Foxtel's blog

SKY NEWS, Australia’s News Channel, will capture all the celebrations as Britain and Australia begin the official one year countdown to the London 2012 Olympics on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 from 5:30am AEST.

Reporting LIVE from London will be SKY NEWS sports reporter, Matt Shirvington.  The former Olympic track star will showcase a range of celebrations taking place all over London, as the host city prepares for its biggest sporting event. Matt will also catch up with Australian Olympic pole vault champion, Steve Hooker, on his preparations for the Games.

SKY NEWS sports reporter, James Bracey, will bring viewers all the action from Sydney’s Circular Quay – including a special update by AOC President, John Coates.  Key Australian athletes, who hope to be part of the 2012 Australian Olympic Team, will also be on hand to celebrate this landmark countdown.

Begin the One Year Countdown to the London 2012 Olympics with SKY NEWS on Wednesday, July 27 from 5:30am AEST.

Hot on the heels of its massive US debut, FOX8’s exclusive premiere of FALLING SKIES was a huge success last night, and now stands as the channel’s highest rating television drama of all time.

The much-hyped, alien invasion sci-fi starring Noah Wyle reached a combined 352,000* different people, which also makes it FOX8’s highest rating program this year.  Additionally, the premiere almost tripled FOX8’s year-to-date timeslot average.

The new Steven Spielberg series is proving to be a ratings juggernaut in the States as well, with its US premiere posting as the most-watched cable debut of the year.   TNT have just renewed FALLING SKIES for a second series, with another 10 episodes to air in the US next summer.

The premiere episode will encore today at 12.30pm, Sunday at 10.30pm and Tuesday at 3.30pm and 10.30pm (AEST), with the next installment premiering on Thursday, July 14 at 8.30pm exclusively on FOX8.

*Includes screenings on FOX8+2

FOXTEL and 111 HITS are pleased to announce Bugs Bunny, one of the most loved and iconic characters in entertainment history will return to the small screen when Toon Time hosted by Penny Mitchell and featuring Dickie Knee premieres on Monday, July 18 on 111 HITS.

Newcomer 22 year-old Penny Mitchell has had guest roles in television series Offspring Series 2 and Rush, she has also appeared in feature films including The Joe Manifesto and 6 Plots.  Penny will be ably assisted by TV puppet icon and the eternally naughty Dickie Knee voiced by John Blackman.

Alex Ristevski, 111 HITS Channel Manager said “Toon Time is a lively, fun and entertaining program aimed to appeal to both children and adults alike. It is a combination of punchy, energetic studio segments and classic cartoons. We are thrilled to introduce a vibrant new host in Penny and pleased to have Dickie Knee back where he belongs on your television screens.”

Re-live those magically moments with all your favourite character including; Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Marvin the Martian, Roadrunner, Coyote, Yosemitte Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales among others.

For all those Loony Toons and Merrie Melodies fans Toon Time will feature classic episodes  including; Duck Rabbit Duck, Duck Seasoning, Rabbit Fire, Duck Amuck, Duck Dodgers and 24 ½ Century, Bully For Bugs, What’s Opera Doc, Ali Baba Bunny, Knighty Knight Bugs, Claws For Alarm and many more.

So, on with the show! This is it!  Toon Time, weeknights at 5.30pm on 111 HITS.

The world may be ending for the characters in Steven Spielberg’s new series FALLING SKIES, but the ratings were out of this world when it premiered in the US on Sunday night.

The new alien-invasion drama starring Noah Wyle scored 5.9 million total viewers for its two-hour premiere on TNT, making it American cable’s top series launch so far this year.

The series will premiere in Australia exclusively on FOX8 on Thursday, July 7 at 8.30pm.

FALLING SKIES opens in the aftermath of a hostile alien takeover, and stars Wyle as a Boston history professor who becomes a leader in the resistance against a militaristic and merciless enemy bent on the destruction of humankind.  After suffering the loss of his wife and the capture of one of his three sons, Tom will stop at nothing to rescue his captured son and ensure the safety of his remaining family.

Highly addictive and completely outrageous, THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX had us hooked, tanned, vajazzled and even adding new words to our vocabulary, exposing the glamorous lives of Essex ladies and lads.

Now in its second series, our newly famous fake-tanned, fake-boob and fake-hair favourites are back, along with some new eye candy to create even more outrageous drama.

Following the drama filled lives of young, rich and beautiful socialites; nightclub promoter Mark and his and fashionista fiancée Lauren Goodger, aspiring singer and hopeless romantic James Argent, club owner Kirk Norcross, beautician Amy Childs, her colourful cousin Harry Debridge and glamour model Sam Faiers, plus fresh faces, yummy mummy Chloe Simms and her clueless, fashion forward cousin Joey Essex; THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX takes us into the heart of glamorous Essex, where being vajazzled is a prerequisite and a Rolex is any guys must-have accessory.

Winner of the only viewer voted award at the 2011 TV BAFTA’s, this real life docu-soap has us hooked, and if the gossip columns are anything to go by, the second series is sure to be filled with even more tears, tantrums and dramatic antics. From Mark and Lauren’s sudden engagement, to Kirk’s on and off relationship, Harry’s vivacious vocabulary and Amy’s quest to find the perfect vajazzling assistant, the people and drama are unbelievably real.

THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX series two; the bling is brighter, the tan more tandoori and the people even more ‘beautiful’ than before.

As the series kicks off, ‘love rat’ Mark is adjusting to a newly single life since breaking up with his glamorous girlfriend Lauren after 9 ½ years; part-time model and beauty therapist Amy is meant to be embracing a new relationship with nightclub owner Kirk but prefers to hang out with her cousin Harry and gossipy best friend Sam. Meanwhile, Sam is causing problems for Lauren as she relentlessly flirts and pursues Mark. With so many dramatic antics going on this docu-soap lifts the lid on what it means to be an Essex lady or lad.

The second season kicks off on July 25 at 9.30pm. 

(From a press release)

This August, FOXTEL’s W channel will present the Australian television premiere of The Borgias,  a sumptuous and sinful drama series based on the infamous Renaissance family which became the world’s most notorious dynasty.

Starring Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia/ Pope Alexander VI, The Borgias series was created, executive produced and written by Oscar winning director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview With The Vampire), who also directed the first two episodes.

Starting Monday, August 29, at 8.30pm AEST, W will premiere The Borgias over five consecutive nights and commercial free.

“W is launching The Borgias as a week-long television event to provide viewers with an excellent opportunity to immerse themselves in the splendour of this nine hour series,” said channel manager Penny Win.

Then from the following Wednesday (September 7) at 8.30pm, W will play out the series in weekly installments providing another viewing choice for subscribers. The acquisition of The Borgias further cements the W channel’s reputation as a home for quality Australian and international dramas.

“W has some outstanding contemporary drama exclusives launching in July with the second season of our local production Spirited,  the sixth season of Denis Leary’s Rescue Me and Raw, an Irish series, starring Australian actor Damon Gameau,” said Ms Win.

“There’s also a definite audience appetite for fabulous historical dramas, as we saw firsthand with the viewer response to The Pillars of the Earth mini-series on W, and The Borgias is drama on a grand scale.”

When The Borgias launched in the US in April it was their SHOWTIME network’s highest rating drama premiere in seven years. The series also out-performed the highest rating (fourth) season of The Tudors. And, a second  season, of 10 episodes, of The Borgias has been commisioned for next year. 

This first season of The Borgias tells the story of Rodrigo (Irons), the cunning, manipulative Spanish patriarch who builds an empire through the corruption of the holy Catholic Church and orchestrates a relentless reign of power and flamboyant cruelty. The series begins in 1492, as Rodrigo bribes, buys and muscles his way into the papacy becoming Pope Alexander VI,  propelling him, his two ambitious sons Cesare and Juan, and his scandalously beautiful daughter, Lucrezia, to become the most powerful and influential family of the Italian Renaissance.

Starring alongside Irons as the Borgia offspring are François Arnaud (I Killed My Mother) as Cesare Borgia, David Oakes (The Pillars Of The Earth) as Juan Borgia, and Holliday Grainger (Above Suspicion and Robin Hood) as Lucrezia Borgia.

Also starring are Joanne Whalley as Vanozza, the Pope’s longtime mistress and mother of his children; Colm Feore as Alexander’s nemesis Cardinal Della Rovere; Sean Harris as Micheletto, the family’s murderous henchman; Lotte Verbeek as the Pope’s new lover Giulia; and Entourage’s Emmanuelle Chriqui as the seductive Duchess Sancia, who weds one Borgia and beds another.

The show’s stellar supporting cast includes two of England’s most heralded stage and screen actors, Sir Derek Jacobi and Steven Berkoff, playing the roles of Cardinal Orsini and firebrand preacher Savonarola, respectively.

The Borgias is set in one of the most significant periods in history: the Western Renaissance and the discovery of the New World. Contemporaries of Da Vinci, Michelangelo and the Medici’s, the Borgias were controversial and heretical, not so much for performing acts unheard of in their time, but for being better at it than their enemies. Along the way, the family committed virtually every sin in the book and invented more than a few of their own.

The Borgias is produced as a Canadian-Irish-Hungarian Treaty co-production and distributed by CBS Studios International.

Smash-hit crime series TOUGH NUTS will return bigger and better than ever for a second season on Thursday, June 30 at 7.30pm aest, exclusive to Crime & Investigation Network.

Best-selling crime author Tara Moss is back to host eight brand new episodes, which will continue to lift the lid off Australia’s criminal underworld and expose the real story behind what made and shaped the most notorious figures in Australian criminal history.

TOUGH NUTS 2 combines compelling interviews with psychologists, police detectives, investigative journalists and associates of the criminals profiled – and brings the characters to life in cinematic-style dramatised scenes.

Each episode delves deeply in to the psyche of these terrifying crims, offering a revealing and often shocking insight in the lives of some of this country’s most vicious underworld identities.

The 8 x 1 hour episodes profile the following criminals: Nikolai Radev, Stan Smith, Ray Denning, Tilly Devine, Jockey Smith, Stewart John Regan, Dino Dibra and George Freeman.

Episode One, premiering on Thursday, June 30 at 7:30pm aest, profiles Nikolai ‘The Russian’ Radev, a key player in Melbourne’s gangland wars – and a former Bulgarian wrestler who invaded the lives of his extortion victims and terrorised them until they met his demands.

Through extensive research and never-before-seen interviews, TOUGH NUTS 2 will provide a detailed account of Radev’s terror tactics from several of his victims, including businessman Sedat Ceylan, who was lured to a hotel room in Melbourne and viciously tortured by Radev and his thugs for hours on end.

Tough Nuts also reveals that Radev murdered his neighbour in order to steal his identity, and enable him to continue his crime spree in someone else’s name.

And for the first time on television, former police detective and member of Victorian Police’s Organised Crime Squad, Ben Archbold, tells of his terrifying confrontation with Radev.

Radev’s rampant and brutal crime spree eventually made him a marked man and he was deemed too dangerous to be allowed to live. Radev was executed in broad daylight on April 15, 2003 at the behest of drug lord Carl Williams, with Williams’ devoted assassin, Andrew ‘Benji’ Veniamin, firing the fatal shots.

Featuring dramatised scenes of some of the most revealing and violent moments in Radev’s life, TOUGH NUTS 2 will finally expose the full story behind the man considered to be one of the most abhorrent criminals in Australian underworld history.

TOUGH NUTS 2 is produced by Bryan Cockerill at The Full Box and is exclusive to Crime & Investigation Network.

The world’s most popular talk show, THE OPRAH SHOW, will have a new home on FOXTEL from Monday, June 6 as the Bio. Channel celebrates Oprah’s much talked about farewell series, weekdays at 2:30pm AEST.

After 25 years of life-changing television, Oprah begins her final series the only way she knows how – with the biggest stars, the most enthusiastic audience, the most heart-warming stories and of course, the biggest surprises. 

Moving from the W Channel, Season 25 of THE OPRAH SHOW begins when close friend John Travolta joins Oprah as she announces that she is taking the whole studio audience to “Auuuuuuustralia!”. Oprah and best friend Gayle King then head “Down Under” for their amusing three part Ultimate Aussie Adventure.

Oprah then returns to her much loved HARPO studios in Chicago where she sits down with an array of some of the world’s biggest names as they share some of their most intimate and life changing moments.  From Lisa Marie Presley’s one and only television interview about the tragic death of her former husband, Michael Jackson, to Chaz Bono, Sony and Cher’s daughter, and her decision to become a man, to the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson’s very personal revelations about the undercover sting to her absence from the Royal Wedding.

Oprah also hosts a range of long awaited reunions including the moment when Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford reunite for the very first time, the gathering together of Donald Trump, his wife Melania and his five children to the reunion that was 45 years in the making – Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and all the Von Trapp children in the reunion of the cast of The Sound of Music.

Oprah, as only she could, also creates television history in her final season with her landmark interview with President Barak Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as they open up about their new life in the White House, their marriage and much more.

Join Bio. as it celebrates the final farewell season of THE OPRAH SHOW.

THE OPRAH SHOW – June Highlights

Monday, June 6 – Oprah’s Farewell Season Premiere

Tuesday, June 7 – Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Part 1)

Wednesday, June 8 – Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Part 2)

Thursday, June 9 – Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Ultimate Wildest Dreams)

Friday, June 10 – Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Hugh Jackman, Bono and more)

Monday, June 13 – How Wynonna Judd Survived the Ultimate Betrayal

Wednesday, June 14 – 23 Years Later Oprah Returns to Williamson West

Thursday, June 15 – The Discovery headquarters. Hostages come forward

Friday, June 16 – Ultimate Wildest Dreams and Oprah’s New Book

Monday, June 20 – Waiting for Superman – The Movement

Tuesday, June 21 – Jon Stewart and living legend Liza Minnelli

Wednesday, June 22 – Bravest mum in the world set free

Thursday, June 23 – Held Hostage in Iran: American hiker Sarah Shroud

Friday, June 24 – Viewers react to Waiting for Superman

Monday, June 27 – Celebrities take on their dream jobs

Tuesday, June 28 – The mum who fathered her own children

Wednesday, June 29 – Aging beauty – Cybill Shepherd and Linda Evans

Thursday, June 30 – On location in Scotland. Oprah and JK Rowling

FOXTEL announced Telstra BigPond broadband customers will not be charged for any data when using FOXTEL on Xbox 360, and there will be six BigPond TV channels added to the service from Monday, May 30, 2011.

This means all video content will be unmetered for Telstra BigPond customers when viewing the FOXTEL on Xbox 360 service, including watching TV shows from up to 30 world-leading FOXTEL channels on the live streaming television service, the six BigPond TV channels, Catch Up TV, and hundreds of new release films, library movies and TV episodes from the FOXTEL on Xbox 360 On Demand service. 

The six channels from BigPond TV cover sport, racing and news including: FOOTY TV the AFL channel, LEAGUE TV the NRL channel, V8 Supercars Australia, RACING TV with TVN, BigPond Sport TV, and BigPond News. These channels will be available on the FOXTEL on Xbox 360 service to all Get Started subscribers at no additional charge.

This is the first time FOXTEL on Xbox 360 subscribers will have the benefit of both selected live coverage of sports via FOX SPORTS PLAY and ESPN, as well as streamed AFL and NRL games available on delay.

In addition, from June games from the current season of AFL and NRL will be available on the service as Catch Up video on demand, and a highlights piece will also be available for each AFL and NRL game. Live AFL will come to FOXTEL on Xbox 360 from the start of the 2012 season.

FOXTEL Executive Director of Product & Sales, Patrick Delany said, “This arrangement with Telstra is a big win for FOXTEL on Xbox 360 users, allowing unmetered access to thousands of hours of great programming – all without a FOXTEL fixed term contract.* There are around 1.3 million Xbox consoles in Australia and getting unmetered access to FOXTEL on Xbox 360 is now as simple as plugging into BigPond internet to give subscription TV a go.

“The FOXTEL on Xbox 360 service offers FOXTEL’s huge amount of exclusive and first run TV programming, plus access to hours and hours of On Demand TV episodes, new release films and movie favourites. There’s always something to watch, either live or On Demand and it’s simple to sign up online and start watching straight away.”

Telstra’s Executive Director of Media, J-B Rousselot said, “Hundreds of thousands of Australian homes now have access to BigPond TV channels which makes a compelling reason to get online through Telstra. BigPond’s unmetered content is already a hit with T-Box, Samsung and LG customers, and we’re pleased to be bringing unmetering to customers connected to FOXTEL on Xbox 360.”

Try FOXTEL on Xbox 360 for free for a month by signing up any time in June. Watch over 35 live streaming channels (including BigPond’s AFL and NRL channels), there’s no installation required, no FOXTEL fixed term contract, and you can change your subscription anytime – with everything delivered over your broadband connection.* Plus it’s unmetered on Telstra BigPond which means there’s no maximum download limit.

Existing FOXTEL on Xbox360 subscribers who don’t already subscribe to the showtime movies or Movie Network packages will be able to watch all movies from these channels for free throughout June.*  

The FOXTEL on Xbox 360 premiere programming highlights this June include: Big Fat Gypsy Weddings on Lifestyle YOU, True Blood (Season One) on FOX8, Torchwood: Miracle Day on UKTV, Upstairs Downstairs on UKTV, Lip Service on showcase, The Real King’s Speech on National Geographic Channel, Tennis: Wimbledon Championships on FOX SPORTS PLAY, and NBA Finals on ESPN.

Continuing highlights available on FOXTEL on Xbox 360 include Balls of Steel Australia from The Comedy Channel, Jersey Shore from MTV, Tim Winton’s cloudstreet from showcase, Boardwalk Empire from showcase, Man vs Wild from Discovery, and B430 on channel [V]. 

BigPond TV Channels include:

FOOTY TV: AFL TV is around-the-clock action featuring the best of the AFL regular-season and finals series. With match replays, highlights, player interviews, International Rules action and much more, this is 24/7 footy at its best. From June AFL games will be available as Catch Up video on demand after a twelve hour delay following the live game.

LEAGUE TV: Catch every game of the Telstra Premiership, Finals Series, State of Origin, City v Country, Four Nations and Test Matches on LEAGUE TV. LEAGUE TV offers match highlights, full game replays, NRL news, player interviews and more. From June NRL games will be available as Catch Up video on demand after a twenty-four hour delay following the live game.

V8 TV: Suit up for 24/7 streaming of the big events including, live action, interviews and driver features, expert analysis, race recaps, crash compiles and more. V8 races are streamed live and a highlights piece from each race is available as Catch Up video on demand.

RACING TV: TVN is a dedicated thoroughbred racing channel including local and international racing, commentary, tipping services and the latest thoroughbred industry news and information from Australia and around the world.

BigPond News: BigPond News provides the latest entertainment, finance and technology stories, regular weather updates, live crosses to breaking news, broadcast around the clock.

BigPond Sport: BigPond Sport TV covers everything to do with sport – tune in and sit back for big news, plus live events, big-match replays, highlights, opinion and profiles from all the sport you love.

FOXTEL on Xbox 360 subscribers can choose the amount of data used when watching live streamed TV by selecting the “Change Quality” option when watching a channel, and choose from any of the High, Medium or Low settings. The download file size of Catch Up TV and On Demand movies or TV episodes varies depending on the duration of the title selected, and this information is clearly communicated onscreen prior to viewing on FOXTEL on Xbox 360.

FOXTEL today announced that it will broadcast Broadway’s ultimate night of nights – the 65th Annual Tony Awards – LIVE from the Beacon Theatre in New York on Monday, June 13 at 10am AEST – exclusive to bio.

Returning to host the glamorous Awards night will be popular Emmy Award winner, Neil Patrick Harris, from 111 HITS’ How I Met Your Mother. 

Harris will be joined by a host of stage and screen stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Samuel L. Jackson, Kelsey Grammer, Viola Davis, Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Harry Connick Jr., Christie Brinkley, David Hyde Pierce, Marg Helgenberger, Matthew Broderick, Angela Lansbury, Jim Parsons, Joel Grey, Patrick Wilson, and Robert Morse.

This year three Australians have been nominated for the prestigious accolade – all for their work on the elaborate New York stage version of Priscilla.  The Australian nominees are costume designers Lizzy Gardiner and Tim Chappel for Best Costume Design of a Musical, and actor Tony Sheldon, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the TONY Awards, which were first held on April 6, 1947, at the Waldorf Astoria’s Grand Ballroom. The ceremonies are presented by Tony Award Productions, which is a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, which founded the Tonys in 1947.

The Tonys were founded in memorial to Antoinette (“Tony”) Perry, the American Theatre Wing’s World War II chairperson. The winners are selected by the governing board of Actors Equity, The Dramatists Guild, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the United Scenic Artists, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers, the Casting Society of America, the American Theatre Wing and members of The Broadway League.

Nominations in the lead acting categories include:

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play:

Brian Bedford for The Importance of Being Earnest

Bobby Cannavale for The Motherf*ker with the Hat

Joe Mantello for The Normal Heart

Al Pacino for The Merchant of Venice

Mark Rylance for Jerusalem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play:

Nina Arianda for Born Yesterday

Frances McDormand for Good People

Lily Rabe for The Merchant of Venice

Vanessa Redgrave for Driving Miss Daisy

Hannah Yelland for Brief Encounter

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Mackenzie Crook for Jerusalem

Billy Crudup for Arcadia

John Benjamin Hickey forThe Normal Heart

Arian Moayed for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Yul Vázquez forThe Motherf**ker with the Hat

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play:

Ellen Barkin for The Normal Heart

Edie Falco for The House of Blue Leaves

Judith Light for Lombardi

Joanna Lumley for La Bête

Elizabeth Rodriguez for The Motherf*ker with the Hat.

For a full listing of nominations:  www.tonyawards.com