Channel Nine

Rugby League player Greg Inglis has called for former player and TV commentator Andrew Johns to be barred from any further involvement in the game.

Inglis was the subject of John’s infamous “black c***” remark during the NSW State of Origin camp which led NSW player Timana Tahu to quit the squad.

Queensland star Inglis told Channel Nine that he feels the channel’s former commentator Johns should be banned from any further rugby league roles.

”It’s definitely not a good attitude. I say no. There is no excuse for racism in any sport, any code or any culture.” Inglis said.

”I’ve been described as a c*** and it’s not called for,” he continued. ”I’m just a bloke who loves his sport and loves doing what I do – that’s making my family proud and making my indigenous culture proud.

”Some people are tucking their tails between their legs and running away from it. You’ve got to take a stance and draw a line in the sand. We’ve been copping it since the day, pretty much, our ancestors were born. It’s about time we stand up – and I think Timana has taken a stance right now.”

Source: SMH

A thrilling fortnight of live sporting action will dominate late night viewing on Nine from tonight as England turns it on with Wimbledon and one-day international cricket.

Tonight the Australians are out in force at Wimbledon. Lleyton Hewitt, Alicia Molik, Bernard Tomic, Peter Luczak, Jarmila Groth and Carsten Ball all take the court to begin their Wimbledon campaigns.

Sam Stosur, runner-up in the French Open earlier this month, will start her journey towards a Wimbledon singles title tomorrow night.

Nine Australians will compete at the two week-long Wimbledon Championships and Channel Nine will broadcast the best encounters each night. Nine’s Wimbledon coverage will be hosted by Tim Sheridan and Ken Sutcliffe, with John Newcombe, Fred Stolle and Mark Woodforde providing commentary.

The Australian cricketers will also be in action in the United Kingdom, with England hosting the NatWest Series of one-day internationals. Ricky Ponting’s team play their first match tomorrow night against England at Southampton.

Following reports of an alleged tasering at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa involving Channel Nine staff, the network is involved in another dodgy act this time involving news footage.

Nine borrowed a clip of the Socceroos arriving for the Germany game from rivals Ten and slapped their own watermark over the embedded Ten one.

Where were Nine’s camera operators at the time then?

Source: TV Tonight

Channel Nine is upping its presence in social media by placing special emphasis on the likes of Twitter and Facebook.

The network is acknowledging the fact it is receiving a significant amount of feedback on its Facebook and Twitter pages which is invaluable to the network.

Nine’s Facebook page is currently abuzz with talk surrounding the Andrew Johns debacle, with some fans calling for a network boycott if Nine fails to sack the disgraced ex-league player.

The use of Facebook has also been instrumental in upping the support of returning show Hey Hey Its Saturday with Nine News chief Mark Calvert saying that social media is hugely powerful in pulling audiences.

“You can potentially turn a night if you can turn a handful of viewers because of something they’ve seen on Facebook,” he told The Australian.

Twitter is also being embraced by Nine with presenters Tracy Grimshaw and Ben Fordham opening accounts and participating in the online community. More key figures at the network are also being encouraged to open accounts.

Source: The Australian

Channel Nine are feeling the heat after airing a promo for Rescue Special Ops which bears a striking resemblance to one created by Discovery Channel.

Nine’s teaser for their show is remarkably similar to Discovery’s promo which features survivalist star of Man Vs Wild Bear Grylls scaling a giant letter form which spells out Discovery. Nine’s version features the Rescue cast dealing with word Rescue in much the same way.

Several shots are identical in style to the original Discovery promo.

A spokeswoman for nine has said the Bear Grylls ad was used as “inspiration, but w featured our cast, of course. The Style suited the show.”

Source: News.com.au

Former host of A Current Affair Michael Schildberger has died following a long battle with prostate cancer. He was aged 72.

Schildberger passed away earlier this morning in Cabrini Hospital, Prahran, where he has been for the past few months.

The TV host, journalist and broadcaster presented A Current Affair during the 1970s and won a Logie for best TV interviewer during this time.

He first joined GTV-9 in 1958 and stayed with the Nine Network for two decades.

Schildberger’s former ABC radio colleague, Richard Brown, says he was a talented broadcaster.

“He was a consummate professional,” Brown said.

“I learned a lot from Mike about the profession of journalism. He’s been as you probably know, news director at Nine and had a very high profile as a newsman, and when he came to 3LO he brought a lot of that professionalism with him.”

Schildberger’s son, Nick, praised his father for his attitude during his illness.

“He didn’t let things get him down. He was the most positive and optimistic person I’ve ever known,” he said.

“He refused to give up and outlived and out-performed every doctor’s expectations.”

Source: TV Tonight

The Nine Network has decided to integrate its sales team with those of its NBN affiliate and the WIN TV network on the East Coast.

Each team will remain independent in terms of decisions on price and trading, but the move will allow the parties to coordinate with their clients on a wider level.

Nine’s director of sales and marketing Peter Wiltshire said: “Having the sales teams collocated from July will strengthen the relationship between Nine and WIN/NBN. Our sales teams and our clients will benefit from a greater understanding of the nuances of metro vs. Regional television.”

Meanwhile, John Hatcher, CEO of the Bruce Gordon-owned WIN Corporation added: “Within Australia’s complex media buying landscape, our unique combination of regional and metropolitan market expertise provides an innovative framework to better serve the advertising market today and into the future.”

The Sydney Nine and WIN/NBN teams will be located in custom-built sales hub in Willoughby while Melbourne’s sales teams will join up at Nine’s new Docklands home.

Source: B&T

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found that TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd (Nine) did not comply with the Children’s Television Standards 2005 (the CTS) in August 2009, in relation to a prize-giving segment in an episode broadcast of The Shak, a C (Children’s) program.

The ACMA found that Nine’s broadcast of the prize-giving segment during this C program, where the principal program personalities and presenters endorsed and recommended a commercial product, was in breach of CTS 9 and 22. The ACMA also found that the segment was embedded advertising and was not clearly distinguishable from the program material, in breach of CTS 15.

In breaching these provisions of the CTS, Nine also breached the licence condition set out at clause 7(1) (b) of Schedule 2 to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) as well as clause 6.24.1 of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice July 2004 because the program hosts or regular presenters promoted a product, in this case a scooter.

Nine accepted the ACMA’s findings and agreed to undertake measures to ensure future compliance. These measures include reviewing C programs prior to broadcast, implementing a training program to give its employees a reasonable knowledge and understanding of the CTS, and reporting to the ACMA on the outcome of these programs.

The full report can be found on the ACMA website.

On October 18 last year, Jessica Watson set out to become the youngest person to sail solo non-stop and unassisted around the world. This Saturday, with 210 days at sea under her belt, Jessica will sail into Sydney Harbour and into the record books

Her story has captured the hearts of a nation and on Saturday, Channel Nine will welcome her home in two very special Nine News presentations.

Join Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson in a two-hour broadcast from 11.00am as they track Jessica’s arrival through the heads and on to her history-making landing at the Sydney Opera House.

Channel Nine cameras and reporters will be dotted right around the Harbour so you won’t miss a second of the action on the sea or the reactions of her legion of fans on land.

At 5.30pm on Saturday, Karl Stefanovic presents highlights of the day and a look back at the feats of this exceptional adventurer over the past seven months. We’ll also hear from Jessica herself about her historic voyage.

Then, on 60 MINUTES at 7.30pm on Sunday, Charles Wooley will sit down with Jessica as this courageous teenager reflects on the highs and lows of her epic achievement.

Charles was there with Jessica’s family as she pushed off from the wharf in Sydney and set off on her grand adventure. Now, as Jessica sails triumphantly back into Sydney Harbour and steps ashore, Charles will be joining the Watson family to welcome her back home.

JESSICA WATSON: THE HOMECOMING LIVE – Saturday, May 15 at 11.00am on Nine

JESSICA WATSON: WELCOME HOME – Saturday, May 15 at 5.30pm on Nine

60 MINUTES: CHARLES WOOLEY’S INTERVIEW WITH JESSICA – Sunday, May 16 at 7.30pm on Nine

UPDATED: Annnnd – here is a story from this time two years ago – that suggested Avatar would air on Nine.

If you watch enough of Channel Nine, you may have noticed the Nine promos that are using the movie Avatar with the big blue channel Nine logo incorporated into the graphic.

What does it all mean? Could it mean that Nine have secured free to air TV rights for Avatar? Well – maybe, but it will be years before the movie comes to free to air. It is only about to be released on DVD and Blue Ray now, then there’ll be the Pay TV rights, and then free to air TV some time following.

Perhaps the promo may form part of a give away that Nine are involved in? Maybe a prize package including a new 3D TV, surround sound system and Avatar on Blue Ray in 3D?

In any case, we’ll find out at some stage. The Nine – Avatar promos don’t tell you anything but will get people talking – and that is usually one effective way to start advertising campaigns – have everyone wondering first before they reveal exactly what the ads are about.