Mel Andersen has left Sunshine Coast’s SEA-FM and MIX-FM to join the NXFM and KOFM stable in Newcastle as Assistant PD. She replaces Kerryn Atkinson. Mel will eventually take over the 9am to midday shift.

Popularity: 1%

Most Watched Programs:

1  State of Origin Game 2 – Match  NBN  93000
2 State of Origin Game 2 – Post Match NBN 75000

3 Prime News Monday to Friday PRIME 72000

4 State of Origin Game 2 – Pre Match NBN 65000

5 60 Minutes NBN 65000

6 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 60000

7 NBN Evening News Sunday – Newcastle Flood Special NBN 59000

8 It Takes Two PRIME 56000

9 Deal or no Deal PRIME 51000

10 Where Are They Now PRIME 51000

Station Ratings

                Week 24
2007     Week 24
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN             32.0                 34.2                     30.8             32.8

PRIME         31.8                 26.6                     31.7             29.6

TEN             18.9                 20.0                     19.8             20.5

ABC             12.9                 11.7                     12.7             12.4

SBS             4.4                   7.5                       5.0               4.6

Popularity: 1%

Most watched programs:

1  NBN Evening News Sunday – Newcastle Flood Special  NBN  192000
2 State of Origin Game 2 – Match NBN 182000

3 State of Origin Game 2 – Post Match NBN 149000

4 State of Origin Game 2 – Pre Match NBN 135000

5 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 122000

6 A Current Affair NBN 114000

7 Big Dog Goodnight NBN 104000

8 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 103000

9 1 VS 100 NBN 93000

10 What’s Good For You NBN 91000

Station Ratings

                       Week 24
2007     Week 24
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN                 39.4                     37.6                     35.3             36.6

PRIME             22.8                     19.6                     25.6             22.5

TEN                 17.5                     18.1                     17.0             19.7

ABC                 15.8                     14.8                     16.3             15.8

SBS                 4.5                      10.0                      5.7                5.4

Popularity: 1%

Simon Canning, Marketing writer, The Australian June 18, 2007

THE Ten Network could earn revenue from advertisements run on rival networks with an innovation allowing advertisers to link specific ads to direct-response mobile and text numbers.

Ten hopes to have up to a dozen major brands using the system when it goes live next month.

The deal, which is being done through Ten’s long-time Big Brother and Australian Idol partner, Legion Interactive (which last week merged with ad agency See to become Belong), could also see Ten earning revenue from ads run on rival networks when consumers respond to them.

Ten has licensed from Legion the system which enables advertisers to prompt people to send text messages to dedicated phone numbers to get a response. A similar system run by European-based TXT4 launched in Australia earlier this year and has been trialled with a handful of clients.

However, the Ten system is the first launched by a specific network for its advertising clients.

Peter Birch, Ten’s head of digital sales, said he had been working with a similar system in Britain for the past five years.

"This will allow advertisers’ spots and sponsorships to be fully interactive," Mr Birch said.

"At the time I left the UK (six months ago) we were probably running in excess of 30 mobile campaigns a month. I have got probably seven clients signed up at the moment, but I have not got the insertion orders signed."

He believed consumers were now willing to seek more information by using text messages, and a response was more likely than using a TV commercial to prompt someone to log on to the internet because many viewers now watched TV with mobile phones within easy reach.

While Mr Birch declined to put a price on the cost of such interactive campaigns, he believed advertisers would fund them through shifting budgets from other media, rather than increasing their budgets.

"What we are doing here is we are giving the advertiser the opportunity to exploit what we do as a broadcaster. We are letting them say if you want to get a brochure (or) want to find out more, you can without getting up from the telly."

Mr Birch said he believed texting and mobile phones had reached acceptance levels that allowed them to be considered a mainstream form of marketing.

"My father sent me a text the other day, and trust me when I say when John Birch embraces a new medium you know it has hit mainstream and is no longer niche. We are saying to advertisers you are foolish if you don’t dip your toe into this area and see what mobile can do for you."

The system devised by Belong allows consumers to respond to ads by sending a text for the cost of a local call, but advertisers will also be able to underwrite the call cost if they so choose.

Ten earns a percentage of each response as a part of the package, meaning advertisers could conceivably run the Ten ads on other networks while at the same time driving revenue to Ten.

Popularity: 1%

Usually an Origin week is enough for Nine to win the National TV Ratings, but this week proved an exception to the rule. Sydney and Brisbane viewers follow the biffo religiously, but their support last Wednesday was not quite enough to counterbalance the Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth support for AFL on Friday and Saturday.

In the end, Channel Seven won yet another week, averaging 28.3 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 27.9 per cent. SBS is holding its own on 5.5 per cent, thanks to repeats of Mythbusters, Inspector Rex and South Park. If it could manage to find just one new show, it could soar.

Channel Ten got a healthy 23.7 per cent, thanks mainly to NCIS and The Simpsons, and hardly at all to Big Brother.

The ABC is flourishing on 16.5 per cent, thanks to Spicks and Specks, the Chaser, the crime series Taggart, the surprise Tuesday night hit Choir of Hard Knocks (getting 1.1 million against Seven’s blockbuster It Takes Two) and rising support for its news (now averaging 1.1 million viewers a night).

What Australia watched, week ending June 16

1 STATE OF ORIGIN 2ND MATCH Nine 1,961,000
2 SEVEN NEWS – SUN Seven 1,684,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,612,000
4 IT TAKES TWO Seven 1,604,000
5 60 MINUTES Nine 1,540,000
6 SEVEN NEWS – SAT Seven 1,530,000
7 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,516,000
8 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,468,000
9 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,447,000
10 RPA WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Nine 1,427,000
11 1 VS 100 Nine 1,425,000
12 GREY’S ANATOMY Seven 1,390,000
13 GETAWAY Nine 1,383,000
14 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,373,000
15 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 1,350,000

Source: SMH.com.au

Popularity: 1%

News.com.au continues its coverage of the ongoing backstage drama at the Nine Network amidst programs being axed or considered for the chop, severe pay cuts and instability at the network that up until now has dominated the TV landscape for most of its 51 years.

Following the recent dismissal of Alan Jones from Today and the cancellation of The Catch Up and Bert’s Family Feud, the new controllers of the network, private equity firm CVC, are looking at other areas to trim costs.

Believed to be headed for severe pay cuts are big names such as Ray Martin, Mike Munro and Bert Newton – all currently with big salaries but little on-screen presence.  Former CEO Eddie McGuire is believed to be safe despite his $4.7 million annual pay packet.

Budget cuts are also expected to target 60 Minutes and A Current Affair and both versions of The Footy Show, while the 25-year-old Sunday is believed to be headed for the axe following plunging ratings up against Weekend Sunrise on Seven.

A producer within Nine summed up the mood “This is a terrifying place to be working at the moment, nobody feels safe.”

Full story: News.com.au

Popularity: 1%

Three American television series were nominated as the world’s most popular television shows of the past year: CSI, Desperate Housewives and The Bold and The Beautiful.

NEWS.com.au reports that ratings firm Eurodata TV Worldwide has found that CSI has drawn 79.9 million viewers world wide, beating its sequel CSI: Miami as the world’s most popular TV drama series. The two series air on the Nine Network in Australia.

In the TV comedy category, Desperate Housewives (which airs on the Seven Network) attracted 70.2 million viewers worldwide, beating Monk and Mr Bean.

The Bold and The Beautiful, with 24.7 million viewers, was the most popular soap, against two Colombian soaps El Cuerpo des Deseo and Pasion de Gavilanes. Bold and The Beautiful airs on the Ten Network.

The figures, based on ratings in 48 countries with a potential 2.5 billion viewers, were released by Eurodata and the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

Popularity: 1%

The Courier Mail has speculated that further changes at Nine are on the horizon after the beleaguered network lost more personalities and programmes this week.

The latest murmurs suggest Footy Show stalwart Paul Vautin could be shown the door next year as the station’s foundations are shaken by new owner CVC Asia Pacific.

This week saw the troubled daytime chat show The Catch-Up axed, and its creator Mia Freedman walk out on the station 12 months after being hired by former CEO Eddie McGuire.

Radio broadcaster Alan Jones was also a victim of Nine’s shake-up, with the axeing of his commentary segment on the Today show.

It is believed that the new controlling owners of Nine are seeking a profitable network above all else, whereas the late Kerry Packer desired a network that influenced the national landscape at any cost.

Popularity: 1%

Media Hunter understands that the Newcastle Herald is preparing an investigative story on Bill Caralis and his Newcastle radio stations 2HD and NEWFM.

A Herald journalist has been contacting former Caralis employees to gain an insight in to the workings of the reclusive regional radio mogul, who owns around 35 stations in NSW and southern Queensland.

Since purchasing the two Newcastle stations in the late 1990′s Caralis has seen a procession of high profile staffers come and go and experienced a dramatic fall in ratings. The two former high flying stations now languish well behind in the ratings race, with 2HD a distant 3rd and NEWFM 6th behind 1233ABC and JJJ.

Countless former staff have since moved onto greater success. Ex-General Manager Goerge Liolio is now head of the Newcastle Jets A-League team. Ratings winners David Collins and Tanya Wilks departed soon after Caralis purchased the station and soon were heard on KOFM where they have enjoyed enormous success. The nucleus of NXFM high rating breakfast show came fom the NEWFM stable. Cameron Williams left the 2HD breakfast slot and is now part of the Today show on the Nine network. Carlee Potter has enjoyed ratings success with NXFM. Gavin Morris is now seen daily on Foxtel’s Weather Channel. Kristie Atkins went from Afternoons on 2HD to be NSW Marketing Manager for Greater Union. Warren Moore (now Kristie Atkins husband) is on air in Sydney radio. Gary Harley took his rugby league broadcast to KOFM when 2HD lost the rights to call the games. Frank Barrett followed soon after. Ex-sales reps and managers are found throughout the Newcastle media industry.

It was recently alleged on media website MediaSpy that 2HD and NEWFM have been operating without a trained technician for several months now which could be a breach of the broadcasting regulations.

We await the publication of the story with great interest.

Popularity: 10%

As predicted last week on Media Hunter the Nine Network’s struggling day-time program The Catch-Up has been cancelled, with the last episode to air this Friday.

NEWS.com.au reports that staff involved with the show were informed at 1pm yesterday as the show finished that the show would not continue. This follows the resignation of creator Mia Freedman from Nine and sister company ACP after 16 years.

The axing of the show is another step in new owner CVC Asia Pacific’s plans for the network, which included the dropping of 2GB breakfast presenter Alan Jones’s morning monologue on the Today Show.

The program, modelled after the American ABC network’s The View, premiered in February, controversially replacing The Young and The Restless, which moved to Foxtel’s W channel.

The program was hosted by Libbi Gore, who headed a panel including radio presenter Zoe Sheridan, author and documentary maker Mary Moody and Lisa Oldfield, outspoken conservative and wife and member of One Nation co-founder David Oldfield.

The program has suffered dismal ratings, and was even dropped by Nine’s main regional affiliate WIN, albeit in a battle over program supply agreements and control of at least two stations.

The Catch-Up was shown on NBN in northern NSW.

Popularity: 5%