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Freehand appoints Head of Factual
Freehand Productions, which has produced such shows as Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear Australia, Escape from Scorpion Island, and Missing Persons Unit, has announced the appointment of Paul Rudd to the role of Head of Factual Programmes.
Rudd came to Freehand to help create The Nest and has been an Executive Producer at the Nine Network and Film Australia. His credits include RPA, Enough Rope, Getaway, Colour Of War and Captain Cook – Obsession and Discovery. He has 20 years of producing television for Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and UK media …
Industry identity in health fight
Industry identity Sandra Levy, who has been an executive at both the ABC and Channel Nine, is taking leave from her current role as the head of the Australian Film Television and Radio School to battle a benign brain tumour.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald Ms Levy advised staff said she had been diagnosed with ”a non-life-threatening benign brain tumour” and is expected to be on leave for about six weeks.
”I am assured by the surgeon that the location of the tumour is well placed and consequently the complexity of the …
Hungry Beast team revealed
Dan Ilic is one of the 7 on air presenters in Hungry Beast the new media project from Andrew Denton and Anita Jacoby.
Ilic, remembered from his role in The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, is known for his savvy and satirical digs at the wider media including his now infamous Freeview parody on YouTube and as a writer of the fringe theatre piece ‘Beaconsfield The Musical.’
The seven who are fronting the ABC series are aged from 20 to 28 years old and have diverse backgrounds and experiences in media, journalism, documentary, radio, …
Airdate: Hungry Beast
Following TV Tonight’s scoop on Denton’s new show being retitled from Project NEXT to Hungry Beast, the ABC has now confirmed an airdate for the show.
A 10 x half hour series, it will be broadcast on ABC1 at 9pm, and as a daily web program, from September 30th. It will also be shown on ABC2 from Thursday October 1st at 8.30pm.
Hungry Beast will also be available on iView from midnight on September 30th.
A weekly, topical TV show and daily web program, Hungry Beast is a new look at the world …
A gold year for Rebecca
Last night Julie and Dave Rafter, Australia television’s favourite new mum and dad, decided to keep the baby.
At age 44 ‘Julie Rafter’ faces a number of health challenges that were laid out to her by a doctor, some of which could be life-threatening.
The episode capped off an extraordinary first season for the new Seven drama.
Less seriously, actress Rebecca Gibney, also 44, could be facing a challenge of her own, when the TV Week Logie nominations are announced next week.
Packed to the Rafters was one of the success stories of 2008, arguably …
A Bold start
TEN’s first primetime screening of The Bold and the Beautiful picked up a little traction, with 592,000 viewers on Monday.
That improved slightly on The Simpsons’ average of 581,000 last week and quite some ground on Bold’s average of 466,000 at 4:30pm last week.
Of course, there may well have been a curiosity factor from people wanting to know what all the fuss was about, especially those who are never home at 4:30pm.
TEN’s evening share, however, sank even further. Down to just 16.0%. Dismally, its 5pm News was the top rating show of …
Survey: We luv Australian telly
The ABC has released the results of a Newspoll survey in its campaign for increased funding from the federal government.
The survey conducted nationally for the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, found:
- 64% of Australians think the government should regulate the minimum amount of Australian programmes shown on Free to Air.
- 69% believe the government should regulate a minimum amount of Australian programming on the ABC.
- 64% believe it is important Australian programs can be accessed through new media platforms.
- 65% want increased funding for Australian children’s shows on the ABC.
- 64% …
Monday surge for SBS and ABC
Maybe it’s a sign of things to come over summer. SBS and ABC had a strong Monday.
The return of the British Top Gear came racing down the ratings freeway, attracting a whopping 1.06m viewers -third in its timeslot. Last week’s Aussie version was further down the road with 662,000 viewers. As if it didn’t already know it, that’s a clear message to SBS about the popularity of the Clarkson, Hammond and May.
SBS managed an 8.8% share for Monday, it’s best in quite a while.
ABC had some strong wins with The Howard …
You better smile. It’s Nine.
It was the week that the industry took action on piracy against an ISP, news crews were assaulted by angry locals, a regional broadcaster axed its entire news department, a court ruled regional licenses must be sold, a reality host pleaded guilty to welfare fraud, another reality show mucked up correct voting information, Screen Australia’s new CEO signalled a smoother ride for film over television, a daytime soap would be destined for primetime, the axe fell on more US shows and an old sitcom face left for the bus depot in …
Domestic Blitzes the night for Nine
Nine scored a big hit with its Domestic Blitz special last night, grabbing a huge 1.67m viewers. It thrashed both Seven and TEN, and helped the network win Monday night.
The special for Bianca Saez and her family clearly struck a chord with viewers, especially those who had seen her struggle against Tourette’s Syndrome on 60 Minutes. Anyone who saw the family home saw it was indeed falling to pieces (there were walls smashed in, and doors that you could see right through). Now the home is decked out in every modern …
TV Forums report card
Since the advent of online, television fans have had ways of letting networks know what they think. No more writing letters to newspapers, it’s as easy as logging onto a network website anonymously and speaking your mind.
TV Tonight has been looking at how our networks embrace free and open discussion. Here’s how they stacked up.
ABC:
Within the ABC site there are individual show pages, many of which have open forums. Shows including Enough Rope, Compass, Can We Help?, At The Movies, Life at 3, Good Game, Media Watch, Spicks and Specks and …
Current affairs surge at Seven
It was the week that current affairs and finance dominated. Ray Martin lamented the state of commercial news and current affairs at the same time as a former sports presenter won his first week behind a public affairs desk, a CEO lashed out at his rival networks but shot off about the starting date of his new current affairs project, while the network signed a former Sunday journo, TEN reported a 25% slump in earnings, a Telstra boss said Foxtel subscriptions were slowing, another Murdoch stitched up a production deal with …