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Kevin Crease dies.

2007-04-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

From Australian-Media.com.au;

The face of Channel Nine in Adelaide, Kevin Crease, has died. He retired from his presenting role last month, after it was revealed he was suffering from cancer. Signs of trouble appeared in February, when his on-air colleague, Rob Kelvin, announced that he was "unwell".

The 71 year old was the first person to appear on Adelaide television over 47 years ago, and has co-presented the station's nightly news bulletin for almost 20 years.

Although Crease spent most of his time with Channel 9, he had also worked for Channel 7, Adelaide radio station 5AD, and Don Dunstan (former SA Premier) as his press secretary for 2 years in the mid 70s.

General manager of Channel 9 Adelaide, Mark Colson, said it was a "sad day for all of us" at Channel 9. The station has been inundated with calls since his departure from the news desk in February.

"He was such a part of the station, a legend not only to us, but all the Adelaide viewers who grew up with him in the last 47 years."

News Director Tony Agars said "He set the benchmark, he was a most generous man in all respects, willing to pass on his knowledge to those who worked with him.

"He loved nothing more than to work with the young reporters and others to encourage and help them on their way."

"Our thoughts are now with Kevin's family, particularly his son, Tom, whom he adored."

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Wow. I simply can't believe that the veteran of South Australian television has passed away, and that only a month ago he announced his retirement. Just a fantastic bloke who deserved to live for so much more longer.

RIP Kev. You'll be missed.

Two complete idiots. One argument.

2007-04-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

Whoever wins, we lose.

O'Reilly and Rivera, both Fox News Presenters, both complete idiots, argue like 6 year olds live on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News America.

Seven's 4.30 news, live from Syd... No Melbou... No wait, Sydney.

2007-04-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Remember how Seven decided to move the 4.30 news from Melbourne to Sydney, and decided to dump Rebecca Maddern for Mike Amor? We all know how that turned out. Mike bombed, and Samantha took over... But could it be that 7 have decided to bring back Rebecca Maddern? Is she back for good, or just filling in for Samantha?

It's a bit confusing; I can't see why they couldn't have gotten Bec to present from Melbourne instead of the commute to Sydney, unless she was already there.

Rove returns.

2007-04-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

You've got to admire his courage; only late last year his wife Belinda Emmett passed away, and Rove's already back on our screens- but without sounding insensitive, was the show any good? Was it an improvement on last year?

In short, it's hard to tell. Only early days, given the first show should have been expected to be a tad awkward, but I really think Rove handled himself well... Except for the first joke which was just terrible... But hey, that's our Rove.

The opener isn't good. It's a tad dull and boring, and just needs a voice over. It seems boring just having a music track, and having the hosts flash on screen, and the guests.
The new set looks good; maybe a bit too dark. But I'm confused with the city skyline on the screen behind Rove... It's the Sydney skyline, yet the show is located in Melbourne. Eh. I guess it'll shut the 'Melbourne centric' whiners up. I really like how they've gotten rid of the sofa area where Rove interviews his guests. They're now all interviewed at the desk, with the large sofa on the side of the set is where the past guests of the nights show sit, along with the co-hosts.

Speaking of which, to the co-hosts. Pete is great as usual, Carrie is good but only when she's reading the 'news'. She just doesn't seem funny being herself. Hughsie is good, even though he messed up from the start. Hamish and Andy... Uh... Can't say I've ever really been a fan of these guys, and I didn't change my opinion on them from tonights show.

The show also seemed a bit rushed, didn't really have too much of the token Rove random humour. No 'What the...?' which is a disappointment.

All up, for his first night back, I'll give the show a thumbs up. I think it's got a long way to go before it's classed as great viewing, but from tonight I'd say it's starting to look better than the previous seasons.

Changes on Today.

2007-03-31T06:53:00.000-07:00

In a Mediaocre exclusive, I can reveal that in May the Today Show will undergo another host reshuffle... with, wait for it, everyone's favourite Richard Wilkins taking over the role of male host, and Gian Rooney taking the female host position.

News and sports presenters will remain the same. So, is this enough to top Sunrise? God no. These choices are pathetic. What the hell are Nine thinking?

edit: Geez, some people need to learn to highlight text :P.

2007-03-31T03:27:00.000-07:00

Kath and Kim head to Channel Seven.
More from Australian-Media.com.au.

Well, all I can say is that wasn't expected. The ABC would be horrified by the fact they've lost one of their most recognised and most popular programs moving to a commercial network.

Hopefully, the series doesn't tame itself down. Seven would be stoked.

AFL on Ten.

2007-03-31T02:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the open used for Saturday Night Football on Ten; looking fantastic, compared to the dismal effort by Seven; "Come and see the real thing".

Ergh.

Footy's back... On 7.

2007-03-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

You know the footy is back on when you see Ben Cousin's getting his daily exercise;
Er, anyway, 7 has the AFL back, so I figured I'd tune it and watch seeing what it's like compared to 9 and 10 coverage. I'll admit, I'm not an avid football viewer- I watch a few games here and there that interest me, and whenever I think Port will lose... So really, I guess you could take my opinions as a grain of salt.

First of all, what the hell is up with the desk?Compare that to the desk Nine use to have;
That cap is from whatsonthetube.net; another great TV blog. Anyway, comparing those two, I know what one I'd much rather. But hey, maybe I'm overreacting; it is just a desk after all. So let's get to the other stuff.

The graphics are so-so. I really don't like the scoreboard in the bottom left hand corner. It just doesn't fit well down there. Shove it up top in it's traditional spot. The rest of the full screens seem kind of bland and generic; they're basically the same as the regular 7 Sports graphics, except they're more red. I also often see some pre year 2000 style of graphics when 7 previously screen AFL; maybe that's just me.

Now, the coverage itself... I felt there just wasn't enough camera angles being used. I don't want the same view for 20 seconds straight... It's a fast game. As for the commentators, McAvaney is great, though he seems to be dry compared to what he used to be. Maybe just age caught up with old Brucey. Schwarz is just terrible. Adds nothing, and God is he awkward. Cometti is always a champ, no probs there.

So, what's the verdict? Seven's coverage isn't as bad as some make it out to be... It's just not as good as it was, and for me it's not up there with Nine or Ten.

Add your thoughts by commenting on this entry.

The Advertiser giving us the 'hard' news...

2007-03-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

Maybe the police reporter is a work experience boy? I can just imagine the morning meeting; "We'll have a page devoted to the guy who got his cock stuck in his machinery!"

Big Bloody Bother...

2007-03-29T03:33:00.000-07:00

You'd be forgiven for forgetting that the new series of Network Ten's Big Brother starts pretty soon. Am I looking forward to it? Not really. Am I looking forward to the controversy it causes? Definitely.

It seems that every year Big Brother is screened, there's a huge controversy which seems to get bigger as the series continue. Whether it be some dude slapping his dick on a females shoulder, housemates having 'sex', females waking up with a scrotum in their face...
And every year, the same cycle of anger occurs. Family group is deeply offended, calls talk back radio, writes letters to newspapers, who in turn feature a full page editorial about how our children are watching people doing sexual activities on free to air television, Government takes notice and slaps Ten on the wrists, who then decide to tone the program down.

Maybe this year that wont be happening; uncut wont be on, and apparently the housemates this year are mature, and wont flaunt their bits around on national television.

Is this a good or a bad thing? I guess it's good on some terms... But we'll be missing out on the idiot soccer mums whinging about their children being able to see naked people on TV. Of course, these parents are the lousy type who can't, you know, turn the TV off. We'll miss the religious groups who slam the producers and housemates, and most of all... Johnny Howard may actually take back what he said last year;

"Get this rubbish off the air."

Johnny, I'd rather watch a bunch of young people argue about what they're having for dinner, than watch a bunch of grey haired politicians argue like little school boys about their new super dooper policy, while they interrupt each other, tease each other, call each other names...

All this talk has given me an idea; Big Brother Parliament House anybody?

First whine...

2007-03-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

Cable news is suppose to be full of action, breaking news, busy newsrooms, amazing footage... Somebody forgot to tell Sky News Australia this.

At 10:45pm, a private ship crashed into a JetCat ferry underneath the Sydney harbour bridge. Sky News mentions this at about 11:30pm. Fair enough I guess, no deaths reported so far yet.

At about 12am, a death is confirmed, and Sky get a phone interview with a witness on another boat. No footage, no reporters. Okay, it's starting to seem lazy now, but I guess everyone has headed home since it's 12am.

After a short phone interview, Susanne continues with the rest of the news. Obviously, Sky aren't paying much attention, so I refresh news.com.au a few times every 5 minutes.

I watch the death toll rise to 2, 3, ... What does Sky News have for us? A repeat of the 12am bulletin, with outdated information saying how only 1 person has died. Oh, but they do have an updated super saying how 3 are now dead.

As I type this, 3 people are dead, 2 are critical in hospital, and three people are still missing. It's feared that 8 people may die.

So, does Sky News think this isn't important enough to keep the Susanne behind another few hours, and call in the first edition presenters early? This is an important, and tragic story... and what do Sky News dish up?

Pure, amatuer shit.

So I'm sitting here on my computer, refreshing news.com.au still, trying to find out more information.

Sky, get with it. If you think you're a cable news channel, you're kidding yourself. You're coverage was an embarassment.

I thought the relaunch of Sky News Australia in May last year was the turn around for Sky, increasing it's quality...

Guess I was wrong...

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