Rants

I simply cannot believe the Seven will not be broadcasting the AFL Grand Final replay in HD.

While I can understand they logistically may not be able to do the 3D broadcast due to the fact they are probably sharing some resources with Nine who has the NRL Grand Final to deal with the next day, I cannot understand why Seven would not broadcast the AFL Grand Final replay in HD – as it turns out, they also share HD resources.

Seven say that it comes down to the availability of HD equipment and pre-commitments to other events. This situation arises due to the sharing of HD facilities the networks and other productions and that all of the HD gear is booked out for the weekend. 

If it was Ten broadcasting the Grand Final this year, there would not be a problem – you would simply see it in HD on ONE HD. Even if it was Nine – they would sacrifice some GEM programming for the Grand Final – just like they are for the NRL Grand Final on Sunday (Oct 3).

If Fox Sports were allowed to broadcast the AFL Grand Final – you can guarantee you would be able to see it in HD on one of their THREE Fox Sports HD channels.  

Looking at forums like those in Media Spy, one of the biggest complaints about AFL on TV is the fact that Seven do not adequately provide HD coverage - even before giving up HD full time for the third channel. With the advent of Ten’s ONE HD, the games Ten / ONE show are all available in HD.

It’s just another big leap backwards for HD in Australia. To have one of the top sporting events of the year, with an audience of over 3 million, not in aired HD is a sad sign of the state of free to air HD TV in Australia.

BUT – what can they do – if all the networks are sharing HD facilities, then I suppose the same would happen to any of them – unless they all owned what they use. The fact that the AFL Grand Final replay now falls on the same weekend as the NRL Grand Final and the opening of the Commonwealth Games would not help.

After watching back the X Factor last night, I decided to give the Xtra Factor a go on 7TWO.

Even though Seven had not updated their EPG for the night, leaving X Factor set to finish at 9.30, it was clear it would not finish to around 9.45 as that was the time the Xtra Factor was set to start on 7TWO.

I had reasonably high expectations for the show. The PR about it suggested there would be discussion, behind the scenes interviews and footage, a rotating panel of experts and some more time to learn more about the contestants.

From the start, the show seemed heavily dominated by host Natalie Garonzi walking around shoving a microphone into people’s faces and talking a million miles an hour. People she spoke to were hardly able to get a word in, and there seemed like off talking from her than anybody else. The number of times she used the word “Everybody…” or “Your Top 12” or “Your judges” started to make it look like she was killing time.

When the judges came to the special Xtra Factor studio we had been told about a number of times, both Natalie and Kyle were absent initially. Natalie turned up, saying she had been to the toiled – not sure if we needed to know that. Kyle never made an appearance on the show.

The Xtra Factor encouraged viewer interaction by phone, SMS, Twitter or Facebook. Calls were even put live to air. Titles on screen showed twitter and SMS comments but regularly showed the same tweets a few too many times.

Overall, the experience felt more like something you would see on Community TV, and just seemed to bring down the X Factor experience. Perhaps it was simply too much to watch another hour more about a show that had just been on for over two hours?

I think the concept of the Xtra factor is not a bad idea, but its delivery really needs some work. Although I think the show would do better just being on the Monday night only after one of the contestants has been eliminated.

Problem is though, right now it is only live to the eastern states, and then once daylight saving begins in two weeks, only viewers in NSW, ACT, VIC and Tas will be able to participate live in nay case.

In terms of ratings, it didn’t make top 50 shows for the day, not even the top 100 which means less than 100,000 ended up watching – not even 10% of the audience who watched the X Factor itself.

Maybe as the competition hots up, there may be more interest in viewers talking about the show after it.

As for the first Xtra Factor, I’d give it 3 out of 10.

What are your thoughts? Did you watch it? Did you know it was on even?

The Xtra factor airs on 7TWO, right after the X Factor airs on Seven, Sunday and Monday nights. Also encores on 7TWO in the afternoons, after the X Factor afternoon encore.

Source: Ratings OzTam. Top 100 reference: TV Tonight.

I could almost copy and paste the same story as “7mate is the death of 7HD” here, simply replacing references to 7mate with GEM and 7HD with 9HD or Nine Hi-Def. But if I did that I would be saying the same thing over again.

The launch of Nine’s third digital channel GEM is indeed the end of high definition simulcasts of Nine content other than the Today show each morning which will be simulcast on GEM, and some sporting events – the first to appear on GEM will almost certainly be the NRL Grand Final on October 3.

It is interesting and somewhat disturbing though to note just how little of the content on GEM is made in HD. HD shows on the new channel include The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Big C, CSI, Who Do You Think You Are?, Weeds, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and the Ellen Degeneres Show. Some movies will also be in HD, but the rest of the programming is essentially standard definition product shown on a HD channel – which may look OK if they truly upscaled to HD – as you would hope for a HD channel.

Like 7mate, GEM means that Nine main channel content (I believe they will now be calling it their premium channel) will not be seen in HD, even if it is made in HD. Unlike Seven, however, Nine do actually inform the viewer when a show is made in HD and can actually be seen in true HD. You would notice the little orange square HD box next to the other symbols like classification on certain shows. As far as I am aware, the last time I saw Seven promote their HD channel was for the Australian Open back in January.

Shows on Nine that are made in HD that will no longer be seen simulcast in HD (but may appear on GEM at some stage) include The View, Kerry-Anne (not that this show is really needed in HD!), News, Two and a Half Men, Hot in Cleveland, Rescue Special Ops, The Mentalist, the various CSI’s (older eps will be on GEM), Entertainment Tonight and many movies.

Surely a better use of a HD channel would have been to put onto the channel all shows that are made in HD? It is a step backwards to actually have less to see on free to air TV in HD yet content spread over 14 channels once 7mate and GEM get underway.

There is no reason that these new channels could not be almost hybrid channels containing a mix of main channel content in HD and alternative programming when no show is in HD on the main channel. Nine for example could have made the third channel be a mix of Nine HD content, HD content not shown on Nine and even some of the GO shows in HD. Hellcats, The Vampire Diaries and Fringe are just a few that come to mind that air on GO that are made in HD.

But I guess in doing so, channels would start to lose their identity. From a marketing perspective is easier to have three distinct channels with their own agendas and audience targets rather than mixing up content just in order to make a HD channel be nothing but HD content. As it is though, Nine already airs main channel shows like Top Gear and Big Bang Theory onto GO. So maybe it won’t be long before main channel content does indeed end up on the HD channel?

It won’t be until 2014 when analogue is gone and everyone has no choice but to have digital TV before this mess gets cleaned up. If HD TV take up is high enough – and you would think it would be by 2014 – we can expect to see the main channels shift to being HD. We could also see the way digital channels are arranged, branded and marketed completely change then, and possibly the concept of what is a main and a secondary channel diminish in relevance. Further down the track, better digital encoding should see all channels broadcast in HD.

Both Nine and ABC have indicated their position on the way their channels are will remain until 2013 – in Nine’s case, it includes showing sport on GEM which is somewhat contradictory to the general female aim of the channel. For the ABC, it is not ideal to have the news channel in HD only, but they were left with no option considering their agenda for ABC2 and ABC3.

In the meantime, we just have to accept that all our HD channels, (only SBS ONE HD will remain a main channel simulcast), are relatively niche or alternative programming with the end result being that fewer people than ever before are likely to watch free to air programming in HD. Shows on the networks’ main channel will continue to rate well while shows on their secondary channels will continue to play second fiddle to their main channels regardless of whether in HD or not.

For those of us that care more about the quality of their picture on their TV and the improved sound quality a HD signal delivers, the new channels come as a disappointment and will ultimately result in a shift towards BluRays and HD Pay TV services or even internet delivered HD content to use our HD TVs to their full potential.

For the record, I love the idea of having more channels and choice, but I don’t like the idea of how little there will now be on free to air TV in true HD. With Foxtel offering 4 more HD channels later this year, and more next year, free to air will almost certainly be left behind as far as HD is concerned.

The launch of 7mate signals the death of 7HD. Just like ONE spelt the end of any Ten content in HD, and ABC News 24 killed ABC HD, 7mate means no more regular Seven main channel programming being seen in HD for now.

Kiss goodbye to being able to see Packed to the Rafters, City Homicide, Parenthood, Covert Affairs, The X Factor, Home and Away, Sunday Night, Bones, Castle, Criminal Minds… the list goes on… in HD.

Losing content from Seven’s main channel in HD has got to be a blow to anyone who has gone out and bought a HD TV or PVR in recent years.

Sure – 7mate is a new channel that will bring some extra choices to our nightly TV viewing, but it comes at the expense of losing some of our best rating shows from our number one network (Seven is still only just ahead of Nine in that regard) being in HD.

Most people who have a HD TV will chose to watch whatever free to air main channel content they can in HD instead of standard definition. But now, with 7mate, you have, for the most part, a collection of second rate programming that is deemed unable to rate well enough on the main channel.

While most of the prime time programming for 7mate is yet to be released, the information that is known so far sees only a hand full of programming that will truly make use of being in HD. Interestingly, Thursday night from 8.30 looks like being the Sci Fi night – like it was on 10HD a few years ago – while Friday and Saturdays feature heavily with documentaries. Sci Fi and documentaries usually both well deserved to be seen in HD.

But for the hours outside of prime time, the programming is an absolute insult for a HD channel. Like when 9HD started showing classics like I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched prior to the launch of GO last year, 7mate’s overnight and day time programming is essentially loaded with old shows that were made long before digital TV was even thought of. Many of which will not even be in widescreen, let alone HD quality unless they have been digitally remastered – which I severely doubt.

I realise 7mate is being set up as its own channel and brand, but it would be good if they could use the dead zones of overnight and part of day time programming to offer Seven prime time content in HD. Even as a late night catch up or something to watch other than infomercials the idea would work.

It is early days, and like all new channels, the programming will evolve over time. Hopefully the older shows that fill the schedule will slowly make way for newer content and the channel will make better use of the fact it is in HD. Hopefully some of those gaps in the prime time program will be filled with shows made in HD or recent movies which will benefit from being aired on a HD channel.

It is sad though, to be losing HD broadcasts of main channels for the sake of a few niche extra digital channels in HD. The same will happen to Nine soon, leaving SBS as the only free to air broadcaster with a HD simulcast of its main channel.

All a result of a poorly thought out system, made worse by the added delays of switching analogue off and by the desire to have as many free to air channels as the digital bandwidth will allow without any thought of quality.

RIP 7HD.

Why is Australian drama no longer doing well in the ratings? Do we just not like Australian drama or is it the fact that most of it is crime based and we have had enough of crime and cop shows. Maybe the reasons are that the Americans just do it so much better – with their higher budgets, and slick productions or is it just that our actors are not all they are cracked up to be.

As part of licensing conditions for Australian television networks, they are required to produce a certain amount of Australian content each year measured on a points system, including Australian drama that attract the most points. Aside from dramas, content includes reality and factual shows, and imports from New Zealand also count towards the points the networks earn for local content. The amount of reality and factual content these days, however, far outweighs drama.

If you look at what Australian drama is on free to air TV at the moment, you’ll find there is a collection of soaps, cop or crime based shows, one family based and one just quirky. Seven has Packed to the Rafters, City Homicide and Home and Away, Ten has Offspring, Neighbours and Rush while Nine – promoting themselves as the home of Australian drama has Rescue Special Ops and Cops LAC. Other shows that have aired this year include Nine’s Underbelly and Ten’s Hawke telemovie. Still to come on Nine include another police drama AFP, Panic at Rock Island and Tell them Lucifer was here – the first of the Underbelly telemovies.

But if you look at how these shows rate, only two of them could be described run away successes. Packed to the Rafters on Seven – the only drama family based – attracts as many as two million viewers each week. Only Underbelly on Nine has matched – and surpassed – the figures the Rafter family attains.

Looking at the cop / crime shows, none of them are currently reaching over a million viewers. City Homicide and Rush are hovering around the 700-800,000 mark, Rescue Special Ops flirts with a million each Monday night and the new kid on the block Cops LAC for its second episode was watched by 944,000 after debuting to over 1.1 million for its premiere on Sept 2.

Ten’s very different Offspring is watched by around a million viewers per week while Seven’s Home and Away attracts a similar nightly audience. Neighbours on Ten struggles in comparison – between 500-700,000 prompting its move to Ten’s new digital channel in 2011.

The story is somewhat different for US dramas. Crime procedurals like Bones, Criminal Minds, NCIS and the Mentalist all enjoy audience figures well over a million, with new episodes of NCIS and The Mentalist reaching as high as 1.5 million. Parenthood – currently seen on Seven after Packed to the Rafters – another family based drama – also is watched by around a million each week.

Meanwhile, Australian reality competition shows still attract the biggest audiences. Talent based formats like Australia’s Got Talent and The X Factor easily outdo the dramas in ratings, reaching average figures around 1.5 million, while cooking based Masterchef puts everything else on TV to shame with its success. Even Seven’s My Kitchen Rules was easily watched by more people than the dramas are.

One off telemovies like Hawke and last year’s A Model Daughter – The Killing of Carolyn Byrne do very well in the ratings, Hawke at about 1.7 million – good news for the up and coming Panic at Rock Island on Nine. Back in the 80’s it was the big mini-series like Vietnam, Bodyline and the like that used to clean up in the ratings. Telemovies these days are few and far between.

The message the ratings are sending about Australian crime or cop based dramas is that the audience is perhaps had enough of the genre and perhaps it is time to try something different. Packed to the Rafters does so well because it is so different, and easy for many to relate to. Shows made for Pay TV like Tangle and Spirited stand out as being different, but are only exposed to a limited audience.

It’s hard to know what will be our next big drama hit. Apart from Packed to the Rafters and Underbelly, no show is performing well enough to guarantee long term success. Rescue Special Ops is renewed for a third year, but no word on Rush or City Homicide – both of which are having their worst years since being on air.

The decline in ratings for these shows can be attributed to a combination of factors not only including genre saturation but the changing television landscape where viewers have so many more options now. The quality of acting and story lines in some cases doesn‘t help.

But with a small selection of show reaching high ratings figures – like Masterchef, Rafters and Underbelly, the audience is there – and will tune in to a show if it is worth watching. Problem is, while ever the networks keep giving the audience more of the same or trying to play it safe, the figures are simply going to dilute further across the various options on offer.

The dilution of audience is already happening for the crime genre. It’s just a matter of time before the talent based reality competition shows face the same fate, and, as we see a proliferation of cooking based shows hits our screens over the next year, expect cooking shows to also suffer the same fate.

Only those shows that are original, well made and feature believable characters or participants will stand out, and therefore bring in the numbers.

I’m a huge fan of Packed to the Rafters.  I’ve watched it right from the start and love the warmth of the characters and the lovely family dynamics.  How often do you see a husband and wife, still married and still in love after all those years together on TV these days? 

But….. there’s something of late which has been bugging me though. 

I’m really over the promotions for the next week’s episode.  They’re always far too dramatic and nothing like what actually happens.   So the tease doesn’t even intrigue me, it just annoys me and usually gives away too much.   

One week they made it look like Shel dies and is wheeled out in front of the family.  Of course I knew this wouldn’t be the case and guessed it’d be the old neighbor even before the episode started.  It made the episode rather boring even.

Another week the promotion made it look like it was going to be a dark suspenseful thriller with someone stalking the Rafters.  The show was nothing like that.  Of course, the only person who it could be was the black sheep relative who was introduced earlier in the show. 

More recently, the promotion made it look like something terrible was going to happen to Ruby.  Shock, horror, nothing of the sort did.

Can we please get promotions which don’t mislead you about the show every single week and make it out to be some sort of seedy Desperate Housewives or murder mystery?  Can’t we just enjoy the show for the family storylines and the humor and warmth that it is without dressing it up to be something its not? 

I now switch off as soon as the show credits come up so I’m not bothered by the promotions any more. 

Have you done the same? 

Now that both Seven and Ten have announced their third channels, what is going on at Nine?

Within hours of the 7mate announcement by Seven, rumours of Nine getting their third channel to air beforehand flourished with possible genres for the channel including classic TV, crime and a female skewed channel. But even after Ten’s announcement of Eleven for 2011, no word from Nine.

Suddenly – Nine then announce they will broadcast the NRL Grand Final in 3D, bit did so without ACMA approving another trial 3D broadcast. ACMA were quick to point out that Nine had not submitted a report on the previous trial in time, and therefore could not be granted another 3D broadcast trial. Therefore no NRL Grand Final in 3D.

Nine could perhaps use the existing HD service to transmit side by side 3D, but that would mean no HD coverage of the NRL Grand Final for those who do not have a 3D TV. However, if a new channel is launched before the Grand Final, regardless of whether the new channel becomes the HD channel or if GO is upgraded to HD to make way for a new SD channel (each commercial network can only have 2 SD and 1 HD channels – the main has to be SD – so, in order to have 3 channels, one of the secondaries has to be HD), then would HD coverage of the Grand Final (and for that matter, the entire NRL finals series) be seen in HD in any case?

If GO went HD, then GO would have to break programming for NRL. Same as a new channel would should that be in HD. 7mate for Seven – which will be in HD – have already included sport as part of the channel’s programming – so they have prepared for this sort of scenario. Needless to say, the launch with the AFL Grand Final in HD confirms that fact. As for Nine, without any firm plans yet, we can only speculate on what we know so far.

All of these issues raise a number of questions.

1. If Nine are launching a third channel at about the same time as 7mate late September, will that mean that NRL broadcasts will not be seen in HD?

2. Whether it be GO or the new channel that ends up in HD, will programming break to provide HD coverage of major sporting events like the Grand Final.

3. If they are unable to obtain another 3D trial license, what is stopping them from using their existing HD channel to provide side by side 3D coverage of the Grand Final? If we were about to completely lose 9-high Def to a new channel, then couldn’t they break from it during this event and thereby still be able to lead the way as such in 3D free to air TV? It may annoy some people, but is a reasonable option, I would have thought.

4. Let’s think outside the square – SBS and Nine shared the use of the trial 3D channel from May to July. Why not do a deal with SBS and use their HD channel SBS HD – currently a simulcast of SBS ONE – for a 3D broadcast. That way, Nine’s three channels (assuming the 3^rd is launched) could remain untouched, and the NRL Grand Final could be seen in 3D as well as HD on Nine subject to what I have already said about how they handle HD broadcasts of sporting events when they have three channels. Afterall – SBS does need the funds.

5. Put it onto Foxtel. The great thing about the World Cup Soccer from SBS a few months ago, was it could also be seen on Foxtel and Austar. This meant that many more viewers who could not receive the free to air signals on digital channel 40 (and there were a lot of them) were able to see the 3D coverage for free through their Pay TV service.

If Nine were serious in pursuing 3D TV, then this would surely be a better option, and could reach out to a lot more people than just the trial free to air 3D broadcast alone. Doing something with SBS or Foxtel, however, would probably require some special or temporary license conditions to make it possible.

Here’s my prediction as to what ends up happening:

1. Nine fight ACMA to get the 3D go ahead at the last minute, so we end up having another 3D trial for the NRL Grand Final. Harvey Norman blitzes us with ads for 3D TV sets.

2. GO is completely rebranded, focussing more on contemporary shows, re-affirming position to target the 14-39 year old demographic. As part of the move, it is upgraded to HD, and its programming objectives are modified to allow HD coverage of sport, like 7mate will. GO’s classic programming moves to the third channel, while having GO in HD suit’s the channel airing more movies, especially those that are more recent. Movies will also compete with what 7mate will be doing.

3. The third channel is launched as essentially a classic TV channel, a cross between TV1 and 111 Hits, but focussing more towards female skewing programming. The move towards classics allows a wide variety of shows and keeps it competitive with Eleven, while female skewing is an attempt to take some of the audience left behind by 7mate which will be male skewing.

These are just my thoughts on what Nine might do, based only on some rumours, and consideration for the programming they currently air on GO, Nine and may have up their sleeve.

As you can see, the equation for Nine is actually quite tricky, and probably one the network would be better off putting more time into as opposed to rushing in, just to get a third channel on air before Seven does.

While I am a great advocate for choice through extra channels, I disagree with the fact that it should be at the expense of HD main channel programming – sport in particular which is one of the main driving forces of HD take up – and I think the HD channels like 7mate and whatever Nine end up doing should still show major sporting events in HD as well as key main channel programming. In the case of Ten and ONE HD, they already have sport covered in HD, but at the expense of regular Ten programming in HD.

UPDATED: Gossip Girl S3 premieres on GO Sept 13, 10.30pm. The final of the Bachelorette is at 7.30pm Tuesday Sept 14, and again 1pm Thur Sept 16, followed by After the Rose at 2pm.

Original post, written before confirmation of air dates, and now out of date, follows.

GO – Australia’s leading channel for programming changes and random inconsistencies – have bumped back the season 3 premiere of Gossip Girl again.

Originally set to air Monday August 30, then put back to the following Monday September 6, Gossip Girl has now been pushed out altogether, with no word as to when it will now air.

September 13 is also the date that the second season of The Vampire Diaries premieres on GO, as well as possibly Hellcats. Having new Gossip Girl that night – as mentioned here on Throng before – would actually make new sense, giving GO a completely new look Monday night which should do pretty well for them. Nothing has been confirmed for that date yet.

Also suffering the same treatment, is the finale of The Bachelorette. Originally set to air Tuesday August 31, at 7.30pm, it was moved to the following Tuesday, now will not be seen until Tuesday September 14.

On Monday September 6, GO will play two movies (just like they are on August 30) - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at 7.30 and Underworld at 9.30. On Tuesday September 7, the movies are The Wedding Singer at 7.30, followed by Man About the House at 9.30pm.

The sudden move to put movies doubles on Monday and Tuesday nights could be an attempt by the Nine/GO network to gain some extra ratings against Seven’s The X Factor launching August 30.

Another possibility is that shows are now starting to be held back for Nine’s third channel. With Seven announcing 7mate last week, and Ten announcing Eleven today, Nine are the only network not to confirm their plans for their third channel, even though the speculation is out there that they will launch it first – before 7mate, which launches on September 25.

Both Gossip Girl and the Bachelorette are female skewing shows. If the rumour is true that Nine will launch a channel targeted more towards a female audience, then it makes some sens that Gossip Girl is held off until then. As for the Bachelorette – they should just show it on GO as it is the final episode of the series.

With September 25 just under a month away, Nine should announce their new channel any day now – if they truly plan to get it on air before 7mate is on air.

Former Labor leader Mark Latham’s story about the 2010 Election Campaign aired on 60 Minutes last night (Sun Aug 15).

The story concentrated on how dull the election campaign has been and how little difference there is between the two leaders. Latham told us how everything we see them doing is carefully staged and that both parties are too busy playing it safe rather than putting forward a plan or vision for Australia. He further said that Bob Brown and the Greens were the only ones really speaking out and a great alternative to the two major parties.

The story seemed to be going well – it wasn’t the big controversial presentation one might have expected after seeing what he had done during the week – until – he brought in Pauline Hanson – who was quick to point out that she does not trust Julia Gillard and that Mark Abbott was essentially personally responsible for Pauline going to prison a few years ago.

Latham opened the story saying he would tell us he is going to vote this Saturday. He finished the story by saying that while voting is compulsory, whether you put anything on the paper or not is up to you – suggesting we should all vote informally rather than one of the two major parties. Him saying this on national television seems irresponsible, to say the least.

Yes – it is up to you to chose how you vote, and whether you fill out anything on the ballot papers or not – but in doing so – you will have to accept that you have not contributed to the outcome of the election and therefore have no right to complain if you are not happy with the outcome.

Sure – the two parties may appear not to offer a great deal of substance, but not voting is not going to change anything. Perhaps it is time people start looking out side the “big two” – and consider what other parties like the Greens – who will most likely hold the balance of power after the election – have to offer.

Had Latham ended his story this way, it would have round out what otherwise was not all that bad – but instead it ended with headline grabbing controversy. Surely a (once) respectable show like 60 Minutes have some journalistic responsibility for what they air – or do they now allow their so called guest reporters to say anything they like.

As it turns out, 60 Minutes was watched by just over 1.3 million – a bit higher than usual, but, given the big deal of the past week about Latham, they would have expected more.

OK – we all know we are in the middle of an election campaign – but seriously – do we really need so many of the same ad over the one night?

While I can’t speak for other markets, in Sydney last night (Sunday Aug 8th), the Labor ad telling us “don’t risk it” in relation to voting for Tony Abbott was played in just about every ad break from 6pm to 9.30pm over all three commercial channels. Some ad breaks featured two of the same ad, and then, when coupled with the union based ads about “work choices” it was three in the same ad break.

At our house, we generally avoid watching free to air live to avoid the need to see all the ads and so more shows can be watched in one night. Sometimes though – when we get to Sunday night – there’s nothing left to watch from the previous week so we end up having to watch some of Sunday nights’ shows live.

Our viewing for the night from 6pm included about an hour of Seven, over an hour of Nine and two and a half hours of Ten. Also watched Sky news briefly.

During all this viewing, the “Don’t risk it” ad was seen more than we could care to count. Even when not watching live, the ad clearly stood out during fast forwarding of ad breaks. Even watching just a few minutes of Sky News was no escape for the “Don’t risk it” ad.

Now I have to ask – who do they think is going to be swayed by having the ad on that often? Sure – there are undecided voters out there, but honestly – are any of them going to suddenly change their mind because they see one political party dominate the advertising over – not only their opposition but – all other advertised brands as well?

If anything – it should turn people off. Prime time TV ads on a Sunday night can’t be cheap. Think of where else this money could be spent – how many people the money could go towards helping.

Sure – fair enough for the parties to advertise to get your vote, but the same ad over and over is well and truly over kill and a gross waste of OUR money.

Can’t wait for the advertising black out next week. In the meantime, no more live TV for now!