Channel Nine's blog

Fourteen weeks of hot competition await viewers in the Wide World of Sports international summer of cricket on Channel Nine.

Wide World of Sports will broadcast all the action from the Vodafone Test Series, Commonwealth Bank One-Day Series and KFC Twenty20 Internationals, beginning live on Nine this Thursday, December 1.

As Australian cricket goes through a rebuilding phase with a new coach, new selectors, new players, and Michael Clarke captaining his first home series, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka are lined up to do battle this summer.

The Vodafone Test Series opens the summer of cricket on Thursday at the Gabba in Brisbane when Australia and New Zealand meet, live from 10.30am AEDT. Australia will play two tests with New Zealand and four against India, including the historic Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

The KFC Twenty20 Internationals get underway with a double-header on February 1 when both the Australian men’s and women’s sides will be in action. First the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars play the New Zealand White Ferns in the women’s game live at 2.00pm, before Australia play India at 7.30pm.

The Commonwealth Bank Series of one-dayers between Australia, India and Sri Lanka starts four days later on February 5 and concludes on March 8.

The top names in the game will present Nine’s summer of cricket, led by the legendary Richie Benaud. The expert team joining him in the commentary box comprises Bill Lawry, Tony Greig, Ian Chappell, Mark Taylor, Ian Healy, Michael Slater, Mark Nicholas and James Brayshaw. Former Australian representative player Tom Moody will join Wide World of Sports’ live coverage of the One Day International series.

Star fast bowler Brett Lee will team up with Michael Slater for The Cricket Show which will appear live during lunch breaks in the Vodafone Test Series. The Cricket Show will include first-session recaps, player profiles, Master Classes, international and domestic updates, viewer emails, questions and feedback.

As well as the best commentary team in the business, the Nine Network, winner of the 2011 Logie Award for Most Outstanding Sports Broadcast, will have the latest in cricket broadcasting technology for the Wide World of Sports presentation.

Extreme Slo-Mo cameras, KFC Hotspot, Snicko, speed-gun, Bupa Eagle Eye and Heart Tracker will all return to give viewers the front-row, first-rate experience that makes the Wide World of Sports coverage unique.

This season, for the first time, viewers will be able to interact live with the cricket coverage – sharing their opinions and weighing in on debates with the commentary team in real time with the launch of Vodafone Viewers’ Verdict.

With Christmas fast approaching, Natalie Gruzlewski hosts these star-studded specials to help viewers make Christmas 2011 the best ever.

On Sunday December 4: Celebrity foodie Maggie Beer shows Gold Logie winner Karl Stefanovic how to prepare the perfect ham.

Catriona Rowntree reveals some fantastic ways to keep the younger kids occupied in the countdown to Christmas.

New dad Jules Lund teams up with The Weekly’s assistant food editor Xanthe Roberts to make a Gingerbread House the kids will love.

Superstar chef Luke Mangan cooks up an amazing country Christmas feast with Marcia Hines just in time for the arrival of hungry country music star Lee Kernaghan.

Super stylist Shannon Fricke and Emma Freedman show off three great ways to dress your Christmas tree.

Plus, Giaan Rooney, as she celebrates 23 years of Kmart’s Christmas Wishing tree which has now sourced 5 million gifts.

On Sunday, December 11 at 6.30pm, Julie & Julia: Masterchef winner Julie Goodwin gets help in the kitchen from Celebrity Apprentice winner Julia Morris in preparing a big family Christmas feast.

The Block’s Scott Cam and Livinia Nixon show how you can give something back this year and visit a Melbourne homeless shelter.

Four-time world surfing champion Stephanie Gilmour gets together with The Weekly’s food director Fran Abdallaoui to pull off a show stopping dessert.

Masterchef’s life-saving glamour boy Hayden Quinn is joined at his beach home by Sophie Falkiner for a fantastic seafood barbecue.

Giaan Rooney gets some tips on party dresses for the festive season from The Weekly’s fashion director Judith Cook. 

And pet photography tips with funny man Russell Gilbert.

Sunday, November 27 at 7.30pm on Channel Nine

Broken Hearts                                                           

Who could forget that smile? Or the amazing tale of bravery that went with it? Alisa Camplin stole our hearts when she won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Only later did we discover that she did it with two fractured ankles. But Alisa knows that broken bones are nothing. In March, her son Finnan, was born with congenital heart disease. His fight to beat his illness was as inspiring and heroic as any of his mother’s achievements.

Reporter: Allison Langdon

Producers: Stephen Taylor, Julia Timms

Eminem                                          

His real name is Marshall Mathers. But you probably know him as Eminem – that firebrand American rap star playing sold out shows in Melbourne and Sydney. Depending on your tastes, he’s either a foul-mouthed gangster wannabe or a song writing genius. But whatever you think of Eminem’s music, you have to admire his fight. Here is the poor white kid who never made it past year nine but somehow managed to claw his way to the top. And that’s not the half of it, as Anderson Cooper of American 60 Minutes discovered when he took the singer on a stroll down memory lane.

Reporter: Anderson Cooper, CBS 60 Minutes

Producer: Tanya Simon

Frozen Fortunes                                                       

Liam Bartlett wondered what on earth he’d done wrong when we packed him off to the desolate wilds of Siberia. After all, it’s not the kind of place you generally visit willingly. People used to be dragged there in chains and then worked to death. But this gigantic frozen slab of Russia is getting an image makeover. It may never rival New York or Paris as a tourist destination. But, right now, there’s a minerals boom going on that dwarfs anything that’s happening in Australia. And, if you’re an investor right now, icy Siberia is hot, hot, hot.

Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producer: Howard Sacre

Animal House, an incredible romp through nature exploring the master builders of the animal world and revealing the ingenious secrets of wildlife, premieres Sunday, November 27, at 6.30pm on Channel Nine.

It is said that you never really know a person until you enter their home. The same may be true of animals. Whether using their homes to bring up their young, for defence or shelter, nature’s amazing architects reveal their fears and intelligence as they try to build the perfect animal house.

This beautifully filmed program, narrated by the peerless Sir David Attenborough, travels the world to find extraordinary examples of the animal kingdom’s best builders – from the prairie dogs of North America to the cormorants of the Galapagos Islands.

The story starts with the most ambitious animal builder in the world – the very eager beaver. Up to a mile or more of river can be taken over by a single beaver family. Yet even their water fortress can be upset by an intruder – the pesky muskrat.

We come across prairie dogs that live in an underground colony called a “dog town”. Elsewhere, saliva finds its use as a building tool for remarkable nests of swifts perched high in the caves of jungly Borneo.

Bronzy hermit hummingbirds steal silk from spider webs to make cup-like nests where they hang their chicks. Flightless cormorants use seaweed, gathered underwater by the male who sometimes also brings in live sea urchins for nest decoration.

Many animal builders employ teamwork to build their elaborate homes. Termites provide an insight into the wonders that can be achieved, with towering architecture, air conditioning and temperature control, gardens and water wells. Scaled to human size, a termite’s home would be over 1600 metres high!

But perhaps the ultimate example of teamwork in home building is the army ant. This incredible creature constructs a “living” home from ants themselves.

From baboons that sleep in caves in Kenya to animals that never leave home, like the star-nosed mole, this engaging and intriguing film will draw you in to the secrets and surprises of unique animal homes all over the world.

Animal House: Sunday, November 27, at 6.30pm on Channel Nine

Australian music’s night of nights is set to rock GO! as the ARIA Awards celebrate 25 years in a special television event on Sunday, November 27, from 7.30pm.­

After humble beginnings at the Sheraton Wentworth in Sydney when Elton John hosted the inaugural awards, the 25th ARIAS have a grand new home, Allphones Arena, to celebrate the best of Australian music in 2011 in a gala presentation exclusive to GO!

With a star-studded list of award presenters on hand including Good Charlotte rockers Joel and Benji Madden, pop princess Delta Goodrem, Hamish and Andy, Triple J’s Tom and Alex, Erin McNaught and Adam Hills, who will come out on top? Boy and Bear, Drapht and Gotye are all nominated for seven awards on the night.

In line with the 25-year anniversary, the Australian Record Industry Association will induct more outstanding performers into the ARIA Hall of Fame, including our famous musical exports Kylie Minogue and The Wiggles.

In a world television first, Gotye and Kimbra will perform their multi-platinum song Somebody That I Used To Know, Australia’s highest selling single of the last 15 years. Boy and Bear will perform for the first time on television, and Guy Sebastian will do a medley of his hits Who’s That Girl and Don’t Worry Be Happy. In addition, there will be performances by The Living End, Cut Copy and a very special performance by Gurrumul with Missy Higgins.

Join special guests Dannii Minogue, DJ Havana Brown, Eskimo Joe, Jessica Mauboy and Natalie Bassingthwaighte as Australian music awards the standout successes of 2011.

Sunday November 20 at 6.30pm AEDT on Channel 7

THE UNSOLVED BACKPACKER MURDER

Beautiful and head-over-heels in love, she was a fun-loving kindergarten teacher on the adventure of a lifetime. Simone Strobel, 24, was backpacking around Australia with her first boyfriend – strapping German surfer Tobias Suckfuell. The couple, and two friends, stopped for the night in a caravan park in the north coast NSW town of Lismore. It was to be Simone’s last night alive. Asked to leave a local hotel, witnesses heard shouting between Simone and Tobias, and fellow campers reported a woman screaming. The next morning, Tobias and his two friends packed up and departed the camp. It was a week before Simone’s dumped body was discovered nearby. The police believe Tobias killed her; the Coroner says he is the person most likely to have committed the murder. But Tobias, who fled Australia seven years ago, has yet to be charged. Now he’s back here, living in a beachside mansion, and as Sunday Night’s Ross Coulthart reveals, refusing to talk about what happened the night Simone died.

ANTARCTICA BOYS

Two inseparable mates, they paddled into history when they became the first kayakers to successfully cross the Tasman to New Zealand. How do you top that for adventure? Well, James Castrission and Justin Jones now find themselves in an epic race that echoes one of the greatest adventures of all time. One hundred years ago Norway’s Roald Amundsen beat England’s Robert Scott to the South Pole. A broken man, Scott died on the return journey. Now, as reporter Alex Cullen discovers, the Aussie boys are going toe-to-toe with a mystery Norwegian adventurer to become the first to walk unaided – no dogs, horses or choppers – to the South Pole and back again. It’s the equivalent of walking from Sydney to Cairns in -40°C temperatures and a blizzard. Who is leading, who will win, and what happened when the adventurers came face-to-face? 

A MUTANT GENE

Coen is a teenage boy who loves life, but simply laughing could kill him. Coen has cystic fibrosis, a crippling disease given to him unknowingly by his parents, who carry a mutant gene. Coen’s younger brother was lucky. He’s a carrier of the disease but he doesn’t have the illness that will claim Coen’s life.  But if Coen has anything to do with it, he’ll be around for some time yet. This remarkable and very special young man is on the transplant list for new lungs which would give him a second chance at life.  But as he tells  reporter Tim Noonan, this could take months, even years – time he does not have. So he’s heading up a campaign to persuade people to join the organ donor list, and so far he’s signed up more than 1,000.

MATT DAMON

This week the hottest nice guy in Hollywood, Matt Damon, sits down with Rahni Sadler to talk about everything – his life, his family and memories of his best mate Heath Ledger. Matt’s new film – We Bought A Zoo – is garnering serious Oscar buzz. It’s a not to be missed interview with a box office superstar.

KD LANG

She’s one of the most successful singers in modern music, with one of the most recognisable voices. KD Lang gives Sunday Night viewers a very special intimate live performance to celebrate the end of a huge year for the show.

Shelley Craft says goodbye to another year of laughs, thrills and spills, superstar guests and musical performances in Australia’s Funniest Home Videos 2011 Grand Final on Saturday, November 26, at 6.30pm on Channel Nine.

To celebrate the end of another bumper year, teenage singing sensation and Australia’s Got Talent winner Jack Vigden will be in the studio. And bringing some magic to the finale, Harry Potter’s Weasley Twins, James and Oliver Phelps, will join Shelley to talk all things wizardry and Hogwarts.

Plus, to round out the star-studded finale, Stan Walker will perform the latest song off his new album, Light It Up.

After more than 12,000 submissions over the year by mail and, for the first time, online, Australia’s Funniest Home Videos will award the Grand Final winner chosen from six finalists with $250,000 courtesy of Pizza Hut.

Join Shelley Craft and her special lineup of guests to celebrate all the stacks, bumps, slips, trips, laughter, gags and tears as Australia’s Funniest Home Videos wraps up its 21st birthday year with a bang.

Sunday, November 13 at 7:30pm on Nine

High Stakes

Everyone knows it. Even police admit they’re fighting a losing battle against the illegal drug industry. But the war just got even harder. Right now, in Australia, you can get the potent effects of ecstasy, cocaine or cannabis straight over the counter and completely legally – thanks to the booming industry in synthetic drugs. By mimicking their illicit counterparts with clever chemistry, the drug makers can stay one step ahead of the law. And while our police and politicians play catch up, the men behind these crafty alternatives have become a new breed of drug lord – untouchable, unstoppable and very, very rich.

Reporter: Liz Hayes

Producer: Stephen Rice

Being Brad

He’s got the most confident swagger in the business. And who could blame him?  Even compared to other Hollywood stars, Brad Pitt’s life is utterly charmed. With looks that make women go weak at the knees, he shares his life with the equally stunning Angelina Jolie. Together they balance their happy brood of children with careers that go from strength to strength. But when Tara Brown spent some time with him in Tokyo this week, the man who has it all, dropped a bombshell. At the peak of his fame, the world’s biggest film star is ready to call it a day.

Reporter: Tara Brown

Producers: Stephen Taylor, Sandra Cleary

Time Bomb

Imagine a job where the slip of your finger can mean sudden death. Every day, Australia’s navy clearance divers put their lives on the line, dismantling bombs on battlefields like Afghanistan and Iraq. But lately their steady hands have been needed closer to home. In Papua New Guinea there are areas that hold deadly reminders of World War Two – bombs, mines and mortars left behind by the Japanese occupation. Just watching these guys work is heart-stopping and fascinating. Because our bomb disposal exercise became a mission of discovery.

Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producer: Nick Greenaway

High Stakes

Everyone knows it. Even police admit they’re fighting a losing battle against the illegal drug industry. But the war just got even harder. Right now, in Australia, you can get the potent effects of ecstasy, cocaine or cannabis straight over the counter and completely legally – thanks to the booming industry in synthetic drugs. By mimicking their illicit counterparts with clever chemistry, the drug makers can stay one step ahead of the law. And while our police and politicians play catch up, the men behind these crafty alternatives have become a new breed of drug lord – untouchable, unstoppable and very, very rich.
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Stephen Rice

Being Brad

He’s got the most confident swagger in the business. And who could blame him?  Even compared to other Hollywood stars, Brad Pitt’s life is utterly charmed. With looks that make women go weak at the knees, he shares his life with the equally stunning Angelina Jolie. Together they balance their happy brood of children with careers that go from strength to strength. But when Tara Brown spent some time with him in Tokyo this week, the man who has it all, dropped a bombshell. At the peak of his fame, the world’s biggest film star is ready to call it a day.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producers: Stephen Taylor, Sandra Cleary

Time Bomb

Imagine a job where the slip of your finger can mean sudden death. Every day, Australia’s navy clearance divers put their lives on the line, dismantling bombs on battlefields like Afghanistan and Iraq. But lately their steady hands have been needed closer to home. In Papua New Guinea there are areas that hold deadly reminders of World War Two – bombs, mines and mortars left behind by the Japanese occupation. Just watching these guys work is heart-stopping and fascinating. Because our bomb disposal exercise became a mission of discovery.
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producer: Nick Greenaway

60 Minutes airs on Sunday nights at 7.30pm on Channel Nine

The Nine Network has secured the broadcast rights to the Santos Tour Down Under, the pinnacle of road cycling in Australia, in a three-year deal from 2012.

Wide World of Sports will add the event to its outstanding lineup by broadcasting the Down Under Classic and all six stages of the Santos Tour Down Under from January 15 to 22, 2012, when the top professional cycling teams and the best riders in the world will compete in Adelaide.

As the first event on the UCI WorldTour calendar, the 2012 Santos Tour Down Under will showcase Australia and open the cycling year with adrenaline-charged battles on the streets of Adelaide.

The Nine Network will broadcast the final two stages LIVE and cover the Down Under Classic and the first four stages via a daily highlights package on Nine. There will also be a dedicated page for the event on the Wide World of Sports website.

Channel Nine’s Andrew Voss will host the Santos Tour Down Under for Wide World of Sports. The international voices of cycling – Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen – will provide expert roadside commentary.

Steve Crawley, Head of Sport for the Nine Network, said: “Australia has a great history of success in Olympic cycling and in an Olympic year this event will showcase some of the best Australian and international cycling talent leading into London 2012.”

Hitaf Rasheed, General Manager of Events South Australia, welcomed a new era for the State’s largest sporting festival.

“We’re excited about the new partnership with the Nine Network, who have a proven track record in the coverage of major sporting events and are the official broadcasters of the London 2012 Olympic Games,” Ms Rasheed said.