Media Fetish

TV3 have cancelled their Decision 08 leaders debate, scheduled for October 9, after John Key and Helen Clark made a joint decision not to appear in any debates with the leaders of the minor parties.

TV3 said today that a debate without the two main leaders was not viable and that they are considering screening a head-to-head debate between Key and Clark at a later date.

The leaders of the minor parties and other commentators are of course furious and believe that the move is both anti-MMP and anti-democratic.

ACT leader Rodney Hide says that TV3 should get tough and stand their ground as he believes the idea that anyone who wants to be Prime Minister can dictate to TV networks is disgusting.

In a shocking announcement, TV3 has revealed James Coleman is leaving the morning show Sunrise effective immediately.

Coleman has presented the show alongside Carly Flynn since it began in October 2007.

I’ve been with the show for a year now and I feel that it’s an appropriate time to pursue some exciting new opportunities that have arisen within MediaWorks, both in radio and television, Coleman said in a media release.

Will a change of presenter have a positive effect on the shows ratings? One agency puts Sunrises ratings at around 30,000 while its rival Breakfast has been receiving 140,000.

Ali Ikram will present the show with Flynn until an announcement regarding a permanent host will be made in the coming weeks.

I know, its a bit cheeky calling this a flashback so soon, but here is the previous version of 3 News for your comparison.

Due to the recent success of Michael Wilsons business coverage during Sunrise and 3 News at 12, TV3 are expanding ASB Business to a half hour show starting Monday 6 October at 6.30am.

Tonight was the first time I have seen a presenter on Nightline standing up before a segment in the new 3 News set! I thought it looked quite good.

Check it out below and share your thoughts.

The NZ Herald reported today that Allyson Gofton will be leaving the famous Watties cooking advertorial Food in a Minute next year in order to spend more time with her family.

Watties will begin searching for a new host next week and Gofton says her replacement does not need any professional cooking or TV training, but does need to have a desire to cook for the average New Zealander and not mind using the most basic ingredients to do so.

Allyson Gofton has presented Food in a Minute directly before One News for the past 12 years.

Gofton will present her final Minute in late January of next year.

From next week TV2 plans to move the American teen drama Gossip Girl from its 8.30pm slot to the later time of 10.30pm.

From this Saturday onwards Peter Williams will join Bernadine Oliver-Kerby as part of the weekend presenting team for One News at 6pm.

The 2003-2004 look for One News at Midday. Some regard the techno-music filled orange period as the best ever for the TVNZ bulletin. I wouldnt argue with them.

This then sees the two major parties offering this right-wing kingmaker positions such as MP for Queenstown and MP for Mens Affairs in order to try and win him over.

Find out more about Dennis Plant MP at futurenewzealand.co.nz, and be watching TV One this Sunday at 10.00pm for the season premiere of The Pretender.

It looks as though the background on 3 News has had some darker elements added to it tonight - do you agree? Perhaps the TV3 team has been reading comments online, as various bloggers commented that the background needed to be slightly busier.

All they need to do is change background colour of the LIVE button and other similar text and everything will be perfect!

TVNZ have today announced a deal with Disney-ABC International Television to make some of the top US shows available free of charge to New Zealanders via TVNZ ondemand.

The shows will be available online 12 hours after their broadcast in New Zealand and will remain available for a further 28 days. In order to keep them free of charge, the shows will be supported by advertisements.

TVNZ ondemand kicked off the new service with the first four episodes of hit new show Private Practice.

Other ABC shows that will now be available online in New Zealand include Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives, Eli Stone, Brothers & Sisters, Dirt, Greys Anatomy, Samantha Who?, Scrubs, and Criminal Minds.

The brand new TV3 set has now been completely revealed and I must say that it is pretty impressive.

The new set is excellent and really does fit the ultra-modern description given by TV3s director of news and current affairs Mark Jennings. Presenters sit at the same long glass-top desk in each show, and you are able to see under the bottom half of the desk - no getting away with wearing jeans now guys! It seems that the same desk is used for both 3 News and Sunrise, and the couch area of Sunrise transforms into the Campbell Live set at night. However, with clever background changes it doesnt look as blatantly obvious that they are using the same set as it did with the previous one. The wide shot of the set at the beginning of 3 News at 6pm looks amazing!

Sunrise and Campbell Live have kept the same graphics and they suit the new set perfectly fine. 3 News has completely updated theirs, however in my opinion the graphics have really let down the makeover. The set looks perfect but the graphics look like they have been created in >
Overall, the new set is perfect and is a real improvement yet it is let down by a poor graphics package for 3 News. Sunrise and Campbell Live seem to have come out as the major winners in the change of appearance - my absolute favourite part was the interactive screen John used on Campbell Live. Check out the screen shots I took below:

3 NEWS & CAMPBELL LIVE RELAUNCH:

SUNRISE RELAUNCH:


3 NEWS AT 12 RELAUNCH:

Courtesy of dannewsvideo.

We have now had our first look at the relaunch of 3 News, and there have been mixed reactions.

The set looks great, as we found out this morning with Sunrise, and the opening graphics and theme music were quite good. However the new straps look a little unprofessional in my opinion, and the colouration is a little too harsh - particularly that lime green! Perhaps we just a little time to adjust to the new look.

It will be interesting to see how 3 News at 6pm is presented, especially in terms of camera work as we did not seem to be shown that many wide shots of the set in 3 News at 12.

TV3 have unveiled their new set this morning with a very flash looking Sunrise.

I must say I am pretty impressed so far! The backdrop behind Carly and James at the main desk gives the impression that they are in front of a big window overlooking the city, and there is a new couch area to the left of the Sunrise desk with a white couch and dark orange backdrop. Sacha and Rod now both sit to the right of the two main hosts. One thing I was a bit worried about was the fact that you would be able to see underneath the bottom hald of the desk, however it didnt look so bad on screen. ASB Business also looked good in the new Sunrise area - so good that I thought it was in a different part of the studio to begin with.

Interestingly, they have not changed the graphics package for Sunrise and the presenter lineup has remained the same despite many rumours Carly Flynn would be replaced with Jacquie Brown or Petra Bagust.

The wait is finally over - the new ultra-modern 3 News set is to be unveiled on Monday 15th September, and Im sure viewers arent the only ones excited.

The old 3 News set was recreated in a smaller studio for presenters to read the news from over the past few weeks, however it was so small that sections including the weather, Campbell Live and Sunrise were filmed in other various areas of the building - including the loading bay.

Weather presenter Juliet McVeigh wrote in her TV3 blog that one night during the construction she was making her way back to the weather green screen from the part of the building Dobbo was presenting the sports from only to find herself locked between two roller doors.

The TV3 presenters will be happy to know that from tomorrow they will all be in the same room again. We will have a big long continuous desk which all our presenters will sit at. Were not going to have different people in different parts of the studio; everybody will be at the same desk, says TV3s director of news and current affairs Mark Jennings. Were moved away from what we have traditionally had... we have gone completely modern.

The new 3 News set is said to have cost around one million dollars, but Jennings says it will pay off as refreshing the look of the show is vital.

The set is a factor in terms of your credibility. If you dont have the right people there it doesnt matter how much money you spend... But if you have the right team and put them in the right set it does have an impact on the ratings. We like to think of ourselves as a cutting edge news service ... we want to be seen as innovative and modern and this new set very much fits that image.

Media Fetish will have more on the new look when it is unveiled tomorrow.

The Qantas Film and Television Awards were handed out last night, and for the second year running One News took away the top prize of Best News.

TVNZs news and current affairs team took away eight of the 11 news and current affairs awards, including Best News or Current Affairs Presenter for Mark Sainsbury and Best News Report for Lisa Owen.

TV Ones head of news, Anthony Flannery told the NZ Herald that its been a reward for a lot of hard work from everyone around the place.

TV3s Sarah Hall, Paula Penfold, George Murahidy and Catherine Hallinan took away the trophy for Best Current Affairs Reporting for their work on 60 Minutes.

TV3 also took away eight trophies for the popular Outrageous Fortune, including awards for best actor and actress to Antony Starr and Robyn Malcolm. Best supporting actor and actress went to Tammy Davis and Antonia Prebble.

The awards ceremony was not without a little bit of on-stage bickering between TVNZ and TV3. Mike McRoberts joked to Pippa Wetzell that her show Breakfast had been turning into presenter idol, and Simon Dallow gloated to Hillary Barry that two of TV3s sports presenters - Shaun Summerfield and Howard Dobson - had applied to the top job on One News.

Shortland Street before they screened. This Fridays episode has still not yet screened, so Media Fetish brings to you the following spoiler:

Callum arrives back at work, and is awkwardly forced to maintain the pretence of Justines death. When Chris puts aside his rivalry with Callum to offer his personal condolences, Callum realises how hard it will be to endure peoples undeserved sympathy.

Similarly, Hunter arrives at work and is taken off-guard by Kierans expectation that he be in mourning. Chris is outraged that Scott-Spear have killed another friend and colleague, and he vows to Sarah that he will do everything he can to bring them to justice.

But Sarah now fears for her own life, and warns Chris that anyone who has come close to exposing Scott-Spear has ended up dead.

Back at the I.V, Geralds heart goes out to Hunter when he sees Hunter being jovial with a customer, and assumes Hunter is in deep denial. Morgan is concerned when Gerald updates her on Hunters strange mood.

Arriving home, Hunters relief about being out of the public eye is short-lived when Morgan arrives, and he has to fake grief. Morgan consoles Hunter, and in a moment of upset about Justines absence, Hunter kisses Morgan.

Brooke is concerned for a grief-weary Chris, and offers to cook dinner for him at his home. He is grateful for the company. Ethan overhears Brookes offer, and is quietly jealous.

Tracey warns Kip that Brooke is in some kind of weird and secret relationship with Ethan. Kip is troubled, but his concern is eclipsed by Sarahs announcement that Justine is dead.

Before Kip and Tracey can ask further questions, she orders them to focus on their new patient - a woman called Jacqui whose face has been disfigured by Botox.

Jacqui reveals that the doctor who wrecked her face is Brooke Freeman. Kip is surprised to confirm this with Brooke, who is privately distressed at her alleged incompetence. She insists on seeing Jacqui immediately.

Brooke feels terrible when a guilty Jacqui worries about being caught-out and rejects her assistance. Ethan is determined to help when Brooke frets about losing her job.

Kip is impressed when Ethan unearths Jacquis secret - shes been double-dosing on Botox. Brooke is grateful, but Ethan forces her to cancel her date with Chris as payment.

Maia deliberately assigns Tania to the Whitetails assault victim, Mrs Norton, hoping to confront Tania with the violent truth about her boyfriend.

Although Tania defends Kingi, she is left privately shaken. Determined to help Tania, the Jeffries women give Kingi an ultimatum - give up the gang, or give up Tania.

Tania is furious when Kingi breaks up with her - thanks to her family. The Jeffries women feel theyve helped Tania, despite her angry outburst over their meddling in her relationship.

Here they are - what all Shortland Street fans have been waiting for - the new opening credits! You can see them on screen from Monday 8th September.

TV3s original ident from its launch in 1989 - Come home to the feeling, only on 3.