Past Programs
Media - Television - 2008
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Tears, tantrums—television!
27/11/2008
Inside the mind of a very successful reality TV producer. Drew Lesser is the Australian-born executive producer of the US hit Bridezillas.
The Minister and public broadcasting
06/11/2008
We ask the Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy, about the current economic downturn and the impact it might have on the likelihood of the SBS and the ABC getting the sort of funding increases they want and need to properly take them into the digital future. A future the Rudd government has been urging them to embrace.
Public broadcasting: Its future and responsibilities
23/10/2008
There's a new review of public broadcasting underway in Australia ahead of next year's triennial funding decision for the ABC and SBS. Meantime in the UK, the media regulator Ofcom has been conducting its own review process into public broadcasting. More specifically, how that county's commercial broadcasters can continue to meet their statutory public service broadcasting requirements, in a changing media environment.
The SBS pitch
16/10/2008
This week the SBS submitted its plan for an expanded and more diverse service to the Rudd government. But with a warning that without a significant financial boost the broadcaster would not only fail to realise its potential, but slide backward.
The Director of Strategy and Communications at SBS is Bruce Meagher.
Media bits and pieces
09/10/2008
1.State and federal governments are continuing to use the public purse for thinly-veiled political advertising; 2. The ABC's TV management accused of insensitivity in handling staff redundancies; 3. The minister for communications who still won't communicate.
Kids business
11/09/2008
Australian television has two dedicated children's news programs, the ABC's long-running BTN or Behind the News, and The Total News, which is produced by Network Ten. As any parent will know, trying to educate and inform children involves its own challenges and skills.So to give us some insight into how they do it in the news business we speak with Jo Ariel, the Executive Producer of The Total News and Patrick Emmett, her counterpart at BTN.
Scorched
28/08/2008
In the spirit of highlighting edgy and innovative new media initiatives, let's talk about 'Scorched'. What's interesting about it is that it's actually much more than a simple telemovie, it's a hybrid TV/online initiative.
The Games and their coverage
28/08/2008
The Beijing Olympics wrapped up earlier this week and the Seven Network, who had the television broadcast rights, was quick to claim that they'd done very well financially from the Games. But as is the case with every Olympics, there are always a large number of people ready to declare the coverage the worst-ever. And it was no different this year.To help us dissect this year's event, here's television commentator David Knox from the blog TV Tonight, and Glenn Dyer, from Crikey.
The Gruen Division?
07/08/2008
The audience loved it and it's apparently led to a flurry of interest in advertising as a career, but has the ABC's Gruen Transfer caused divisions within the industry?
Scandal across the Tasman
31/07/2008
Tony Veitch has been a major television personality in New Zealand but he's now gone to ground after he publicly confessed he had "lashed out" at a former girlfriend.
That revelation was always going to be a big story, but what made it even bigger was the fact that he reportedly paid her around $150,000 and she was quiet about the matter for several years. So too it seems were some executives at TV NZ who knew at least some of the details.
Colin Peacock is the presenter of Media Watch on Radio New Zealand...
Vale 'Sunday'
31/07/2008
This weekend sees the final edition of Channel Nine's Sunday program. When it premiered back in 1981 it was revolutionary. There'd never been anything like it on commercial television. We'll look back with its former Managing Editor, Tom Krause.
The ABC's new internet TV service
24/07/2008
The ABC has just launched a new internet television service called iView. The service takes the availability of video on the net to new levels in Australia and judged on overseas experience, iView is likely to have mass appeal. We speak with the head of ABC Television Kim Dalton.
Reporting 'The Troubles'
10/07/2008
After a career spent reporting the joys and frustrations of Northern Ireland, BBC journalist Denis Murray has now called it a day, but not before speaking with the Media Report about his experiences.
Regulating commercial TV
26/06/2008
A new Senate Committee report has made a series of recommendations for changing the complaints procedures for commercial TV and radio.
Professor Lesley Hitchens is a specialist in this area who works at the University of Technology, Sydney. And she says when it comes to complaints and codes of conduct, the largely self-regulatory nature of our commercial broadcasting sector simply doesn't work.
The ticking clock
19/06/2008
Last week, management at the community TV station Access 31 went public with the fact they'd filed a solvency declaration and will close at the end of this month unless they get additional funding and support from the Federal government.
For an update on their progress, we hear from Gerry Gannon, Access 31's Vice President.
'On the record' with David Butorac
19/06/2008
'On the record' with David Butorac, the Managing Director of WIN. The corporation owns Australia's fourth largest commercial TV network and it has plans for expansion.
Media bits and pieces
05/06/2008
1. Charges dismissed against Russia's Manana Aslamazyan; 2. the Former Head of News at the CBC - the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Tony Burman takes up a senior role at Al Jazeera; 3. and the results of an investigation into complaints against the ABC TV programme Lateline.
Perceptions, preconceptions and visibility - part two
15/05/2008
Dr Gail Phillips and Julie Posetti talk about the Reporting Diversity Project and their research into the representation of minorities in the Australian media.
HULU and new trends in program distribution
24/04/2008
US media analyst James McQuivey tells us about the 2008 National Association of Broadcasters convention and about new online services for program distribution, including the recently launched HULU...
In brief: Australian media
17/04/2008
A look at some interesting developments in the Australian media industry over the past week.
The Wire
03/04/2008
The cult TV series The Wire has just re-commenced on Australian TV. The Media Report's Andrew Davies talks with US-based critic David Bianculli about the program and why it has such a dedicated following
Acting up a storm
03/04/2008
The giant US media industry is facing another crisis. Already damaged by economic downturn and the long-running writers' strike, now the industry's acting fraternity has declared war -- on itself!
SLUM TV
20/03/2008
We look at an innovative and edgy film project under way in Kenya, called SLUM TV, which aims to provide poor Kenyans with a media voice.
'On the Record' with Mark Scott
13/03/2008
The ABC's managing director, Mark Scott, is holding his annual leadership conference for senior managers. He has big plans for the organisation's expansion, but how realistic are they given there's no sign the budgetary situation is about to change?
Lights! Camera! Open government!
21/02/2008
Just how open are Australian parliaments? We take a look at the restrictions placed on the filming of parliaments around the country.
The changing face of advertising
17/01/2008
A look at the way in which the Australian advertising industry is adapting to the challenges of the modern age of communication.
(This program was first broadcast on 11 October 2007)
A conversation with Jim Lehrer
10/01/2008
Today, we revisit one of our most popular programs of the past twelve months, a frank and revealing interview with one of the icons of American media, Jim Lehrer from the PBS News Hour.
(This program was first broadcast on 10 May 2007)
