an Auckland rest home in January.

TVNZ are now reporting that Kate has been cleared of the superbug after successfully completing a course of prescribed medication.

It turned out that the residents of that rest home weren't the only ones not being cared for. As a new staff member, Kate was not informed that several patients had MRSA until after her first day on the job, and was also not informed of the proper safety precautions that should have been taken.

TV news ratings for February 2, 2009

The following is the television news show viewership for Monday February 2, 2009.

TVNZ / TV3
NZI Business - 30,270 / ASB Business - 5,400
Breakfast - 108,630 / Sunrise - 24,740
One News Midday - 104,380/ 3 News at 12 - 31,060
One News - 617,020 / 3 News - 335,310
Close Up - 497,270 / Campbell Live - 170,910
Tonight - 108,100 / Nightline - 165,020

Source: AGB NMR (Measurement: All people 5 years and over - average audience nationwide)

New look for Te Karere

Today marks the 25th anniversay for TVNZ's Maori language news bulletin Te Karere. To celebrate this milestone Te Karere was given a complete makeover, with new graphics, new music and a new set.

Te Karere is now broadcast from the One News set, and in a way this shows the network giving the bulletin more importance. It was also extended to a half-hour bulletin from today and for the first time features the weather in Maori.

It was odd not having the usual Te Karere theme music, but I do like this new mix. However the new music does remind me of 3 News just a bit...

For the very first time I can actually say that all the wood on the One News set looks good with the other colours being used!

TV news ratings for January 30, 2009

The following is the television news show viewership for Friday January 30, 2009.

TVNZ / TV3
NZI Business - 20,200 / ASB Business - 5,440
Breakfast - 99,420 / Sunrise - 31,210
One News Midday - 85,240/ 3 News at 12 - 64,610
One News - 466,450 / 3 News - 307,300
Close Up - 355,640 / Campbell Live - 175,340
Tonight - 193,740 / Nightline - 127,820

Source: AGB NMR (Measurement: All people 5 years and over - average audience nationwide)

Te Karere on air for 25 years

TVNZ's Maori language news bulletin Te Karere will celebrate 25 years on air next week.

The milestone for Maori broadcasting will be marked on Monday with new opening titles and a brand new set. The new set could possibly be shared with One News or Breakfast/Close Up.

Te Karere began as a 2 minute news update in Maori language week, but from Monday for the first time will become a full half-hour news service. The bulletin will now also feature a weather section.

The new-look Te Karere begins on Monday at the new time of 4pm and will be watched by a number of former staff members and other guests invited to celebrate at the TVNZ building in Auckland.

TVNZ announces Hannah Hodson's replacement

TVNZ have announced that former One News reporter Steve Marshall will rejoin the team as the new Australian Correspondent.

He arrives as the permanent replacement for Hannah Hodson, who resigned from the position after an altercation with pop star Pink and her management in 2008.

Marshall began working for One News in 1996, and in 2000 moved from the Auckland newsroom to the Sydney bureau. He stayed with TVNZ until 2003 when he left for the Australian ABC network.

For the past three years Marshall has been working as the ABC's foreign correspondent based in Papua New Guinea - a role considered the ABC's toughest posting.

Marshall has broken a number of exclusive stories including the West Papua Boat people and the Australian soldier hangings. It is stories like these that led to him winning a prestigious international journalism award.

He will begin his two year stint back at TVNZ in March.

News ratings for January 29, 2009

The following is the television news show viewership for Thursday January 29, 2009.

TVNZ / TV3
NZI Business - 24,660 / ASB Business - 9,240
Breakfast - 107,340 / Sunrise - 25,670
One News Midday - 119,990/ 3 News at 12 - 35,360
One News - 548,310 / 3 News - 297,570
Close Up - 442,830 / Campbell Live - 188,050
Tonight - 185,550 / Nightline - 91,640

Source: AGB NMR (Measurement: All people 5 years and over - average audience nationwide)

TV Guide's Shortland Street spoiler - Maia Jeffries killed Ethan Pierce

In a suprising move, the TV Guide has today revealed that it was nurse Maia Jeffries (Anna Julienne) who shot surgeon Ethan Pierce (Owen Black) dead in last year's season finale of TV2's Shortland Street.

The TV Guide says that in tonight's episode of Shortland Street Alice Piper (Toni Potter) will undergo hypnotherapy that reveals Maia was the shooter. Alice had previously been unable to remember who else was at the house as she was extremely intoxicated at the time.

In a Media Fetish poll, Maia was the third choice as Ethan's killer - after Brooke Freeman (Beth Allen) and Alice.

The story features the warning "Caution! Spoiler Alert" in the top left corner, however many fans are now expressing their annoyance at the article for ruining the storyline, as the small message in the corner could hardly stop a reader from realising what the article is about (see image above).

It was an interesting move by the TV Guide, and it is not yet clear whether it was a publicity stunt arranged with TVNZ, or if the magazine went against the wishes of the broadcaster in order to increase their own sales.

The character of Maia is still featured in the shows synopsis over the next few weeks, so soap fans who were expecting to see the killer dragged away in chains this week will have to keep waiting!

News ratings for January 28, 2009

The following is the television news show viewership for Wednesday January 28, 2009.

TVNZ / TV3
NZI Business - 27,710 / ASB Business - 13,270
Breakfast - 125,390 / Sunrise - 29,340
One News Midday - 96,550/ 3 News at 12 - 40,600
One News - 543,780 / 3 News - 313,190
Close Up - 370,460 / Campbell Live - 175,430
Tonight - 185,460 / Nightline - 123,180

Source: AGB NMR (Measurement: All people 5 years and over - average audience nationwide)

Video: TV2's 2009 new season ident

Here is the ident for TV2's 2009 new season. The international segments from the ad have been taken from ABC's Fall 2008 promo in the United States, but I must say it is an excellent advertisement - probably one of the best that TVNZ has ever had. They are extremely lucky that ABC made an ident that could be morphed into their own.

Thanks to YouTube's KangaAriki.