Most watched programs:

1  NBN Evening News Sunday  NBN  114000

2 Sea Patrol NBN 111000

3 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 103000

4 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 96000

5 Spicks & Specks ABC 96000

6 A Current Affair NBN 90000

7 Big Dog Goodnight NBN 87000

8 House TEN 93000

9 Friday Night Football Sharks v Eagles NBN 82000

10 McLeods Daughters NBN 79000

Station ratings:

                    Week 29
2007     Week 29
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN                 33.9                     35.7                 35.4             36.8

PRIME             23.2                     23.0                 25.1             22.5

TEN                 19.6                     18.9                 17.4             19.5

ABC                 16.8                     16.2                 16.3             15.7

SBS                 6.6                        6.2                 5.8                5.5

Popularity: 1%

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

To the surprise of many, the Australian drama Sea Patrol stayed happily afloat in its third week on air, and brought Channel Nine within a whisker of beating Channel Seven. Prime time audience shares over the week were Seven 27.5 per cent, Nine 27.0 per cent, Ten 22.5, ABC 16.7, SBS 6.3.

The other factor in Seven’s current diminishment is Ten’s performance on Wednesdays, when it pulls Seven’s under-50 viewers over to Thank God You’re Here and House, leaving the geriatrics to Nine’s Cold Case and McLeod’s Daughters.

Fortunately for Seven, the ABC is eating into Nine’s elderly fan base on Sundays, drawing 1.3 million to the new season of Midsomer Murders. But with no Despos on Monday, and no form of talent quest on Tuesday night, Seven must be wondering if it will hold the line this week.

What Australia watched, week ending July 22
1 THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE Ten 1,858,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,830,000
3 SEA PATROL Nine 1,799,000
4 HOUSE Ten 1,754,000
5 60 MINUTES Nine 1,730,000
6 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,596,000
7 SEVEN NEWS – SUN Seven 1,594,000
8 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,587,000
9 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,565,000
10 GETAWAY Nine 1,544,000
11 SURF PATROL Seven 1,512,000
12 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,512,000
13 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,507,000
14 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,419,000
15 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,413,000

Popularity: 1%

Former Today Show host Jessica Rowe will make a return to television as a newsreader for Seven News and will appear on Dancing with the Stars.

Revealed in this week’s issue of New Idea, Rowe also candidly discusses her battle with post natal depression after the birth of her daughter Allegra Overton.

Rumours abound that Seven’s signing of Rowe is a bid to secure the services of her husband, 60 Minutes reporter Peter Overton.

Popularity: 4%

Media Spy reports that NBN’s news director Jim Sullivan has annouced his retirement after 22 years in the job.

NBN Announcement:

Australia’s longest serving news chief resigns

NBN News Director Jim Sullivan has resigned from his position after serving nearly 30 years with the company, 22 years as News Chief.

Jim began at NBN Television as a reporter in November 1977 covering a wide range of stories along with producing a number of documentaries including the Logie winning “A Day in Jail” – a program aimed at deterring young offenders.

Jim took up the position of News Director in March l985.

During the aggregation of regional television services, he steered the expansion of NBN’s Hunter region news service into a northern NSW viewing market now stretching from the Hawkesbury River to the Gold Coast and as far west as Lightning Ridge, with a potential audience of 1.9 million.

Along with developing the editorial aspects of the news Jim has focused on the use of technology to achieve a high level of efficiency. Collectively NBN News teams now produce around 20,000 local stories a year.

Today’s top-rating NBN 6pm News is still unique with an integrated one-hour bulletin containing local news segments tailored to six different viewing markets.

Prior to joining NBN Jim worked in Public Relations, newspapers and magazines.

His main focus was in motoring journalism, reflecting Jim’s strong motor-racing background. In l964, he won the first Australian Driver to Europe award and raced Formula 3 Brabhams and other cars in England.

In addition to being responsible for all aspects of NBN News, Jim has actively been involved in NBN’s major station initiatives of Drive Alive and Project Restart. Drive Alive is a one-of-a-kind, driver safety initiative – a unique series of documentaries and 30-second spots providing practical safe-driving tips to NBN viewers during the past 22 years.  Project Restart has promoted CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and the installation of community de-fibrillators.

“It’s been exciting and satisfying to lead such a great news team, and while I will miss being surrounded by such enthusiasm and professionalism, I now want to put my effort into some new challenges” Mr Sullivan said.

Popularity: 10%

Simon Canning | July 16, 2007, The Australian

ADVERTISERS hoping to come out at the top of search engine results may be forced to include video clips in their websites or risk being ignored.

With search engines such as Google and Yahoo being optimised to capture video content as well as keywords, Robbie Hills, managing director of WPP Group company 24/7 Realmedia, said advertisers using online search as a conduit to customers would have to consider making video a key part of their websites.

The warning comes as Google increases the influence of its Universal Search model, unveiled three months ago.

"Websites will now be competing against results from Google Images, Google Videos, Google Maps, Google Books and Google News, depending on the search term," Mr Hills said.

"Having a video thumbnail appear within a search result will undoubtedly increase the click-through rate for the listing, as pictures tend to draw the user’s attention.

"This could mean the top-ranked search result without a thumbnail could lose traffic to a second-placed search result with a thumbnail."

Mr Hills said that over time video would take more focus from search engines as more people accessed videos on broadband connections.

Video search results could be crucial if people were looking for particular products or brand names, he said.

"On YouTube.com there are already several clever users who post videos reviewing products and drive traffic to their websites by providing links through video clips," Mr Hills said.

Mr Hills said that the introduction of search covering video images as well as text had been slow. But to keep up with how consumers were expected to use offerings such as Universal Search, website owners needed to be begin preparing for it.

"The Google Universal results will be subtle to begin with, but as time goes on these results should begin to populate search results on a more regular basis," he said.

"It is still really early days, but at the same time we are going to see it more and more as it gains acceptance from users, so what we are recommending is that if you want to be competitive in your category you need to absolutely consider what you need to do on this front.

"It’s all about making sure your return on investment is going in the right direction."

Popularity: 1%

Source: Simon Canning, The Australian

INTERNET technology that almost brought the music industry to its knees is being turned on the television world, with some predictions that by the end of the year traditional TV could be rendered obsolete.

A handful of companies are preparing for a full-scale, global assault on the way TV is viewed through the internet, mixing the speed of broadband with the peer-to-peer file-sharing processes that helped launch the music piracy industry, and all of it bankrolled by international advertisers.

Joost is the name that has captured the most attention since it announced four months ago that it would begin beta trials of its 150-channel strong global TV network.

The Netherlands company was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of file-sharing system Kazaa who went on to create voice over internet protocol company Skype.

In late 2005 the pair and fellow investors sold Skype to eBay for $US2.6 billion ($2.9 billion) and began looking for the next gap in the internet market.

Zennstrom and Friis have set their eyes on breaking down international TV barriers by forming the Joost service, and some big-name entertainment companies have been convinced to come on board.

Viacom, Endemol, CBS, Warner Music, Ministry of Sound TV and Aardman Animation are just some of the large companies that have signed content agreements with Joost.

The US National Hockey League and the Indy Racing series – which runs the Indianapolis 500 – have also aligned themselves, signing global agreements for the sports to be carried by Joost.

Joost promotes itself as the ultimate video on demand aligned with all the interactivity of the internet.

The video feeds arrive with the same broadcast quality as traditional TV, quality that significantly outstrips that of YouTube, which was acquired by Google last year for $US1.65 billion ($1.88billion).

The broadcaster achieves this quality by using thousands of home computers across the world to deliver small chunks (called packets) of each broadcast, reducing pressure on a central server, otherwise known as peer to peer (P2P).

It’s the same system used by music pirates to share music files. However, with content agreements locked in with suppliers and the ability to allow or lock out regions on demand, the P2P TV system being developed is completely legal.

As a result, even in the trial stages, it has also proven attractive to advertisers.

Global brands that have tested campaigns on Joost include Coca-Cola and Nike.

Ian Gardiner, managing director of Australian-based Viocorp, helps companies run videos over secure closed networks but says the online TV revolution is unstoppable, particularly among young media consumers.

"The young people don’t know the difference between TV and computers, they don’t know the difference between interacting and not," Gardiner says. "The computer is like a fridge. If the broadcasters don’t react to it, they are going to be in trouble."

But while Joost is stealing all the headlines, two other bids are also under way to try to carve out the leadership position in global internet TV.

US-based Veoh is marketing itself as an online digital video recorder but differs from Joost in that, like YouTube, the public can upload their own content. Where Joost broadcasts content only from its own sources, Veoh allows people to record content from any source on the internet.

Also entering the fray is Ireland’s Babelgum. Babelgum Network launched its beta in March.

The initial worldwide broadband TV audience was 300 million and growing at 30 per cent a year, says spokesman Ian Hood.

"We have been very regionally focused in the early stages but are just about to take our message out to the world," Hood tells The Australian.

"Currently it is in the beta test stage, and rights owners are being invited to submit content for uploading and transmission to the beta testers worldwide."

Chief executive Erik Lumer says he believes Babelgum will prove a potent mix of what people expect from TV and the internet.
"It combines the best of the lean-back experience of TV with the interactivity of the sit-forward PC experience," Lumer says.

"At times you can just sit back and enjoy the full screen, high-quality streaming of your favourite content, (while) at other times you can use the interactivity and social networking facilities to personalise your experience and interact with other users.

"It is an environment in which everyone benefits: rights owners, viewers and advertisers."

Simon van Wyk, founder of Australian digital agency Hothouse, says P2P will be a game-breaker for TV.

"It is going to be a fundamental shift," van Wyk says. "It’s the long tail where we see the constraints of limited resource go away."

But while Joost, Veoh and Babelgum may be bad news for existing broadcasters, their arrival will be a boon to those creating content.

"Instead of having five options to sell your content, you have got limitless outlets for content," van Wyk says. "It is going to be a great thing for consumers as well. And I think they are going to arrive pretty quickly.

"If you look at the way consumers have adopted stealing content through BitTorrent and making that work for themselves, it a very easy jump for them to make.

"The barriers to that uptake are going to go away really quickly."

Having founded Dining Down Under as a traditional TV show aimed at free-to-air and pay-TV, Mr Cherikoff said one of the real innovations with Joost was that the online delivery of the program made it a more interactive and on-demand experience.

This allowed content providers to have links to sales offers, sub-categories and other options. "You can even click on a link that pauses the show and gives you the recipe (so) you can print, then resume the show," he said.

Popularity: 1%

Age of Conversation is off to a flying start in book sales and has been assisted by some invaluable media coverage in the last 48 hours or so.

This innovative collaboration has been covered already in the following media:

Fast Company (USA)
Business Week (USA)
Advertising Age (USA)
Big Biz Radio Show (nationally syndicated USA)
Social Computing
Media Post’s Marketing Daily
Marketing Prof’s Daily Fix
PSFK

Add to that 103 bloggers all writing and promoting the book and you have a very powerful campaign in action.

Once again the book is available for purchase at lulu.com/ageofconversation
It is available as Hardcover, softcover or e-book.

Popularity: 1%

SYDNEY: The first half of the 2007 TV ratings year has come to a close, with the Seven Network taking a clear lead in morning TV, news and current affairs and primetime viewing.

While overall viewing for the three big commercial networks has dropped, Seven has managed to minimise the damage the most, slipping back 1.9% against Nine’s 7.7% and 9.5% from Network Ten.

Seven has won 18 of the opening 20 weeks of the television year in total viewers, leaving the network with 29.2% of total people against Nine’s 27.5% and Ten’s 21.5%.

Seven, in typical fashion, was frank about its performance.

“Undoubtedly, others will come up with some spin on their first half performance. We’ll just say one thing. Seven is number one,” a statement to the media read.

While Nine is 1.7 points behind Seven, the network was positive about its result, adding that its second half schedule was strong.

Michael Healy, director of programming at Nine, said the network was pleased with its product offering for the remainder of 2007.

“We are confident that our mix of shows will hold strong appeal for our viewers,” he said.

David Mott, Ten’s chief programming officer, said he was “very comfortable” with the network’s performance.

“We knew the start of 2007 would be tough and it’s fantastic to be within one share point of our 18 to 49 [demographic] position at this time a year ago – which was of course a record year for Ten – and to have achieved that without 10 weeks of Thank God You’re Here in the schedule,” he said.

Of the top 20 rating shows in the first half, Nine secured the number one spot for Sea Patrol with 1.824 million viewers. Seven took the lion’s share with 12 of the top 20 programs with just two for the Ten Network.

Popularity: 1%

Is former Backyard Blitz chippie Scott Cam about to make-over Channel 9’s ratings chances this year?

The TV tradesman was certainly at the centre of industry speculation yesterday as the unlikely choice to head a rumoured new program on Sundays, which is set to take on Seven’s Weekend Sunrise in another morning slot showdown.

Cam, who remains a favourite with network executives, has been linked to the mooted project, which Confidential sources suggest would air from 7am to 9am, as a possible lead in to the embattled flagship current affairs show, Sunday – or as its eventual replacement.

The larrikin’s manager, Chris Giannopoulos confirmed when contacted yesterday that Cam had been earmarked “for three or four new programs at Nine, that would be slated for the second half of this year”.

“One is a news and current affairs-style show at the weekend which surfaced recently, in the last month,” the IMG spokesman said, “but nothing’s been finalised.”

Willoughby insiders said former Today show fill-in Kellie Connolly could been paired off with Cam, in any breakfast show spin-off.

The likeable bloke apparently tests well with TV audiences and managed to come to terms with his employers, signing a three-year deal with the network in December, just as his more acclaimed garden guru co-star Jamie Durie’s relationship with Nine was splintering.

A Channel 9 spokeswoman has declined to comment.

Source: The Media Spy

Check out this site for great advice on building your perfect life

Popularity: 1%

Finally, after a lot of hard work by Gavin and Drew, their brainchild book has been born. The Age of Conversation is in now available for purchase.

Some interesting facts and figures have emerged from the compilation of this book.

• There are 103 authors of the book.

• Countries included are USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Oman and India.

• In Australia there are 8 authors, 2 from Victoria, 5 from Sydney and myself here in Newcastle.

You can view a global map of the authors here.

The book is now being featured in the Advertising Age bookstore in the USA. after that esteemed journal interviewed Gavin and Drew last week.

TO BUY THE BOOK: Go to the official website or lulu.com/ageofconversation.

Finally, here is the most up-to-date listing and linking of the contributors to the Age of Conversation. There are some very interesting thinkers here, so take the time to visit their sites and see what else they have to offer:

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Luc Debaisieux
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Robert Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
G.Kofi Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg
CB Whitmore

Popularity: 1%