Seven have been very coy about these two programs, especially since they should be screening in just two weeks time. They have not even released the name of the NRL show. Here is what we know so far.

AFL

Name: The Bounce (confirmed)

Producer: Rick McKenna (confirmed)

Host: Peter Helliar (confirmed)

Time slot: 7:30pm (confirmed)

Day: Unconfirmed. ‘The Daily Telegraph’ is reporting that the show will air at 7:30pm Thursdays, which in some respects is the most logical slot for the show. However, I am hearing from multiple sources that the show could air 7:30 Wednesdays, which makes more sense in terms of schedule flow. On Wednesdays, the show would lead into ‘Criminal Minds’ whereas on Thursdays the show would lead in to the more female skewing ‘Cougar Town’.

Market Variations: This show will air at 7:30pm in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and will be aired late night in Brisbane and Sydney, whatever night it is on. (confirmed)

NRL

Name: Untitled NRL show

Host: Matthew Johns (confirmed)

Timeslot: 7:30pm (c0nfirmed)

Day: Unconfirmed (see above)

Market Variations: This will air at 7:30pm into Sydney and Brisbane and will be screened late night in other states. (confirmed)

Stay tuned for more details.

Google are set to compete with TV broadcasters this year, after securing a two-year global contract for the Twenty20 Indian Premier League.

The internet giant will begin offering live and on-demand video coverage of all 60 matches on YouTube when the competition begins on March 12.

Last year, the IPL averaged 40,000 to 50,000 viewers per match on Network Ten’s digital channel One HD, the Australian television broadcaster of the IPL.

With another four years left in their contract, Network Ten don’t seem to be too afraid of Google’s entrance into the game. The network believes that the YouTube deal will simply compliment their extensive coverage of the IPL.

“Online and mobile give sports fans the chance to follow the action regardless of where they are,” said Ten spokeswoman Jeannette McLoughlin. “Viewers prefer to see the broadcast in its full glory on a TV screen.”

Google’s deal with the IPL is believed to be just the beginning of a more aggressive push to make YouTube a premier online TV destination.

“We’re investing heavily in YouTube and look forward to making similar content more readily to YouTube,” said Google Australia’s head of business development Ryan Hall.

Last October, YouTube streamed a U2 concert live from the Rose Bowl, California — the largest event in the company’s history. The one-off show generated over 10 million streams across 7 continents, including Australia.

More recently, the video search engine partnered with Katalyst Films and advertiser Hewlett Packard, to host the unseen episodes of US TV network The CW’s cancelled drama series ‘The Beautiful Life’. The pilot episode has already seen over half a million hits in just over a month.

Online video content is expected to be in high demand this year, with the majority of new televisions, Blu-ray players and game consoles being sold having internet and YouTube connectivity.

Hall said Google was looking to buy all types of content including entertainment, music and live sport events to stream and provide on-demand via YouTube.

Source: The Australian

Media Release

Seven signs ‘Richo’

Richmond champion and crowd favourite Matthew Richardson will join Seven’s AFL team in 2010.

Matthew Richardson

The Tiger legend will work with AFL callers Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti on Sunday Football, and is also set to add to the fun on AFL Game Day, joining the crew on a regular basis.

Channel Seven Melbourne general manager Lewis Martin commented on the star signing:

“We’ve all come to love Richo for his passion, warmth and humour both on and off the field. He’ll bring a great knowledge and insight into the game that we know fans will love.”

Richardson has been a hero on the field for the Tigers winning three All- Australian selections, a Best & Fairest award and 13 club goalkicking awards. His legend will now grow bigger off the field as he joins the best AFL commentary team in the land and cements his place as one of the most popular figures in the game.

Source: Seven Network

UPDATE: The new season of Australia’s Greatest Athlete premieres 4.30pm Saturday, February 6 on Seven.

Media Release

BILLY SLATER BACK TO DEFEND HIS TITLE IN REXONA AUSTRALIA’S GREATEST ATHLETE – SERIES 2

Defending champion Billy Slater.

Rugby league superstar Billy Slater will return to take on a fresh field of tough competitors in series two of Rexona Australia’s Greatest Athlete on Channel Seven.

The series one champion will be up against some of our country’s most prominent athletes, each elite within their sporting profession. They include duel international Wendell Sailor, V8 Supercar legend Craig Lowndes and current World Champion ironman Shannon Eckstein. The remaining athletes competing will be announced in the coming weeks.

Australian sports fans will witness these awesome athletes compete in 15 different gruelling sporting challenges over eight episodes to determine who is Rexona’s Australia’s Greatest Athlete 2010.

Australian Cricket Captain Ricky Ponting will return to give viewers a real insight into athletic performance and what it takes for these sportsmen to be the best in their field.

Hosted by Mark Beretta and Tom Williams, Rexona Australia’s Greatest Athlete Series 2 will be aired on Channel Seven in early 2010.

Source: Seven Network

Network Ten and Foxtel are gearing up for next year’s Commonwealth Games with the announcement of their respective broadcast plans, plus joint cross-platform sponsorship opportunities to advertisers during the Dehli 2010.

Ten’s broadcast coverage will include exclusive rights to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as a daily roster of sporting events on Ten and 24-hour sports channel One.

Foxtel’s coverage will include 24-hour coverage of sporting events on its six high definition and six standard definition sports channels. Their Commonwealth Games coverage will be enhanced by live information and updating statistics via their interactive services. Foxtel will also have exclusive coverage on their online and mobile platforms.

The integrated sponsorship opportunities for advertisers will cover free-to-air broadcast on Network Ten and One; subscription TV on Foxtel; and online and mobile platforms through each broadcasters respective outlets.

“With Network Ten and Foxtel already sharing broadcast feeds and production facilities, it seems logical to offer clients cross-platform sponsorship opportunities. Through integrated sponsorships, we are able to support consistent campaigns across Ten, One and Foxtel, while extending opportunities for clients to reach the broadest possible Commonwealth Games audience,” said Network Ten’s chief executive officer, Grant Blackley.

The XIX Commonwealth Games which will be held in Delhi, India from October 3 – 14, 2010.

Media Release

NETWORK TEN AND FOXTEL TEAM UP FOR A FULLY INTEGRATED CROSS-PLATFORM PARTNERSHIP FOR THE 2010 DELHI COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Network Ten and FOXTEL today announced plans to broaden the scope of their joint venture to include the marketing of combined sponsorship packages for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Details of the landmark agreement were announced by Network Ten’s Chief Executive Officer, Grant Blackley, and FOXTEL’s Chief Executive Officer, Kim Williams AM.
Under the terms of the agreement, Network Ten and FOXTEL will extend their joint broadcast and production plans by offering clients integrated sponsorship opportunities across free-to-air, subscription TV, online and mobile platforms.

The venture between Network Ten and FOXTEL will allow clients to invest in ‘pre-Games’ and ‘in-Games’ sponsorship packages across the four platforms through a single point of contact, expanding clients’ access to the full spectrum of advertising platforms across free- to-air and subscription television.

As part of the agreement, the partners will develop and produce tailored creative and promotional activity which will be broadcast across TEN, the 24-hour digital sports channel, ONE, and FOXTEL’s six dedicated standard definition and six dedicated high definition channels delivered on subscription television, as well as online and over mobile platforms.

Commenting on the agreement, Network Ten’s chief executive officer, Grant Blackley said: “Shared broadcast rights mean that, for the first time, Australians will be able to access Commonwealth Games coverage when they want and in the format they want it. The shared broadcast rights will expand the total Commonwealth Games audience by offering sports fans a broader range of viewing options.”

“With Network Ten and FOXTEL already sharing broadcast feeds and production facilities, it seems logical to offer clients cross-platform sponsorship opportunities. Through integrated sponsorships, we are able to support consistent campaigns across TEN, ONE and FOXTEL, while extending opportunities for clients to reach the broadest possible Commonwealth Games audience,” Mr Blackley said.

FOXTEL’s chief executive officer, Kim Williams said: “FOXTEL is pleased to have teamed up with Network Ten to bring the Commonwealth Games coverage back to Australia. Now with this extension of our cooperation with Network Ten into the advertising area, Australian marketers will also share the benefits. We will offer clients the opportunity to run integrated sponsorship campaigns across four advertising platforms and also provide for the first time an opportunity for advertisers to run interactive advertising campaigns on both Network Ten and FOXTEL.”

Network Ten and FOXTEL together acquired the broadcast rights to the XIX Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Delhi, India from 3 – 14 October 2010.

Network Ten’s coverage will include exclusive live broadcast rights to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as a daily schedule of sporting events broadcast on channel TEN and simulcast on the Network’s 24-hour high definition digital sports channel, ONE.

FOXTEL’s coverage will include 24-hour telecasts of sporting events on its six high definition and six standard definition sports channels all enhanced by constantly updating statistics and Games information via its interactive services. FOXTEL will stream its coverage exclusively onto the online and mobile platforms.

Source: Network Ten

Media Release

Yahoo!7 official online broadcaster for 2010 Australian Open

Rod Laver Arena

Sydney, 12th October 2009 – Yahoo!7 and the Seven Network today announced that Yahoo!7 will be the official online broadcaster for the 2010 Australian Open Tennis Championships.

In addition to its comprehensive news coverage of the Australian Open, Yahoo!7 will have exclusive vision, including match highlights from the grand slam matches, available through its video player. Additionally there will be live scores of the matches as they happen and expert blogs from some of the best minds in tennis. Yahoo!7 Sport will also have detailed coverage from all the big Australian tournaments in the lead up to the Australian Open including the Sydney International and Kooyong Classic.

“Following the success of the Yahoo!7 Beijing Olympics site last year we will be taking a similar approach with our role as official broadcaster for the Australian Open. Our Yahoo!7 Australian Open Virtual Sports Stadium will be the only place that people can see extended video coverage following the matches being broadcast on the Seven Network – we will be the home of video footage of the Australian Open,” said Kath Hamilton, Audience Director for Yahoo!7.

“We will package up the best of the tournament for our audience and provide exclusive online footage of the matches, interviews and other on-court antics complimenting the Seven broadcast. People will be able to watch the tennis on TV and also surf online to get all the Australian Open content they need,” she said.

A range of advertising opportunities will be available. To visit the site go to: yahoo7.com.au/tennis

Source: Seven Network

Media Release

FlashForward star for Melbourne Cup

Sonya Walger

Channel Seven today announced it will bring FlashForward star Sonya Walger to Australia this November as it’s guest for the 2009 Emirates Melbourne Cup race day.

Walger stars opposite Joseph Fiennes and John Cho in the highly anticipated new US drama which premieres 8.30pm tonight on Seven.

This will be Walger’s second trip to Australia.

“I shot one of my first jobs, a TV movie, in Melbourne years and years ago, more than I wish to count. I remember coming back to England and telling Mum that if I ever I inexplicably disappeared, one of the first places she should look is Melbourne. I’m so excited about coming back, about seeing what I can remember and what has changed, about eating the outrageous food, and getting to wear a huge hat at the Melbourne Cup,” said Walger.

Born and raised in the UK, Walger attended Oxford University, where she majored in literature. Currently based in Los Angeles, Walger was most recently seen on Seven’s hit drama, Lost, as ‘Penny Widmore’. In FlashForward, she plays trauma surgeon, ‘Dr Olivia Benford’, who is married to FBI agent, ‘Mark Benford’ (Fiennes).

The US premiere of FlashForward last Thursday was watched by 12.4 million people and dominated it’s timeslot among adults 18-49 and total viewers. The new drama gained viewers from its first to its second half hour and was the first regular series telecast on any network to beat Survivor in the adult demo since Friends in 2004.

About FlashForward: When the world’s population is given a glimpse of their future, it forces everyone to come to grips with whether their destinies can be fulfilled or avoided. Adapting award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer’s revolutionary novel, executive producers David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (24, Star Trek: Enterprise) invite you to embark on a journey to answer the question, “if you knew what your future held, what would you do?”

Source: Seven Network

So now that we have a 24-hour sports channel, you can watch sport any time you want, right?

Well this Sunday, try and avoid it!

All you going to be able to watch is sport, no matter which channel you’re on!

In fact the only channel which isn’t showing sport is ABC.

Here’s what to expect this Sunday with solid blocks of non-stop sports programming.

SBS / SBS HD

12.00 pm – Cycling: Paris – Nice

1.00 pm – Speedweek: Roundup of Motor Sport

3.00 pm - 2010 FIFA World Cup Program

3.30 pm – UEFA Champions League Program

4.00 pm – World Cup Qualifier: Spain vs. Turkey

5.00pm – The World Game

Seven

11.00 am – 2009 Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships

1.00 pm – AFL: Melbourne vs. North Melbourne

Seven HD

10.00 am – AFL Game Day

11.00 am – 2009 Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships

1.00 pm – AFL: Melbourne vs. North Melbourne

Nine / Nine HD

10.00 am – The Wide World of Sports

11.00 am – The Sunday Footy Show

12.00 pm – The Sunday Roast

1.00 pm – WWE Afterburn

2.00 pm – Super League: Wakefield Wildcats vs. St Helens

4.00 pm – Sunday Night Football: St George Illawarra Dragons vs. Cronulla Sharks

Ten

12.00 pm – Forumula 1: ING Grand Prix

One / One HD

10.00 am – AFL: St Kilda vs. Sydney Swans

12.00 pm - Forumula 1: ING Grand Prix

7.30 pm – Sports Tonight

Here’s a list of sports for March to watch out for on Free-to-air TV, make sure to check your local guides:

14-15 Mar: Golf: New Zealand Open 12pm Ten

14-16 Mar: WGC: CA Championship 5am (14,15 March) 6am (16 March) Ten HD

15 Mar: NRL Round 1: Sydney vs. South Sydney 4pm Nine

16 Mar: Soccer: Rangers vs. Celtic: Scottish League Cup 1.45am SBS

16 Mar: NBA: Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns 12pm Ten HD

17 Mar- 22 Mar : Australian Swimming Championships, Live on Ten/ONE HD (Heats 10am, Finals 7.30pm daily) and highlights on Ten at 11.15pm nightly

20 Mar: NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles vs. Golden State Warriors 12pm Ten HD

20 Mar: NRL Round 2: Brisbane vs. Melbourne, South Sydney vs. Parramatta 7.30pm Nine

22 Mar: NASCAR Nationwide Series @ Bristol 5am Ten HD

22 Mar: NRL Round 2: Manly vs. New Zealand 4pm Nine

23 Mar: NBA: Miami vs. Detroit 1pm Ten HD

26 Mar: ONE HD launches at 7.30pm with 30 introduction program before launching into ONE with the AFL season opening game: Richmond vs. Carlton (in southern states) and the Swimming Skins (in northern states).

27 Mar: AFL Round 1: Geelong vs. Hawthorn 8.30pm Seven

27-29 Mar: Australian F1 Grand Prix: 27 March 12pm (ONE) 28-29 March 12pm (Ten)

27 Mar: NRL: Round 3: Gold Coast vs. Canterbury, West Tigers vs. Sydney 7.30pm Nine

28 Mar: AFL Round 1: Sydney vs. St. Kilda 7.30pm Ten/ONE

29 Mar: AFL Round 1: Port Adelaide vs. Essendon 3pm Seven

29 Mar: NRL Round 3: Dragons vs. Sharks 4pm Nine

30 Mar: NBA: San Antonio vs. New Orleans 11am ONE

Also, with ONE starting there will be such events as NCAA Basketball with the big 64 team tournament as try to get down to the final four. On Foxtel, there will be the big Indian Wells and Miami tennis tournaments, English Premier League, Super 14, Australians continue to play South Africa in the cricket and so much more. Enjoy.

As we end up heading into March and the footy codes are starting up. It’s time to wrap up February’s sporting action. We’ve had the A-League Grand Final, the Australian Open final, one day internationals between Australia & New Zealand, the NFL Superbowl & a whole lot more. The Australian Open final was a ratings hit for Seven with 2.26 million viewers averaged for the marathon match and a huge overall nightly win. The cricket was also successful for Nine but no way near as much. The 20/20 match ended up getting 1.62 million for the last cricket match of the summer. While, the Superbowl managed a decent figure in the daytime in 306,000 which will be able to give Ten some hope with their new sports channel, ONE HD launching on March 26th 7.30pm (more information in the next few weeks). For Pay TV, the A-League Grand final got 216,000, the highest rating for Pay TV that week. Click for more for a wrap-up of these events.

The Australian Open Men’s final was the first major event of February. The question was whether Rafael Nadal will be able to win a slam on the hardcourt and really hold a dominating spot over the world’s no.1. After over 4 hours Rafa was able to answer this with a dramatic 5 set victory. Nadal continued with his gritty, hard working playing style all through the match while Federer who looked to get on top of the match at the end of the 4th set, lacked confidence on the big points. It’s pretty obvious watching these two that Nadal has the complete mental edge. With Federer trying to equal or beat Pete Sampras Grand Slam record, he seemed nervous unlike when he was dominating at no.1, it is affecting him. It also doesn’t help that Nadal’s game style doesn’t suit Federer at all with Rafa’s top spin forehand crosscourt always kicking away and higher for Roger’s backhand, his weaker side. It is very tough to Roger beat Nadal in a major Grand Slam match now; it will be a true test for the career in the upcoming majors for the rest of the year and could separate to see whether he will be one of the greats or supposedly, the very controversial title “greatest of all time”.

The 5-match One Day International series between Australia and New Zealand ended up in a 2-2 tie. New Zealand won the first two games, giving them a chance to score a shock series win away from home. But the aussies were able to fight back to win the 3rd and 4th matches. The 5th match at the GABBA was rain affected and eventually abandoned after trying to get the minimum allowed overs in. This left the 20/20 match to be played which came down to an exciting finish with a 6 on the ball leaving New Zealand one run short. It capped off a great summer of cricket which faced a tough contest for most of it. It was straight to South Africa for the Australian where they won the 1st test against South Africa. Those test matches are continuing this month on Fox.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to win the Superbowl with a 28-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals. It was a close game where Pittsburgh where the leaders throughout till Cardinal quarterback Kurt Warner connected with Larry Fitzgerald for a late lead in the 4th quarter. The Steelers came back with a drive of their own finishing with a Santonio Holmes touchdown at the edge of the endzone. The Steelers were the first ever franchise with 6 Superbowl titles. Australian Ben Graham wasn’t able to be the first Australian in a Superbowl winning side. A lot flack came out of Channel Ten’s coverage. Why they thought Dave Hughes would a valuable member of the panel, I have no idea. Really, Sav Rocca, the punter for the Philadelphia Eagles seemed like he knew very little about the game since being over there. Only Ed Wyatt, a regular of Superbowl telecast and former commentator in the US was the only panellist to give valuable information. There really isn’t a need to replay each Ben Graham punt 5 times, it’s the last important part of the game. Anyway, the NFL will be back in September.

The A-League Grand Final was playing this weekend in Melbourne. It was rematch from the Grand Final of two years ago where Melbourne beat Adelaide 6-0. This time it wouldn’t be a blowout but the same victor occurred. Melbourne Victory winning 1-0 with a goal in the 2nd half. Controversial refereeing which gave a poor red card to Adelaide’s Christiano and then after the goal was scored, one to Victory’s Danny Allsop for a supposed headbutt of one of the Adelaide players not seen on camera. In the end, the sell out crowd were able to get what they wanted with the Victory win, the only team to have won 2 A-League titles.

That’s it for the sporting wrap. In the next few days, I’ll post a list of sporting events that are coming up in March and when they’ll be on TV. Later this month we will also get around to previewing ONE starting March 26th.

After the one-sided women’s final that Serena ended up winning 6-0, 6-3. The final we had been hoping for will be played tonight with the world’s no.1 Rafael Nadal playing world no.2 Roger Federer. In their first grand slam match on the hardcourt, it’s hoped that this final will be a classic much like the 2008 Wimbledon Final. Both have gone through different paths in their semis with Federer defeating Andy Roddick fairly comfortably, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5. Nadal on the other hand played the longest match in history of the Australian Open (5hr 14 min) beating countrymen Fernando Verdasco 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.  Who do you think will win? Coverage starts at 7pm in Melbourne, check you local guide for everyone else. I’ll given a little head-to-head preview of the final and also Monday’s Superbowl.

In 2008, Rafael Nadal really had the edge of Federer. He won Wimbledon for the first time, the title that Federer had won 5 times previously. He took the world no.1 crown off Roger. He won the Olympic Gold Medal. And Nadal won the last 4 matches that were all played in 2008.  However, none of those matches were played on hard and the last one that was played on hardcourt was a win to Federer in Shanghai in 2007. Rafa does lead the head-to-head 12-6. It’s a tough one to gauge this match as Federer has seemed to raised his level from 2008 where he was ill for a while and never seemed in full confidence. Rafa is still playing some great tennis and it’s easy to see why he is the world’s no.1.  But will the marathon semi-final have any effect on Rafa; one would have to think that as the match wares on, even with Rafa’s great stamina that it might get to him. Whatever happens, it will provide Channel 7 with some great ratings and sure another opportunity to promote their lineup for next week. I think Roger will win 4 or 5 sets. Roger is playing some good tennis, up to level of a couple years ago and while Rafa is playing the best he has on the hardcourt, Federer will eventually win and equal Pete Sampras’ 14 grand slams record. He wants to get revenge. Hope everyone enjoys the match.

The other big sporting event happening now is the NFL Superbowl in Tampa Bay. America’s biggest sporting event bringing in 100 million viewers in the States and many more worldwide. It’s not just about the football; it can also be about the entertainment. The ads are famous throughout the world, known for the incredible amounts that are spend on the making and for the advertising time. Hopefully Ten will show some of the ads. Also, there will be the famous half-time show, this time with Bruce Springsteen to be performing. Amazing to see how they transform the field into a concert arena and then change it back again all in the space of around 30 or so minutes. The actual game is much more important in my view and this will be the first Superbowl ever where there will be an Australian involved with Ben Graham in as punter for the Arizona Cardinals who take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sport’s showpiece. The story has been bounded around in the press this week, axed by the Jets twice and then again by the Saints, it’s incredible that he now has the opportunity to play in the Superbowl. The matchup between the two teams is about The Steelers defense and the Cardinals offense, especially their pass offense with quarterback Kurt Warner. I think Pittsburgh should be too strong, has one of the greatest pass defenses in the league but most of Australia will be on Arizona’s side. The game will also be on regular Ten & TEN HD starting from 10am, so if you haven’t had a chance to see the NFL in HD this year, this is your chance to watch whether you don’t have it or not. Also, will be interesting whether to see if Ten starting promoting their new sports channel, you have to think they will start soon.

Also, TEN HD starts showing NBA games from tomorrow morning. It’s Detroit vs. Cleveland at 6.30am on TEN HD. Hopefully the Basketball looks as nice in HD as the NFL does. So sports fans enjoy the next 24 hours, as it’s a feast of big sports action.

First of all, I’m sorry for not posting the last few weeks especially given how busy the sporting landscape is at the moment.  Since then TVAUSCAST has had a nice change to the website and it’s looking good with our little “Sports Central” to be able to keep everything sports related in the one place for you. I was at the Open last week and this one has been headlined by one player, Jelena Dokic who has captivated the public with her comeback and exciting victories. Sadly, it came to an end last night for everyone (and for Channel 7!) with a three-set loss to world no.3 Dinara Safina but it has given Australian Tennis some glimmer of hope.

On to the main story of the tournament and Jelena Dokic have had some dramatic victories over some top players giving Channel 7 figures that haven’t really been since only when Hewitt had his run in 2005. After her first round win over Tamira Paszek, she said she achieved her goal for the tournament. But this was the start of a fairytale. She beat 17th Anna Chakvetadze in a close 3 setter (Channel Seven averaging 1.435m for 7.30pm-10.30pm), a fantastic story, signaling that she could make it back on the WTA Tour. That was the small surprise as the Russian wasn’t in the greatest form but in the 3rd, young Dane Caroline Wozniacki who as the 11th seed had been rising the ranks and expected to be way too good for Jelena. She took the first set 6-3 but Jelena fought straight back in the next two sets with some brilliant shots and excellent timing that the top players would be proud of winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Figures for Seven were lower due to direct competition at 1.148m but still beating the cricket. It only got bigger from there.

Russian 29th seed Alisa Kleybanova upset crowd favourite Ana Ivanovic in the third round setting a fourth round clash with Jelena Dokic, something no one was expecting at the start of the tournament. A tough first set with both having their chances but Jelena won the first set 7-5. Alisa hit back with her unusual technique with her groundstrokes in the second winning it 7-5. At a set all, Jelena seemed like the matches have got to her and was losing 3-1 and 0-30 on her serve. Again, that fighting spirit that Australia had grown to love during the tournament she fought back to get it to 3-3. The match stayed close to 6-6; with Jelena rolling her ankle badly to give the match further drama but she didn’t do much damage and won that game to get it to 7-6. She pull off some amazing winners and finished off with a return backhand winner to win the final set 8-6 and giving Dokic a moment to remember forever. That match got seven 1.745m viewers and peaked well over 2 million viewers.

It then came down to Russian Dinara Safina, the world’s no.3 and last year’s Roland Garros finalist. She said she nothing to lose and she played like that and still with enough energy, especially after four long 3-setters. Safina got off to a quick start at 2-0 and then continued on after with the first set 6-4. The 2.316m viewers were able to see Dokic fight yet again with a 3-0 lead but Safina broke back to get it on normal terms and was serving at 4-5 before trouble struck. Dinara’s serve which had been a bit sketchy all night fell away serving 3 doubles faults, including two in a row to give Jelena the 2nd set. The third set was close with Jelena fighting back from an early break down to get it to 4-4 and had chances to go to 5-4 up but Safina stood strong and was able to close it out by breaking Jelena’s serve in the 9th game and holding to win 6-4 in the third. Dinara was almost apologetic in her on-court interview but was very happy to get through to the semis. But Jelena had given Australian tennis to be something to be proud of and the story of the 2009 Australian Open.

The rest of both draws, the men’s has a real strong year with 7 out of the top 8 seeds getting through to the quarters, the only player outside of that is Spaniard Fernando Verdasco who beat favourite And Murray and in the 4th round and now flashy Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He will now play Rafael Nadal in the semis after Rafa had a straight sets win over Frenchman Gilles Simon last night. That will be on Friday Night at 7.30pm. Nadal has a great Head-to-Head record over his countryman and you should expect that to continue. Verdasco might be able to get a set if he can continue to crack some winners like he has but Nadal isn’t a great matchup for him and he should be able to outgrind him. The other semifinal will between world’s no.2 Roger Federer, who embarrassed Juan Marin Del Potro the other night and Andy Roddick who beat Novak Djokovic who again retired in a grand slam match. I can’t give this guy respect if he is going to retire during a major grand slam match with what seems like minor issues. Anyway this Head-to Head is completely one with Federer leading 15-2 even though Roddick actually has the last win in Miami last year. The memory of the 2007 Australian Open semi against Roger might still be in his mind but Andy seems to be a different player losing a few kilos to gain some extra speed. Roger is playing too good tennis though and should prevail in a tight 3 setter. That will be on 7.30pm Thursday. The two women’s semis also start from 1.30pm AEST Thursday with Serena Williams playing Elena Dementieva. Serena was one game away from losing the match to Kuznetsova of Russia but she fought back like many previous matches at Melbourne Park. Elena has won 15 straight matches already this year and is hitting the ball beautifully. I suggest this might come down to nerves for Elena and her serve. It has improved and if she can keep that in order she should beat Serena like she did in Sydney the other week. An all-Russian affair is in the other semi afterwards between Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva. Safina has made one grand slam final while for Vera this is her first semi-final appearance in a slam. Tough choice this one, Vera is playing impressive tennis and finally has grown out of her issues she with her mental side of the game, who would sometimes cry if she were losing. Dinara is the higher ranked player but in scrappy form by her standards after being two match points down against Alize Cornet of France. Again this will come down to Vera’s mental capacity and can play the match like it’s any other. If Dinara can step up her level from her previous matches with a more consistent forehand, I see it being a tight match. Safina leads the head-to-head 5-4 but Vera was able to get all the 3 matches they played in 2008 and were all on hard. Most of the signs do point to Vera; it will depend on how she deals with it. Remember coverage starts at 11am with the women’s semis from 1.30pm Thursday.

I’ll probably just keep this blog to the tennis. Australia has lost the one-day series to South Africa in the cricket, not good signs there. Plus, we’ll have our first Australian in the NFL Superbowl with Former Geelong captain Ben Graham’s team, the Arizona Cardinals to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, to be shown from 10am on TEN and TEN HD. I’ll preview that this weekend along with the finals of the tennis. I think I might have rambled on a bit here but hope whomever reading is staying away from the hot sun and enjoying the tennis.

An unlikely upset has given the Australian Cricket team a wake-up call ahead of the traditional Boxing Day Test at the MCG. The 6-wicket win by South was the 2nd highest run-chase leaving the Aussies worried about their bowling stocks. Also on Boxing Day, if you enjoy watch a whole lot of boats racing each other you have the traditional Sydney to Hobart, not really my thing though I have to say. Manchester United wins the World Club championship and the tennis season is slowly starting to gear up.

A test that will be remembered as one of the best we have had in awhile. In the middle of the 5th day, the winning runs were scored to chase down one of the highest scores in the history of the game. The match had many ups and downs for both sides. South Africa were looking good in their first innings before their tail collapsed for very few runs. While, in the 2nd dig Australia’s top order failed and it took Brad Haddin and the tailenders to get the total to over 300 and leaving South Africa 414 to chase but with almost two days to do so. South Africa were able to step up with centuries to Graeme Smith & A.B de Villiers and helpful contributions from the others to lead tot he memorable win. This win in South Africa is being touted as one of the biggest wins in test history, knocking the long-standing no.1 team at their home ground. This counted as ratings success for Nine, with the primetime coverage each night (including till 10.00 on Saturday) bringing in nightly wins for the Nine Network. Coverage continues on Boxing Day at 10am on the Nine Network

The other traditional event that is on Boxing Day is the Sydney to Hobart. Sailing fans enjoy the 90 minute coverage starting from 12.30pm on the Seven Network to see the start of the race live. Updates will be given by Seven over the few days while the race continues to find out who will win it. I doubt anyone here watches it, I don’t understand the appeal of it either but is a brutal event especially if the conditions can wreck havoc as we have seen in the past.

Manchester United was able to win the Club World Cup 1-0 over Colombian side LDU Quito. Manchester United dominated much of the game but only one goal was scored for United to scratch home for the title. United will now have to go back to England to continue the English Premiership, tough work to go to Japan and back in the middle of the season. Jelena Dokic and Colin Ebelthite won the Australian Open Wildcard Playoffs to get entries into the main draw of the Open. Jelena Dokic also got a wildcard to the Brisbane International starting January 4 to be shown on seven. Next week I’ll preview the first week of the summer of tennis. Also, the final regular season of NFL continues on TEN HD with two games, one at 8.15am (Jets vs. Dolphins) and at 12.15pm (Broncos vs. Chargers) Monday. Still a bunch of teams wanting to get a playoff spot (I’m not going to talk about my Jets) but it’ll be interesting to see how it’ll go.

Next week we’ll continue with the cricket and preview the summer of tennis. Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you have a good one.

The South Africans are here and after a couple of weeks break, the summer of cricket now really gets going with almost non-stop cricket till February. The rivalry between the two sides has been tried to be built up and the hope is meant for an exciting test series. Channel Nine hopes this should turn into a rating success. While, the summer of golf finishes with another great finish even though this time it came to a few players choking for South African Tim Clark to with the Australian Open golf. By the way, anyone else sick of the Ben Cousins story?

The First Cricket test between Australia and South Africa started yesterday with the Aussies choosing to bat first. With the No.2 spot in the test rankings for South Africa, this has been built up as a battle between two of the top nations in Cricket and a lot closer than the series between New Zealand. And it is also a chance to see some of the players that we haven’t seen such as Dale Steyn who has impressed with his bowling so far. After a bad start for the Australians, and being at 3/15, Michael Clarke & Simon Katich were able to set a steadying partnership but weren’t able to consolidate with centuries. But solid work was done by all the rest of the batsmen, including the tail and were bowled out for 375 this morning. South Africa have found it easy going at 1/100 so far, so unless the Aussies can get a few wickets, South Africa might be able to get on top. The Perth test also equals primetime test cricket in the eastern states. Nine are very confident it will do well, so much so they have taken off A Current Affair for the cricket. Even though Today Tonight got a higher than usual ratings it still lead to Nine easily winning the night over the rest of the competition with a 31.7% share. Nine hopes that result continues as this first test continues through to Sunday, check your local guide for times.

The summer of golf has come to an end with South African Tim Clark coming out of nowhere to win, even Clark was surprised with the win. World No.42 Tim Clark is known worldwide as a top golfer so Clark winning is no surprise but how he got to it was. New Zealander David Smail led by 3 with 4 holes to play after sinking a crucial 8 footer for par. However, what would happen next was an absolute disaster. After hitting into the trees on the par 4 15th, took him 3 shots to get on the green for a long putt for par. 3 putting for double bogey, Smail hit into the trees again on 16th par 5 and then leaving a chip short to roll back off the green, it led to another double bogey for Smail who was now left one behind the already finished Mathew Goggin and Tim Clark. That is the way it would stay allowing Smail to be allowed to have nightmares for a while. The playoff looked to be heading Goggin’s way when he hit safely on the Green while Clark hit his second shot into the bunker on the par 4 18th.  Clark was able to get up and down for par while Goggin left himself with a 4 footer for par. To fit in with the choking story of the tournament, Goggin missed the putt for par giving Clark the championship. For the second week in a row, Goggin let go a chance to win, another chance wasted for the Tasmanian. Ratings for Seven actually did well but considering there was on competition, it’s no surprise. The final day got 494,000 much higher than anything else apart from TEN News but from what Sandy Roberts gave at the end, it should mean the end of golf on Seven. Where the Australian Masters and Open will be shown next year is unknown but you would suspect TEN.

For other sport, the Football Club World Championship has been on SBS with Adelaide losing to Gamba Osaka in the quarterfinals 1-0. While, it was a better effort than the two matches against them in the Champions League but they will be shattered to not get the chance to play against Manchester United. Ratings were solid considering it was on SBS with 154,000. The final will be shown on SBS on Sunday at 9.50pm. NFL continues on TEN HD Monday and Tuesday, my New York Jets get a game on TV against the Seahawks at 8.05am Monday. The New York Giants play the Carolina Panthers at 12.15pm Monday while the Bears try to keep their small playoff hopes alive against the Green Bay Packers at 12.30pm Tuesday.

Is everyone as sick of the Ben Cousins story as I am. I couldn’t care less about AFL in December so having it top story of the news for the last few days feels weird. It will be interesting to see how he goes when the season comes around. Enjoy watching sport on TV.  I’ll come back next week previewing the selection of Boxing Day sport.

I would suggest that these two sports would be a borefest for some readers here but the Australian Masters and Second Test between Australia vs. New Zealand were the choice for sport on the weekend. An exciting, drama filled Sunday at Huntingdale wasn’t enough for the dominant Cricket as ratings would suggest.

Even though there are no actual figures for the final round of the Masters, the Seven News/Nine News would give us a good suggestion considering the Masters went 5 minutes overtime into the news. Nine News was able to win by 150,000 viewers when usually Seven wins the News timeslot. The Cricket was able to average at 819,000, a top figure considering that’s spread throughout the day. I haven’t been able to find a figure for the golf but signs lead for the average to be a lot lower than the cricket. Those ratings would suggest that cricket had an exciting finish on Sunday but it was the other way round with Rod Pampling winning a three-hole playoff to defeat Marcus Fraser and win his first gold jacket. The back nine at Huntingdale always seems to produce magic finishes with this being no exception. Robert Allenby was leading coming into the final round but after another frustrating round with his putter, two successive bad bunker shots forced him into a double bogey at the 15th, ending a chance to win another Masters, this one he wanted so much for dying mother. It was really an odd and interesting piece of television, we really didn’t see his mother till that double bogey and afterwards on the next hole and after Robert knowing his championship quest was gone it was a sad sight for a few minutes capped off by brilliant camerawork on Robert walking up the 16th with his mother watching on in the background. You had to feel sorry for him even there were others still try to win. You could easily see that Seven wanted a story there and what they got was something completely different. A true sign that no story in sport can ever be fully predicted. Marcus Fraser shot a 65 to be tied at the end of the day with Rod Pampling forcing a playoff. Both got a par on the first, Fraser was able to force it to a third playoff hole with a 10 footer par putt and than wasn’t able to hole the putt half that distance on the third playoff win to give Rod Pampling his first major win in Australia since 1999. It was solid coverage from Seven, Wayne Grady was able to cover Jack Newton’s place well enough but that doesn’t transfer into ratings. Sweden was able to win the other tournament on FTA TV, the World Cup. Australia played well despite a poor final round finishing tied for third. The golf coverage continues on Ten this time with the Australian PGA Championship, first two days on Ten HD (started today) and then the final two rounds on standard Ten.

Australia was able to win the second Test with relative ease. After what was meant to be a great batting track, New Zealand won the toss and batted but was only able to get 270. Australia was able to almost double that score to get 534 with Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin getting centuries. The only fight came from Brendan McCullum in the 2nd dig with not out for 82 but New Zealand all out for 203 leaving Australia to win by an innings and 31 runs. Despite the easiness of the match ratings were solid throughout the weekend and must be looking forward to what they might get when with the expected to be much closer series against South Africa to start in a fortnight.

The Wallabies were able to finish their Spring Tour with a win over the Barbarians but a loss to Wales in the last seven days. The lost to Wales was a surprise, losing 21-18 with the Welsh converting one more penalty goal than the Australians. Injuries to Dunning and Kepu hampered their win over the Barbarians but they will now have the summer off to get ready for 2009. The draw for the 2011 World Cup also came out (Why so early?) with Ireland and Italy, said to be a great draw for the Wallabies. Who knows, in two and a half years time it might completely change.

The only other sport to keep an eye out is the V8 Supercars at Oran Park where they are saying goodbye to the track and the season. Jamie Whincup has the title almost wrapped up but if you enjoy your V8’s make sure to watch seven on Saturday and Sunday. The NFL also continues on Ten HD with 3 big games that can shape the ever-changing playoff picture. Pittsburgh takes on Dallas at 8.15am on Monday. The Sunday Night Football game at 12.15pm (Monday) has the Redskins against the Ravens. Monday Night Football on Tuesday at 12.30pm has Carolina versus Tampa Bay, which should be a huge game, winner could very well win that division (I wonder if anyone knows what I’m talking about). My New York Jets lost against the Broncos last weekend and needs to beat the 49ers to keep their division lead. Enjoying my NFL fix every week. See ya next week and enjoy sport on TV.

While Nine, who started their big summer of cricket last weekend with their HD broadcasts, look forward to solid ratings this summer. Seven on the other hand aren’t looking so crash hot. The once great broadcaster of Australian golf, is showing signs that this may in fact be their last year of coverage with the axing of a legendary commentator.

Thursday is the start of the Australian Masters from Huntingdale Golf Club, the 30th Anniversary of the historic event, which has showcased some of the finest golfers in the past with previous winners including Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer, Mark O’Meara, Craig Parry & Robert Allenby.

“The tradition continues”, Jack Newton, legendary commentator would say each year at the Masters but that tradition looks to be forgotten in many ways. Jack Newton was cut from the commentary team (told via email out of all things) giving the impression that Channel Seven is cutting their coverage of the golf forever, which has gone from about 6-8 Australian events to only two now with the Australian Open and Masters in the last few years.

Jack Newton will be very sadly missed as he and Sandy Roberts provided an insightful, interesting and fun commentary for so many years. While Sandy Roberts is a pretty horrific commentator when it comes down to other sports, him and Jack Newton worked perfectly together in broadcasting several of hours of golf that were done.

Hopefully, Channel TEN do the smart thing and are able to pick him up for their ever growing number of events. This year’s Masters commentary team is still headed up by Sandy Roberts along with former US PGA champ Wayne Grady, Lyndsay Stephen, Ossie Moore & Pat Welsh of course. I get the feeling this year’s coverage won’t have the same feeling that previous years have had. This is also the last year it will be held at Huntingdale, another tradition that won’t continue with the course now going to be changing between the Melbourne Courses each year.

Most of Australian stars head the field with Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, Craig Parry & Peter Lonard along some of the names with international star John Daly seeming to get all the pre-tournament hype, with that famous personality we know. Hopefully, Daly will be there in contention Sunday so the lagging crowds can be helped and maybe it can cut into some of cricket’s ratings, which it has been falling away from for years with Cricket more than tripling the amount of viewers at times of the golf.

Golf does need a good story and finish to come out of the Masters this week to be able to give it a look into Australia’s sporting landscape. SEVEN’s coverage begins 11.30am Thursday and continues with five and a half-hours of coverage each day for the four days. Golf fans also get a treat with two tournaments on FTA at the same time (that must be a first) with Golf’s World Cup on TEN HD, 2 golfers represent around 20 or so golfing nations for 4 days to see who is the best golfing nation, coverage is from china with 5 hours each day starting from 2.30pm Thursday (yes, Neighbours fans no HD broadcast for you).

Channel Nine’s cricket got off to a decent start with an interesting test at the GABBA. Australia was able to shake the losses from the India Tour and win by 149 runs. Even though it was a poor batting display from both teams apart from a couple of batsmen the test was gripping to watch as batters had to struggle with the conditions, especially during the first day with the swinging ball from the overcast conditions after all those storms Brisbane had. Mitchell Johnson was the man-of-the-match with his nine wickets for the test with the bowlers all with some figures. Simon Katich 131 not out was the standout highlight of the batting, lasting the full innings as other batsman fell alongside him.

Ratings were solid as always for NINE, the first two days were a little down but still great and a lot higher the mostly everything but Saturday killed averaging 877,000 for the day, demolishing the other channels. Hopefully the tests can be interesting as this one as the summer continues but maybe last a little long than 3 and a bit days. The second test in Adelaide starts on Friday.

For what was even better news for Channel NINE was the Rugby League World Cup, not because I watched most of a League match but it demolished the competition for Saturday with 1.24 million viewers tuning in helping them to a 32.2 share for the night. For what has been a fairly pathetic excuse for a World Cup, the final turned it on with New Zealand upsetting the overwhelming favourites Australia 34-20. I have to say, I will never understand the full appeal to either of the Rugby’s but it made for interesting sport to see the Australians get tested the way they did and to actually care when they lost (no Australian like Australia to lose to New Zealand in anything).

It’s the best thing NINE could of hoped for, Australia losing, wonder what the ratings result would have been had of it been another 40-0 drubbing by the Kangaroos. Surely many viewers would just switch off you would think. That wraps up what has been a long Rugby league season for NINE and with the English Super League in ’09, it’s going to be even in bigger in 2009.

The Wallabies continued their unbeaten run with a win over France, 18-13. France wasting a lot of chances with drop goals and penalty goals from their five-eighth David Skrela which in the end cost them the match. The tour continues with a match against Wales at 1am on Sunday Morning. Jaime Whincup won the V8 Supercar round in Symmons Plains, Tasmania. This should assure Jaime the V8 Supercar championship when they get to the last round in Oran Park, only needing 65 points for the championship. The round on Sunday got 380,000 viewers, not sure what the other channels got but you would think it won’t be that much more or less than the other channels got.

Not much else in the world of sport with UEFA Champions League continuing on SBS, teams trying to secure their positions for the knockout stage of the tournament. Watch all the highlights at 5.30pm Thursday plus the live game between Bordeaux vs. Chelsea at 6.30am. Plus, the NFL continues on TEN HD with the pick of the matches being the New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers on 8.15am on TEN HD, the race for playoffs spots continue. My New York Jets got a win over the unbeaten Tennessee Titans, allowing them to lead their division and looking good for playoffs. NFL on TEN HD has been consuming my Mondays these last few months. A “seriously” fun sport to watch (I felt like a bad pun).

That’s it for this week, next week we’ll review how the golf did against the cricket, I’m probably one of the five people in Australia watching the golf so I’m not expecting much. Enjoy you weekend of sport, couch potatoes!

Hey, I’m Matt and I will be doing blogs about sporting results, reviewing and previewing sporting coverage on TV and just discussing sport and TV in general. I’ll try and generally do a weekly wrap-up like this one but if any other major TV sporting news comes up I’ll try to cover it. Hope you guys enjoy it

This week represents the start of cricket season on Nine (I’m not counting that useless 20/20 last Friday) with the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba starting today. After the struggle that was the Indian Tour for the Australian Cricket Team, the more friendly Australian pitches are expected to help us out a lot more as we come in heavy favourites against New Zealand.

New Zealand struggled to beat minnows Bangladesh in a test match a few weeks ago so they will have to step it up to have a chance against the Aussies. Australia will be hoping the return of Andrew Symonds will give them the added spark that’s needed after the rather flat team that played in India. This new cricket season also represents the first time cricket will be shown in HD on Channel Nine. I saw a bit of the coverage on Friday and it does look amazing in HD, have to love the picture quality HD brings to sport. The usual team will be heading the coverage as always with Mark Nicholas, Richie Benaud & co. Say what you want about a few of the commentators but cricket in the summer wouldn’t be the same without them.

In sporting TV rights news, Nine has decided to buy the rights for the English Super League, the English version of the NRL. For 2009, Nine are supposedly going to show up to 70 Super League games and Nine Carnegie Challenge Cup games set for a 3-year deal. You would have to think that the majority of these games would be shown on their secondary channel with maybe some late at night games on their Normal channel. We’ll have to wait and find out what Nine’s plans for this.

As for sport last weekend, not too much happened. Australia smashed Fiji 42-0 in the semifinal of the Rugby League World Cup showing how much of a joke the competition, no surprise it rated so poorly in Melbourne. Channel Nine will have the final live on Saturday at 7.30pm between Australia vs. New Zealand, hopefully a bit more of a contest this time around. Rugby Union Spring Tour continued on Ten, with Australia beating England 28-14 and face France next Sunday morning at 6.30am on ten. A nice and bright early start for Rugby fans.

Last weekend also wrapped up Ten HD’s NASCAR for the year, one of the sports Ten picked for their HD channel this year. It has come under fire of coverage of the secondary nationwide Series missing couple of races and not showing races live in the Western States, hopefully they will step it up next year when they take this across to the new ONE HD. The cars do look incredible in HD and watching cars go around in circles is not as bad as it sounds (ok, I can pretty much watch any sport no matter what it is). Clint Bowyer took the Nationwide Series in an exciting last race on Sunday with Australian Marcus Ambrose able to finish 10th in the standings, he’s improving each year. Marcus is actually going to the top tier (Sprint Cup) next year and Ten do not have the rights to the majority of those races. Must be annoying for Ten considering the main reason they picked it up would be for following Marcus Ambrose. Also, this weekend is the second last round of the V8 Supercar series with coverage on Seven both Saturday and Sunday, Ford’s Jamie Whincup could clinch the title this weekend. Also, look out for Ten HD’s coverage of the NFL on Monday and Tuesday, I’ve become a bit of an American Football fanatic thanks to this, you also get to see ads for shows in America (without Ten realising it), I’ve seen quite a few ads for Chuck.

I’ve probably gone on a bit long but I hope you enjoyed it. So sit down on the couch this weekend and enjoy the start of the summer of cricket!

It’s only been a few days since the announcement, but already we’re starting to see the fallout from Network Ten’s new 24/7 sports channel, One HD, which will arrive early second quarter next year.

The biggest question being asked is, what will happen to all my Ten HD shows? You know, the shows that were shafted from their original home on the standard Network Ten channel.

Well, with One HD taking over, it appears as though all those Ten HD shows will once again disappear into the television void. Just when we thought “Hurray to Ten for showing entire seasons of Battlestar Galactica and Friday Night Lights“, they’re taken from us once again and we’re left thinking, “Sport? Who the frack needs that in HD anyway?”

We’re also left wondering, if One HD will be a 24/7 sports channel, what happens to all of Network Ten’s regular shows like Neighbours, Rush and Australian Idol which are all produced in high definition? The networks view seems to be “Dude, SD digital television is awesome – it like totally looks better than analogue, so quit your bitching’ yo!”

Now, while they may not have been so colloquial on their position, they haven’t seemed to have provided any solution at all for those people out there with 42-inch 1080p plasma screens who actually watch Neighbours (I know, there’s like five of them out there at the moment, but still).

The more serious question at the moment seems to be, and bear in mind if your not technically sound, this may bore you to pieces. How will Network Ten broadcast one HD channel and 2 SD channels over a 23mbps signal without reduced image degradation?

As it stands Network Ten current broadcast one HD channel and one SD channel. With the addition of an extra SD channel, the bandwidth for both the existing HD and SD channels will have to be reduced. In other words, the image quality on the current HD and SD channels will be reduced so that the extra SD channel will have reasonable image quality.

Our current digital television quality is already questionable (especially in high motion scenes), reducing it even future would be like going back to analogue. I exaggerate of course, but just exactly how many channels will our television signals be able to support without the picture looking like it’s made of lego?

One solution someone on the Ten.com.au forums pointed out was that they could end up broadcasting the HD channel in 720p rather than higher 1080i format like the existing channel, which would free up quite a bit of bandwidth. But with ‘HD’ in the name of the new channel, it’d seem odd to only broadcast in 1080i’s smaller, less developed HD cousin 720p.

I think Neo Kitten over at the DTV Forum has summed things up quite well, if you don’t have Ten HD you probably wont get it, but for those who do:

I can see clearly now my show has gone
The networks put all these obstacles in my way
I can see more money spent on broadband plans
It’s gonna be a big
Downloady day
Yeah it’s gonna be a big (big! big!)
Downloady day

It seems people want to embrace the new channel, but not at the expense of their current Ten HD programmes or reduce image quality, and until we receive some kind of clarification from the network, we’re all going to be left in a frenzy of confusion and frustration.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about Network Ten Holdings’ new free-to-air HD channel set to launch in early second quarter next year. The channel dubbed, ‘One HD’, will be a 24-hour sports channel. It will compete head to head with similar pay-tv subscription services.

The core programs are as follows:

• AFL
• Netball
• Commonwealth Games (New Delhi 2010)
• Cricket
• Formula 1
• Moto GP
• NASCAR
• Australian Rally Championship
• National Football League (NRL)
• Major League Baseball (NFL)
• National Basketball Association (NBA)
• Golf
• U.S. College Sports
• Tennis
• Swimming

The network will broadcast two extended editions of Sports Tonight daily. They also intend to air additional content such as – extreme sports, emerging sports and documentaries from time to time.

‘One’ will also be broadcast on the network’s SD channel 12, although it will be separately badged and marketed, and used to promote the premium ‘One HD’ channel. ’One HD’ will replace the network’s current ‘Ten HD’ channel.

To find out more about ‘One HD’, listen to the media briefing conference call below.

Download audio file (networkten_281008_1500.mp3)

Or read the press release here.

Okay, I lie.  We don’t really cover sport. We do promos though!

So here is Ten HD’s latest promo for their recently acquired rights to show American football.

Ten also plan to show one of the biggest annual television events on US television, the Super Bowl on both their HD and SD channels next year. Perhaps if NFL becomes popular enough, Friday Night Lights may eventually find a real home in Ten’s prime time schedule. We can only dream…

The NFL will air live for eastern states every Monday and Tuesday mornings on Ten HD.

When nine-year-old Lin Miaoke launched into “Ode to the Motherland” at the Olympic Opening Ceremony, she became an instant star.

“Tiny singer wins heart of nation,” China Daily sighed; “Little girl sings, impresses the world,” gushed another headline, perhaps in reference to Lin’s appearance on the front of the New York Times.  Countless articles lauded the girl in the red dress who “lent her voice” to the occasion.

But now it emerges that Lin was actually lent someone else’s voice, following high-level discussions – which included a member of the Politburo – on the relative photogenicity of small children.

The recording to which Lin mouthed along on Friday was by the even younger Yang Peiyi.  It seems that Yang’s uneven teeth, while unremarkable in a seven-year-old, were considered potentially damaging to China’s international image.

So we’ll let you decide, did you think this was the right thing to do?  Would you have cared if it was the “ugly” girl singing?

Give us a response with your views on this controversy.