MEDIABLAB DAILY DIGEST APRIL 24: MORE MURDOCH MUCK; CONDE NAST LAUNCH; DIGITAL RADIO AUSTRALIA
April 24th 2008 03:03
YET ANOTHER ROUND OF AMERICAN REPORTING FRENZY ON THE DOINGS OF YOUNG RUPERT
MediaBistro reports, “Rupert Murdoch is moving to tighten his already-imposing grip on American news media, striking a tentative deal to buy his third New York-based paper, Newsday, and getting his first chance to appoint the top editor of The Wall Street Journal. His US$580 million bid for Newsday and his urgency in remaking the Journal worry his competitors and cause angst in many newsrooms, including his own.
Editor & Publisher notes that the Newsday sale could raise big antitrust issues, and reports that newsroom union members at The Wall Street Journal are looking at the resignation of managing editor Marcus Brauchli as the loss of "a buffer who would maintain editorial independence."
Columbia Journalism Review comments that Brauchli's exit “is the end of the beginning of the end of what made the Journal so special.
Gawker notes that Murdoch is rushing to consolidate his empire because of newspaper publishing economics; the broader synergies available to a media group with heightened political influence; and mortality.
New York Observer reports, “When Murdoch takes over a newspaper, he doesn't take much time to get things done. It can look slow at first –
the preparations for war are often quiet, faraway strategic affairs involving a rather small magic circle, after all. But when it starts, it's Shock and Awe.”
BEST AUSTRALIAN RADIO AD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
The best Australia radio ad of 2008 will be battled out between 50 ad agencies and radio stations as part of the national Siren Awards, which will be announced in Melbourne on May 9.
The finalists include some of the best known advertising agencies in Australia including DDB; Saatchi &Saatchi Australia; Clemenger BBDO; Grey Worldwide; Leo Burnett; George Patterson Y&R and JWT as
well as boutique agencies like Eardrum Australia, AJF Partnership; Smart and KWP! Adelaide.
Radiostations represented among the finalists include Nova 106.9 Brisbane; DMG Perth; Macquarie RegionalRadioworks and Australian Radio Network in Sydney.
The national Siren Awards, now in their fifth year, are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. The awards promote the importance of creativity as
a way to make radio advertising more effective. The Gold Siren winner receives a trip for two to the Cannes Advertising Festival and entry into the 2008 Cannes Radio Lions to be held in June.
Last year’s Gold Siren winner, an advertisement for Snickers called “Hoedown”, won the Grand Prix Radio Lion at Cannes – equivalent to the best radio ad in the world – and was the first Australian winner ever.
The other radio winner from Australia was a campaign for Foxtel, written by Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydneywhich won a Silver Lion.
Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and this year had received a record number of entries.
“Each year the Siren Awards continue to raise the bar in terms of creativity and originality and with a record number of entries this year – over 570 – up nearly 90 percent on last year - we are set for a great winner,” Ms Warner said.
2008 Siren Award Finalists
SINGLE
303 Group, Perth, Dav Tabeshfar, IKEA, Hearing Test Belgiovane Williams Mackay, Sydney, Damian Fitzgerald and Derrick Kim, WACD - Working Against Culpable Driving, PoliceRadio
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber, Transport Accident Commission (TAC Victoria), Speaking For Everyone
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Paul Reardon and Julian Schreiber, RACV Financial Services, Disclaimer
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Ant Phillips and Richard Williams, HBA, Tight Dress
Clemenger BBDO, Sydney, Gary Dawson and Rocky Ranallo, St. Vincent de Paul Society, EVICTION!
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk and Jon Williams, Commercial Radio Australia, Restaurant
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk and Jon Williams, Commercial Radio Australia, Time and Place: Teaser Week One
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Connor Beaver and Ben Keenan, Sustainability Victoria, Lost and Found – Male
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Kirsti Lewis and Sabina Schaare, Flower Growers of Victoria, I'm Sorry
KWP! Adelaide, Greg Aldous and James Rickard, The Advertiser, Valentine’s Day
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon, Beerka, Shopping Trolley
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon, Beerka, Urinal
Leo Burnett, Sydney, Kate Burt and Nils Eberhardt, World Wildlife Fund, Prank Call
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Frances Webb, SCOPE, Do I Sound Different to You?
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney, Connex, No Pauses (Man)
M&C Saatchi/ Mark., Josh Bryer and Hamish Stewart, Sydney Dogs & Cats Home, New Trick
Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, Sydney, Vince Lagana and Jason Ross, Foxtel - Crime & Investigation Network, Emergency –
Stabbing
SMART, Melbourne, Mal Chambers and Scot van den Driesen, Melbourne Airport, Corey's Party Hotline
CAMPAIGN
AJF Partnership, Melbourne, Andrew Foote, National Foods, Big M Double Strength
AJF Partnership, Melbourne, Joshua Stephens, J Boag & Son, Beer First
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Ant Phillips and Richard Williams, Sorbent, Scrunch or Fold
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Ant Keogh and Grant Rutherford, Carlton, Carlton Draught Advertising Computer
DDB, Sydney, Justin Carew, Charlie Cook, Ed James and Simon Johnson, NAPCAN, Children See Children Do - Alcoholic/
Football/ Husband/ Racist/ Traffic
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk and Jon Williams, Commercial Radio Australia, Time and Place
George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne, Ben Couzens and Jim Ingram, Fosters/ VB, Magnificent Balls/ Disclaimer/ Promo
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Connor Beaver and Ben Keenan, Sustainability Victoria, Bin Your Butts – Lost and Found
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Brendon Guthrie and Tim Holmes, Open Family Australia, Open Family – Junk Food/ Hits/ Monsters/
Dreams
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Kirsti Lewis and Sabina Schaare, Flower Growers of Victoria, I Fancy You/ I’m Sorry/ I Miss You
Human / Eardrum, Sydney, Geoff Reid/ Justine Metcalfe, Geoff Reid/ Ralph van Dijk, NRMA/SGIO, NRMA/SGIO Business
Insurance
JWT, Melbourne, Roger Nance and John Skaro, Ford, Getting Burnt/ Wuss/ The Runs
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon, Beerka, Great Beer Inventions
Lifelounge, Melbourne, Laura Hunter, Daniel Pollock and David Ponce de Leon, Department of Human Services Victoria, ice. It’s a
dirty drug
Marmalade Communications, Melbourne, Dan Forrestal, Neil Mallet and Frank Trobbiani, Metlink, Buses
Nova 106.9, Brisbane, Cindy Donato, Greenbank RSL, Oh Sarah
Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, Sydney, Vince Lagana and Jason Ross, Foxtel - Crime & Investigation Network, Emergency
CRAFT
Australian Radio Network, Sydney, Gregg Sinclair, Jo Campbell, Black Widow, Black Widow Trackers
Best FX, Adelaide, Scott Illingworth, Pete Best, The Advertiser, Shower Timer
Brainestorm Productions, Perth, Marty Braine, Ron Samuel (Cooch Advertising), Rent Rescue, Shower
Cutting Edge, Brisbane, Ross Batten, Kelly Denning (Make), Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Snore
Cutting Edge, Brisbane, Ross Batten, Rem Bruijn (Make), Brisbane City Council, Do Something Cool
Cutting Edge, Brisbane, Ross Batten, Rem Bruijn (Make), Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Mutha's Day
DMG Radio Australia, Perth, Matt Dickson, Client: Paramount Pictures, Cloverfield
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Jason Williams (Leo Burnett), Beerka, Great Beer Inventions
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Paul Reardon and Gus Johnson (Clemenger BBDO), HBA, Dentist (Dinner)
Macquarie Southern Cross Media – HotFM/ Radiowest, Perth, Jerimiah Busniak, Simon Healy, Paddy’s Ale House, Paddy’s Ale
House
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Dylan Stephens, Doogie Chapman (M& C Saatchi), ANZ, ANZ, Financial Planning, "Ageing Woman
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Dylan Stephens, Doogie Chapman (M&C Saatchi), ANZ, ANZ, Financial Planning, "Ageing Man"
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Paul McCosh, Gordon Haynes (McCann Erickson), GM Holden Ltd., Galaxy Wars Part 2
Sound Reservoir, Sydney, Paul Taylor, Luke Chess (Belgiovane Williams Mackay), WACD - Working Against Culpable Driving, Police Radio
US NEWSPAPERS NOW SUFFER SLOWDOWN ON GROWTH RATE OF ONLINE REVENUE
Online Media Post reports that as the latest round of quarterly results shows, US newspaper publishers are seeing a significant slowdown in the growth rate of online revenue.
Online Media Post said, “The general outlook for online revenues is not nearly as rosy as it was even a year ago. While industry-wide figures aren't yet available, two industry leaders have released quarterly results. At the New York Times Company, first-quarter online revenues grew 11.6 percent or US$8.6 million, to $82.9 million--down from 21.6 percent or $13.2 million in the first quarter of 2007.
“Gannett's online revenues grew 6.5 percent in the first quarter of 2008, down from 16 percent during the same period last year (Gannett didn't release dollar figures).
“The slowdown in online revenue growth is due almost entirely to weakness in online classifieds, which drag down online overall. Newspapers' online classifieds are particularly vulnerable because most newspaper publishers still get the bulk of their online classified revenues from "up-sells" on the print side, offering online ad placement to people placing print classifieds.
“With print classifieds in free fall – down 16.5 percent for the industry overall in 2007 – there are simply fewer opportunities for ‘up-sells’ to online. This is compounded by the downturn in the real estate market and declines in recruitment due to economic insecurity.
At the same time, however, online display advertising is booming for newspapers.
AUSTRALIA’S PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS DEPT LEFT WITH HEFTY LEGAL BILLS AFTER FAILING TO CONVICT A JOURNALIST OF CRIMINAL CONTEMPT OF COURT
Australia’s Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions will be left with legal bills of about $250,000 from its failed attempt to prosecute a newspaper reporter for criminal contempt of court.
According to The Australian newspaper, one of the reasons for the bill is that when the DPP asked for costs to be awarded in its favour, it based its application on the wrong legislation.
The Australian reported, “An adverse costs order, issued by the NSW Supreme Court, caps a string of setbacks for the DPP's prosecution of reporter Elisabeth Sexton and her employer, Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Fairfax's total legal costs are believed to be about $190,000.
“Under Supreme Court rules, the DPP is expected to be required to pay only about $130,000 of that. But the DPP will also be left with its own legal bills, which are expected to be about the same.”
The background to the case is that Sexton and Fairfax were found not guilty last month after Justice Howie ruled that her report of a criminal trial, while "gratuitous and at least unfair", was not a threat to the administration of justice.
They had been charged with contempt after NSW District Court judge Robert Sorby aborted a trial in 2006 because he believed Sexton's report had the potential to interfere with the course of justice.
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE TWENTY20 CRICKET DEBUTS WITH EXPLOSIVE RATINGS IN INDIA
The Australian reports that the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket competition is off to an "explosive" start, attracting about twice as many television viewers as had been expected in India.
The opening match delivered ratings of 8.21, with 12.5 million people tuning in, the TAM Peoplemeter system found. This compares with so-called TRPs (TV Rating Points) of 4-6 at the height of the controversy surrounding last summer's Indian cricket tour of Australia.
The Economic Times said the tournament had had an "explosive" start.
One marketing executive associated with the competition has described it as "the largest reality show" India has seen.
The ratings for Australia's Network Ten have been solid without being exceptional, largely because of the late-night scheduling.
Indian ratings have dropped since the first game, but analysts said that was predictable after the early hype. For subsequent matches, numbers have been between 4.97 and 5.58.
SINGAPORE PLANS TO INVEST IN MORE MEDIA TALENT
The Straits Times reports that the Singapore government will put in 'significant' resources into developing home-grown talent and attracting skilled foreigners, as part of a new master plan to transform Singapore into a vibrant media hub.
Its aim is to make the country the best place to develop, host and distribute media content, according to Christopher Chia, chief executive of the Media Development Authority, during a preview of the Singapore Media Fusion 2015 master plan.
He stressed that the media industry lives and dies by the talent it is able to attract, and the plan is to beef up the pool of people who can conceptualise and manage large creative projects like movies, as well as specialist professionals in ancillary fields such as intellectual property, media financing and media distribution.
The budget for the plan, which replaced the Media 21 blueprint released five years ago, had yet to be finalised, but it is believed it will be a 'significant investment' on the government's part.
Singapore's media sector includes traditional mainstream media houses like Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times, among other papers, broadcasters such as MediaCorp, and publishers like Wiley.
In recent years, Singapore has also attracted many international and new media players.
These include production houses like Mark Burnett Productions of TV Survivor fame and Japan's renowned Koei video game studio, which recently launched its made-in-Singapore online game in Japan. The game, known as Romance of the Three Kingdoms Online, will be launched in Singapore soon.
Together, these companies generated S$18.2 billion in revenues and employed 53,000 people in 2005.
THIEVES, SPIES, MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE ALL PART OF US COURT CASE EXAMINING WHETHER A MURDOCH COMPANY HIRED HACKERS TO SABOTAGE RIVALS
Wired poses the uncomfortable question: “Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war?
“This is the question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly, received little notice from US media.”
Wired reports that the case involves a “colorful cast of characters,” including former intelligence agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin hacker who had been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death.
On the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation.
The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards and systems for EchoStar's Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further, it’s alleged NDS then hired hackers to manufacture and distribute counterfeit NagraStar cards to pirates to steal Dish Network's programming for free.
NagraStar and one of its parent companies, EchoStar, are seeking about US$101 million for damages for piracy, copyright infringement, misconduct and unfair competition.
The case began April 9 in the US District Court's Central Division in Santa Ana, California.
CONDE NAST TO LAUNCH A SERIES OF ‘MAGAZINE COMPANION’ WEB SITES AFTER RELAUNCH OF VOGUE
The Guardian reports that Conde Nast’s digital division is to follow next month’s relaunch of Vogue.com with a global launch of uniform "magazine companion sites" to promote its print products and the introduction of a new online-only umbrella brand for its men’s fashion titles.
Vogue.com’s new front-end design will be used globally in different language versions of the site when it is re-launched on May 7.
Local editors will retain control over which content to use but many stories will be "localised" to appear in across English, Spanish, Russian and Japanese language versions of Vogue.com.
New features on the sites are designed to increase user loyalty, according to CondeNet UK manager Emanuela Pignataro. She said that the number of news stories published online each day will be increased from the current level of five or six per day to around a dozen and that several high-profile fashion industry figures including Paul Smith and Lara Bohinc will be blogging on the site
The site’s popular "street chic" voxpop-style fashion feature will become a daily feature of the site and will introduce a mapping element to show where fashionably dressed passers-by were spotted. A calender will allow users to download upcoming fashion events.
s to calendar tools including those from Google, Apple or Microsoft.
In February, CondeNet introduced a new umbrella site for its men’s fashion titles in Italy, MenStyle.it, which is set to be exported to the French and Spanish markets.
AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL PAY-TV OPERATOR INCREASES OPERATING PROFIT FOR MARCH QUARTER BUT LOSES SOME SUBSCRIBERS
Australia’s regional pay-TV operator Austar United Communications has increased its operating profit for the March quarter, but the result has been dampened by a jump in the company's churn - or customer disconnection rates - on the back of broader economic uncertainty, according to The Australian newspaper.
Austar’s earnings before interest and tax rose by 9 percent to A$26 million for the three months to March 31, with subscriber numbers rising by 1.4 percent to just over 678,000.
Austar ceo John Porter told The Australian, "We've always said we'll have great quarters, good quarters and OK quarters, and you could probably say this was an OK quarter."
He indicated the current economic environment of rising interest rates and belt-tightening had caused a knock-on effect, but that the increase in churn may now be at an end.
"We feel like we're through the worst of it," he said. "People who had to make adjustments with mortgages and lifestyle have now done it."
NORWEGIAN JOURNALISTS WIN INVESTIGATIVE PRIZE FOR HIGHLIGHTING DOMESTIC KILLINGS
Journalism.co.uk reports that last week, journalists Anne Stine Saether and Anders Sooth Knutsen from Norway's VG's online arm were awarded with the Skup-diploma, an investigative prize, for developing the newspaper's biggest multimedia project ever.
The idea for the online project about domestic killings in Norway was born in mid-2007 after a murder case that had been buried in the back pages of the paper.
It took six months to complete, but on, November 12 the front page of VG's print edition featured portraits of women killed by their men. The story was planned and executed on all platforms simultaneously.
The project took half-a-year to finish, but the completed coverage was "groundbreaking" and "led to a change in how murders are reported in Norway," according to Online Journalism Scandinavia's Kristine Lowe.
The Norwegian government plans to map domestic murders, and starting in 2007, the Norwegian police had began to register the relationship between the murderer and victim in their reports.
"In contrast to other countries, we did not know how many women were killed by their husbands, partners and boyfriends in Norway," said the jury who awarded the prize.
WHERE OH WHERE ARE ALL THE REVIEWS FOR THE BOOK ABOUT RUPERT MURDOCH’S CHINESE MISADVENTURES
Guardian journalist George Monbiot has written an intriguing article about the reviews, or lack of them, of Bruce Dover's book, Rupert's Adventures in China
Monbiot writes, “If you want to know how powerful Rupert Murdoch is, read the reviews of (the book.) Well, go on, read them. You can't find any? I rest my case.
“…This is a riveting story about two of the world's most powerful forces. Dover's British publisher told me: ‘I thought this was a natural for serialisation. We had the author primed and prepared to come over here. But we had to cancel as we could not raise enough interest. We've hit brick walls and we don't understand why.’ The book has been reviewed in the Economist and the Financial Times, but neither other British newspapers nor broadcasters have touched it.
“As far as I can discover, the book has been reviewed by only one Murdoch publication anywhere on earth - the Australian Literary Review - and that was an article of such snivelling sycophancy that you wonder why they bothered. The editor of another News Corporation title, the Far Eastern Economic Review, commissioned a review, then admitted to contracting "cold feet" and spiked it (MediaBlab ran this spiked review in its entirety.)
“But what of the other papers?” asks Monbiot.
“Why should they appease Murdoch? ‘When you see the reaction of the British media to the book,’ Dover tells me, ‘one can better understand why in some respects the Chinese so admired Murdoch - an emperor who inspires fear in his followers need not raise a hand against them.’ He might be right, but I think there is also a general bias against relevance in the review sections. When I worked in faraway countries, my books about the tribulations of obscure peoples were comprehensively reviewed. When I came home and wrote Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain, it was ignored. There appears to be an inverse relationship between how hard a book hits and how well it is covered.
“But I am sure it is true that anticipatory compliance is Murdoch's most powerful weapon. I doubt he needed to tell all 247 of his editors to support the invasion of Iraq, but they did. He might not even have had to lean on Tony Blair to ensure - as Blair's former spin doctor Lance Price reveals - that no British minister said ‘anything positive about the euro’. Power is sustained not by force but by fear, as everyone seeks to interpret the wishes of his master and to meet them even before he asks.”
AUSTRALIAN TELCO TELSTRA’S BIGPOND WOOS PUNTERS WITH MUSIC PERFORMANCES
Australian telco Telstra BigPond's Monday Night Live Series 2 launches on April 28, and music fans will be treated to 10 exclusive web and mobicasts featuring gigs by some of Australia's top performers
The gigs will be exclusive to BigPond.com and Telstra Next G mobiles live. Tracks from the performances will also be made available shortly afterwards as both audio and video downloads exclusively on BigPond.com and Telstra Next G mobiles.
Monday Night Live will deliver 'virtual' front row seats to live performances by some of the hottest names in Australian music, including Powderfinger, Cut Copy, The Panics, Pete Murray, Kasey Chambers and more.
Host of Monday Night Live, Australia's own electronic music guru Paul Mac, said of the series: "It's fantastic that we're able to bring these live and exclusive gigs straight to the desktops and handsets of music fans around the country.
"Monday Night Live is an awesome way for fans to experience live and intimate gigs by their fave Aussie bands. I'm really excited to be involved in a series that supports Australian music and that BigPond and the Telstra Next G mobile network make it so easy for fans to access these gigs and interviews no matter where they are across the country."
BigPond's group managing director, Justin Milne, said, "Delivering entertainment via new media is BigPond's specialty, and with tickets to see these artists being some of the hottest and hardest to get hold of at the moment, this is simply the next best way for fans to experience their top-notch music.”
AFGHAN TV STATION DEFIES GOVERNMENT ORDER TO STOP BROADCASTING INDIAN SOAP OPERAS THAT SHOW MIDRIFF FLESH
Afghanistan's most popular private television station, Tolo, defied a government deadline to drop two hit Indian soap operas deemed to violate Afghan culture, saying the order was illegal.
AFP reports that two other television stations have already cancelled shows that the culture ministry has ordered must not be aired, a decision backed by President Hamid Karzai on Monday.
Tolo director Jahid Mohseni told AFP, “We won't ban our serials. The government action is illegal... it's not based on law but on the personal opinion of the culture minister.”
The controversial minister, conservative Soviet-era resistance jihadist Abdul Karim Khurram, ordered five Indian serials to be pulled from television, saying he had received complaints from religious circles. His spokesman, Hamid Nasery, reiterated on Tuesday that if all shows were not off air by Tuesday evening the ministry would take court action.
The shows, which were criticised as ‘un-Islamic’ by the country's top religious council, the Ulema Council, feature unveiled Indian Hindu women in waist-exposing sarees and sometimes include Hindu deities.
Karzai told reporters Monday his government was committed to media freedom but “we want our television broadcasting to be in line with our culture, based on our society moral standards.”
FAMILY OF BRITISH CAMERAMAN SHOT DEAD BY ISRAELIS MAY ACCEPT BIG COMPENSATION PAYMENT – IF IT’S NOT A RUSE
The family of a British cameraman shot dead by Israeli troops in Gaza five years ago said yesterday they may accept a compensation offer of 1.8 million British pounds (A$3.8 million.)
But, according to the Guardian, the family said they had grave concerns that the move was a "ruse" to delay a civil action over the shooting.
James Miller was killed while filming a documentary in Rafah, near the border with Egypt. The journalist who accompanied him, Abdurahman Abdallah, said he was shot as he tried to leave a house while holding a white flag.
A British inquiry, based on a video of the incident, said Miller was shot in the neck by an Israeli army patrol. Miller's family is due to begin a civil action in the Israeli courts next month to decide culpability.
Previous attempts at out-of-court settlements failed because Israel had either "reneged" or "renegotiated to our detriment", the family said. However, they indicated that they may accept the new offer. "Having had an exhausting and expensive five-year fight, the possibility of an out-of-court settlement might be considered, although no agreement has been reached," their statement said.
Israel's foreign ministry said negotiations were continuing with the Miller family but would not confirm the amount of the proposed compensation. " Israeli officials told the daily paper Ha'aretz that the legal aspects of the case "had been settled" as part of the deal. In return, the British government will end its action to extradite the Israeli soldiers for trial in the UK, according to Ha'aretz.
AUSTRALIA GEARS UP FOR NEW YEARS DAY LAUNCH OF DIGITAL RADIO IN MAJOR CAPITAL CITIES
Australia is about to launch itself onto digital radio broadcasting over the airwaves with a $400 million broadcast system, a system that was legislated by the former Howard government and will start on the coming New Year's Day in the capitals, later in regional areas.
The driving force is the need to better use the spectrum - digital technology is more efficient - to make room for other services such as those demanded by mobile phone and digital TV operators.
Australia's radio industry is investing $400 million to update its infrastructure and is one of the first countries to adopt DAB , the second-generation digital audio broadcasting technology.
DAB provides a better signal, "CD-quality" transmission and more efficient spectrum use. It also allows simultaneous data services that will see stations display names of songs and artists, weather information, advertiser links and traffic updates on radio LCDs.
Digital broadcasting will start in the capitals after trials with Commercial Radio Australia, the radio stations' industry group that promotes the technology, and public broadcaster the ABC and SBS in Sydney and Melbourne.
It will be preceded by a three-month marketing campaign to tell analog station listeners that they have more choice in digital.
Potential listeners will be able to buy internet radios that let them listen to 13,000 online radio stations away from their computers and at their desks.
Commercial Radio Australia's ceo, Joan Warner, is excited about digital's prospects.
"We're very busy. It's a massive undertaking to coordinate the roll-out in all capital cities at the same time," Ms Warner says.
"We anticipate all 262 commercial radio stations will be migrating, as will the ABC's five existing services, SBS and the wide-area metropolitan community stations."
GUATEMALA’S INDIGENOUS MAYA PEOPLE GET THEIR OWN TV STATION
As of yesterday, the indigenous Maya people of Guatemala have a television station that will broadcast programs focusing on their culture.
AFP reports that TV Maya is operated under the supervision of the Guatemalan Academy of Maya Languages .The network has a small budget and will begin broadcasting only in the Guatemalan capital, though Academy president Domingo Pascual said he hopes it can be broadcast across the country next year.
The network will have three daily broadcasts of thirty minutes each that will include discussion of the importance of the day according to the Maya calendar, a program for children, and a three-part information segment that includes information on culture, current news and technology.
TV Maya will be broadcast on Channel Five - the same frequency used by the Guatemalan army during the years of military dictatorship.
During Guatemala's bitter 1960-1996 internal war 200,000 people were killed, and of these, 83 percent were indigenous Mayas, according to Human Rights groups.
There are around six million indigenous Maya that live in Central America, mostly in Guatemala but also in Mexico and Belize. About 40 percent of Guatemala's 13 million residents are of Maya descent.
BRIT STYLE QUEENS LAUNCH INTO AUSTRALIAN PRIME TIME WITH A PROGRAM ON WHY UK WOMEN HATE THEIR BREASTS
Channel Seven said that the popular UK straight-talking style queens, Trinny and Susannah will move into prime-time with the premiere of their new series Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation.
After their recent Australian tour, Trinny and Susannah have returned to to find out why women hate their breasts and loathe their bras.
In the UK, the search for the right bra has spawned an industry worth over 700 million pounds a year. Over 1.5 million bras are sold in the UK each week, but as Trinny and Susannah discover, many women may not be wearing the right size with some very unflattering results.
Other topics the girls take on in the series include: men’s lack of confidence with shopping and dressing, shape and body issues, dressing for your age and how to transform dowdy uniforms into something staff would actually wear.
Undress the Nation, unlike their previous work, is a mass approach to their traditional make-over.
In the five-part series, the duo travel nation-wide with some shock tactics and eye-catching stunts to inspire the British public to a more stylish future.
MediaBistro reports, “Rupert Murdoch is moving to tighten his already-imposing grip on American news media, striking a tentative deal to buy his third New York-based paper, Newsday, and getting his first chance to appoint the top editor of The Wall Street Journal. His US$580 million bid for Newsday and his urgency in remaking the Journal worry his competitors and cause angst in many newsrooms, including his own.
Editor & Publisher notes that the Newsday sale could raise big antitrust issues, and reports that newsroom union members at The Wall Street Journal are looking at the resignation of managing editor Marcus Brauchli as the loss of "a buffer who would maintain editorial independence."
Gawker notes that Murdoch is rushing to consolidate his empire because of newspaper publishing economics; the broader synergies available to a media group with heightened political influence; and mortality.
New York Observer reports, “When Murdoch takes over a newspaper, he doesn't take much time to get things done. It can look slow at first –
the preparations for war are often quiet, faraway strategic affairs involving a rather small magic circle, after all. But when it starts, it's Shock and Awe.”
BEST AUSTRALIAN RADIO AD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
The best Australia radio ad of 2008 will be battled out between 50 ad agencies and radio stations as part of the national Siren Awards, which will be announced in Melbourne on May 9.
The finalists include some of the best known advertising agencies in Australia including DDB; Saatchi &Saatchi Australia; Clemenger BBDO; Grey Worldwide; Leo Burnett; George Patterson Y&R and JWT as
Radiostations represented among the finalists include Nova 106.9 Brisbane; DMG Perth; Macquarie RegionalRadioworks and Australian Radio Network in Sydney.
The national Siren Awards, now in their fifth year, are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. The awards promote the importance of creativity as
a way to make radio advertising more effective. The Gold Siren winner receives a trip for two to the Cannes Advertising Festival and entry into the 2008 Cannes Radio Lions to be held in June.
Last year’s Gold Siren winner, an advertisement for Snickers called “Hoedown”, won the Grand Prix Radio Lion at Cannes – equivalent to the best radio ad in the world – and was the first Australian winner ever.
The other radio winner from Australia was a campaign for Foxtel, written by Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydneywhich won a Silver Lion.
Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and this year had received a record number of entries.
“Each year the Siren Awards continue to raise the bar in terms of creativity and originality and with a record number of entries this year – over 570 – up nearly 90 percent on last year - we are set for a great winner,” Ms Warner said.
2008 Siren Award Finalists
SINGLE
303 Group, Perth, Dav Tabeshfar, IKEA, Hearing Test Belgiovane Williams Mackay, Sydney, Damian Fitzgerald and Derrick Kim, WACD - Working Against Culpable Driving, PoliceRadio
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber, Transport Accident Commission (TAC Victoria), Speaking For Everyone
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Paul Reardon and Julian Schreiber, RACV Financial Services, Disclaimer
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Ant Phillips and Richard Williams, HBA, Tight Dress
Clemenger BBDO, Sydney, Gary Dawson and Rocky Ranallo, St. Vincent de Paul Society, EVICTION!
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk and Jon Williams, Commercial Radio Australia, Restaurant
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk and Jon Williams, Commercial Radio Australia, Time and Place: Teaser Week One
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Connor Beaver and Ben Keenan, Sustainability Victoria, Lost and Found – Male
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Kirsti Lewis and Sabina Schaare, Flower Growers of Victoria, I'm Sorry
KWP! Adelaide, Greg Aldous and James Rickard, The Advertiser, Valentine’s Day
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon, Beerka, Shopping Trolley
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon, Beerka, Urinal
Leo Burnett, Sydney, Kate Burt and Nils Eberhardt, World Wildlife Fund, Prank Call
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Frances Webb, SCOPE, Do I Sound Different to You?
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney, Connex, No Pauses (Man)
M&C Saatchi/ Mark., Josh Bryer and Hamish Stewart, Sydney Dogs & Cats Home, New Trick
Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, Sydney, Vince Lagana and Jason Ross, Foxtel - Crime & Investigation Network, Emergency –
Stabbing
SMART, Melbourne, Mal Chambers and Scot van den Driesen, Melbourne Airport, Corey's Party Hotline
CAMPAIGN
AJF Partnership, Melbourne, Andrew Foote, National Foods, Big M Double Strength
AJF Partnership, Melbourne, Joshua Stephens, J Boag & Son, Beer First
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Ant Phillips and Richard Williams, Sorbent, Scrunch or Fold
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Ant Keogh and Grant Rutherford, Carlton, Carlton Draught Advertising Computer
DDB, Sydney, Justin Carew, Charlie Cook, Ed James and Simon Johnson, NAPCAN, Children See Children Do - Alcoholic/
Football/ Husband/ Racist/ Traffic
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk and Jon Williams, Commercial Radio Australia, Time and Place
George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne, Ben Couzens and Jim Ingram, Fosters/ VB, Magnificent Balls/ Disclaimer/ Promo
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Connor Beaver and Ben Keenan, Sustainability Victoria, Bin Your Butts – Lost and Found
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Brendon Guthrie and Tim Holmes, Open Family Australia, Open Family – Junk Food/ Hits/ Monsters/
Dreams
Grey Worldwide, Melbourne, Kirsti Lewis and Sabina Schaare, Flower Growers of Victoria, I Fancy You/ I’m Sorry/ I Miss You
Human / Eardrum, Sydney, Geoff Reid/ Justine Metcalfe, Geoff Reid/ Ralph van Dijk, NRMA/SGIO, NRMA/SGIO Business
Insurance
JWT, Melbourne, Roger Nance and John Skaro, Ford, Getting Burnt/ Wuss/ The Runs
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon, Beerka, Great Beer Inventions
Lifelounge, Melbourne, Laura Hunter, Daniel Pollock and David Ponce de Leon, Department of Human Services Victoria, ice. It’s a
dirty drug
Marmalade Communications, Melbourne, Dan Forrestal, Neil Mallet and Frank Trobbiani, Metlink, Buses
Nova 106.9, Brisbane, Cindy Donato, Greenbank RSL, Oh Sarah
Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, Sydney, Vince Lagana and Jason Ross, Foxtel - Crime & Investigation Network, Emergency
CRAFT
Australian Radio Network, Sydney, Gregg Sinclair, Jo Campbell, Black Widow, Black Widow Trackers
Best FX, Adelaide, Scott Illingworth, Pete Best, The Advertiser, Shower Timer
Brainestorm Productions, Perth, Marty Braine, Ron Samuel (Cooch Advertising), Rent Rescue, Shower
Cutting Edge, Brisbane, Ross Batten, Kelly Denning (Make), Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Snore
Cutting Edge, Brisbane, Ross Batten, Rem Bruijn (Make), Brisbane City Council, Do Something Cool
Cutting Edge, Brisbane, Ross Batten, Rem Bruijn (Make), Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Mutha's Day
DMG Radio Australia, Perth, Matt Dickson, Client: Paramount Pictures, Cloverfield
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Jason Williams (Leo Burnett), Beerka, Great Beer Inventions
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Paul Reardon and Gus Johnson (Clemenger BBDO), HBA, Dentist (Dinner)
Macquarie Southern Cross Media – HotFM/ Radiowest, Perth, Jerimiah Busniak, Simon Healy, Paddy’s Ale House, Paddy’s Ale
House
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Dylan Stephens, Doogie Chapman (M& C Saatchi), ANZ, ANZ, Financial Planning, "Ageing Woman
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Dylan Stephens, Doogie Chapman (M&C Saatchi), ANZ, ANZ, Financial Planning, "Ageing Man"
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Paul McCosh, Gordon Haynes (McCann Erickson), GM Holden Ltd., Galaxy Wars Part 2
Sound Reservoir, Sydney, Paul Taylor, Luke Chess (Belgiovane Williams Mackay), WACD - Working Against Culpable Driving, Police Radio
US NEWSPAPERS NOW SUFFER SLOWDOWN ON GROWTH RATE OF ONLINE REVENUE
Online Media Post reports that as the latest round of quarterly results shows, US newspaper publishers are seeing a significant slowdown in the growth rate of online revenue.
Online Media Post said, “The general outlook for online revenues is not nearly as rosy as it was even a year ago. While industry-wide figures aren't yet available, two industry leaders have released quarterly results. At the New York Times Company, first-quarter online revenues grew 11.6 percent or US$8.6 million, to $82.9 million--down from 21.6 percent or $13.2 million in the first quarter of 2007.
“Gannett's online revenues grew 6.5 percent in the first quarter of 2008, down from 16 percent during the same period last year (Gannett didn't release dollar figures).
“The slowdown in online revenue growth is due almost entirely to weakness in online classifieds, which drag down online overall. Newspapers' online classifieds are particularly vulnerable because most newspaper publishers still get the bulk of their online classified revenues from "up-sells" on the print side, offering online ad placement to people placing print classifieds.
“With print classifieds in free fall – down 16.5 percent for the industry overall in 2007 – there are simply fewer opportunities for ‘up-sells’ to online. This is compounded by the downturn in the real estate market and declines in recruitment due to economic insecurity.
At the same time, however, online display advertising is booming for newspapers.
AUSTRALIA’S PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS DEPT LEFT WITH HEFTY LEGAL BILLS AFTER FAILING TO CONVICT A JOURNALIST OF CRIMINAL CONTEMPT OF COURT
Australia’s Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions will be left with legal bills of about $250,000 from its failed attempt to prosecute a newspaper reporter for criminal contempt of court.
According to The Australian newspaper, one of the reasons for the bill is that when the DPP asked for costs to be awarded in its favour, it based its application on the wrong legislation.
The Australian reported, “An adverse costs order, issued by the NSW Supreme Court, caps a string of setbacks for the DPP's prosecution of reporter Elisabeth Sexton and her employer, Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Fairfax's total legal costs are believed to be about $190,000.
“Under Supreme Court rules, the DPP is expected to be required to pay only about $130,000 of that. But the DPP will also be left with its own legal bills, which are expected to be about the same.”
The background to the case is that Sexton and Fairfax were found not guilty last month after Justice Howie ruled that her report of a criminal trial, while "gratuitous and at least unfair", was not a threat to the administration of justice.
They had been charged with contempt after NSW District Court judge Robert Sorby aborted a trial in 2006 because he believed Sexton's report had the potential to interfere with the course of justice.
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE TWENTY20 CRICKET DEBUTS WITH EXPLOSIVE RATINGS IN INDIA
The Australian reports that the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket competition is off to an "explosive" start, attracting about twice as many television viewers as had been expected in India.
The opening match delivered ratings of 8.21, with 12.5 million people tuning in, the TAM Peoplemeter system found. This compares with so-called TRPs (TV Rating Points) of 4-6 at the height of the controversy surrounding last summer's Indian cricket tour of Australia.
The Economic Times said the tournament had had an "explosive" start.
One marketing executive associated with the competition has described it as "the largest reality show" India has seen.
The ratings for Australia's Network Ten have been solid without being exceptional, largely because of the late-night scheduling.
Indian ratings have dropped since the first game, but analysts said that was predictable after the early hype. For subsequent matches, numbers have been between 4.97 and 5.58.
SINGAPORE PLANS TO INVEST IN MORE MEDIA TALENT
The Straits Times reports that the Singapore government will put in 'significant' resources into developing home-grown talent and attracting skilled foreigners, as part of a new master plan to transform Singapore into a vibrant media hub.
Its aim is to make the country the best place to develop, host and distribute media content, according to Christopher Chia, chief executive of the Media Development Authority, during a preview of the Singapore Media Fusion 2015 master plan.
He stressed that the media industry lives and dies by the talent it is able to attract, and the plan is to beef up the pool of people who can conceptualise and manage large creative projects like movies, as well as specialist professionals in ancillary fields such as intellectual property, media financing and media distribution.
The budget for the plan, which replaced the Media 21 blueprint released five years ago, had yet to be finalised, but it is believed it will be a 'significant investment' on the government's part.
Singapore's media sector includes traditional mainstream media houses like Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times, among other papers, broadcasters such as MediaCorp, and publishers like Wiley.
In recent years, Singapore has also attracted many international and new media players.
These include production houses like Mark Burnett Productions of TV Survivor fame and Japan's renowned Koei video game studio, which recently launched its made-in-Singapore online game in Japan. The game, known as Romance of the Three Kingdoms Online, will be launched in Singapore soon.
Together, these companies generated S$18.2 billion in revenues and employed 53,000 people in 2005.
THIEVES, SPIES, MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE ALL PART OF US COURT CASE EXAMINING WHETHER A MURDOCH COMPANY HIRED HACKERS TO SABOTAGE RIVALS
Wired poses the uncomfortable question: “Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war?
“This is the question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly, received little notice from US media.”
Wired reports that the case involves a “colorful cast of characters,” including former intelligence agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin hacker who had been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death.
On the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation.
The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards and systems for EchoStar's Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further, it’s alleged NDS then hired hackers to manufacture and distribute counterfeit NagraStar cards to pirates to steal Dish Network's programming for free.
NagraStar and one of its parent companies, EchoStar, are seeking about US$101 million for damages for piracy, copyright infringement, misconduct and unfair competition.
The case began April 9 in the US District Court's Central Division in Santa Ana, California.
CONDE NAST TO LAUNCH A SERIES OF ‘MAGAZINE COMPANION’ WEB SITES AFTER RELAUNCH OF VOGUE
The Guardian reports that Conde Nast’s digital division is to follow next month’s relaunch of Vogue.com with a global launch of uniform "magazine companion sites" to promote its print products and the introduction of a new online-only umbrella brand for its men’s fashion titles.
Vogue.com’s new front-end design will be used globally in different language versions of the site when it is re-launched on May 7.
Local editors will retain control over which content to use but many stories will be "localised" to appear in across English, Spanish, Russian and Japanese language versions of Vogue.com.
New features on the sites are designed to increase user loyalty, according to CondeNet UK manager Emanuela Pignataro. She said that the number of news stories published online each day will be increased from the current level of five or six per day to around a dozen and that several high-profile fashion industry figures including Paul Smith and Lara Bohinc will be blogging on the site
The site’s popular "street chic" voxpop-style fashion feature will become a daily feature of the site and will introduce a mapping element to show where fashionably dressed passers-by were spotted. A calender will allow users to download upcoming fashion events.
s to calendar tools including those from Google, Apple or Microsoft.
In February, CondeNet introduced a new umbrella site for its men’s fashion titles in Italy, MenStyle.it, which is set to be exported to the French and Spanish markets.
AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL PAY-TV OPERATOR INCREASES OPERATING PROFIT FOR MARCH QUARTER BUT LOSES SOME SUBSCRIBERS
Australia’s regional pay-TV operator Austar United Communications has increased its operating profit for the March quarter, but the result has been dampened by a jump in the company's churn - or customer disconnection rates - on the back of broader economic uncertainty, according to The Australian newspaper.
Austar’s earnings before interest and tax rose by 9 percent to A$26 million for the three months to March 31, with subscriber numbers rising by 1.4 percent to just over 678,000.
Austar ceo John Porter told The Australian, "We've always said we'll have great quarters, good quarters and OK quarters, and you could probably say this was an OK quarter."
He indicated the current economic environment of rising interest rates and belt-tightening had caused a knock-on effect, but that the increase in churn may now be at an end.
"We feel like we're through the worst of it," he said. "People who had to make adjustments with mortgages and lifestyle have now done it."
NORWEGIAN JOURNALISTS WIN INVESTIGATIVE PRIZE FOR HIGHLIGHTING DOMESTIC KILLINGS
Journalism.co.uk reports that last week, journalists Anne Stine Saether and Anders Sooth Knutsen from Norway's VG's online arm were awarded with the Skup-diploma, an investigative prize, for developing the newspaper's biggest multimedia project ever.
The idea for the online project about domestic killings in Norway was born in mid-2007 after a murder case that had been buried in the back pages of the paper.
It took six months to complete, but on, November 12 the front page of VG's print edition featured portraits of women killed by their men. The story was planned and executed on all platforms simultaneously.
The project took half-a-year to finish, but the completed coverage was "groundbreaking" and "led to a change in how murders are reported in Norway," according to Online Journalism Scandinavia's Kristine Lowe.
The Norwegian government plans to map domestic murders, and starting in 2007, the Norwegian police had began to register the relationship between the murderer and victim in their reports.
"In contrast to other countries, we did not know how many women were killed by their husbands, partners and boyfriends in Norway," said the jury who awarded the prize.
WHERE OH WHERE ARE ALL THE REVIEWS FOR THE BOOK ABOUT RUPERT MURDOCH’S CHINESE MISADVENTURES
Guardian journalist George Monbiot has written an intriguing article about the reviews, or lack of them, of Bruce Dover's book, Rupert's Adventures in China
Monbiot writes, “If you want to know how powerful Rupert Murdoch is, read the reviews of (the book.) Well, go on, read them. You can't find any? I rest my case.
“…This is a riveting story about two of the world's most powerful forces. Dover's British publisher told me: ‘I thought this was a natural for serialisation. We had the author primed and prepared to come over here. But we had to cancel as we could not raise enough interest. We've hit brick walls and we don't understand why.’ The book has been reviewed in the Economist and the Financial Times, but neither other British newspapers nor broadcasters have touched it.
“As far as I can discover, the book has been reviewed by only one Murdoch publication anywhere on earth - the Australian Literary Review - and that was an article of such snivelling sycophancy that you wonder why they bothered. The editor of another News Corporation title, the Far Eastern Economic Review, commissioned a review, then admitted to contracting "cold feet" and spiked it (MediaBlab ran this spiked review in its entirety.)
“But what of the other papers?” asks Monbiot.
“Why should they appease Murdoch? ‘When you see the reaction of the British media to the book,’ Dover tells me, ‘one can better understand why in some respects the Chinese so admired Murdoch - an emperor who inspires fear in his followers need not raise a hand against them.’ He might be right, but I think there is also a general bias against relevance in the review sections. When I worked in faraway countries, my books about the tribulations of obscure peoples were comprehensively reviewed. When I came home and wrote Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain, it was ignored. There appears to be an inverse relationship between how hard a book hits and how well it is covered.
“But I am sure it is true that anticipatory compliance is Murdoch's most powerful weapon. I doubt he needed to tell all 247 of his editors to support the invasion of Iraq, but they did. He might not even have had to lean on Tony Blair to ensure - as Blair's former spin doctor Lance Price reveals - that no British minister said ‘anything positive about the euro’. Power is sustained not by force but by fear, as everyone seeks to interpret the wishes of his master and to meet them even before he asks.”
AUSTRALIAN TELCO TELSTRA’S BIGPOND WOOS PUNTERS WITH MUSIC PERFORMANCES
Australian telco Telstra BigPond's Monday Night Live Series 2 launches on April 28, and music fans will be treated to 10 exclusive web and mobicasts featuring gigs by some of Australia's top performers
The gigs will be exclusive to BigPond.com and Telstra Next G mobiles live. Tracks from the performances will also be made available shortly afterwards as both audio and video downloads exclusively on BigPond.com and Telstra Next G mobiles.
Monday Night Live will deliver 'virtual' front row seats to live performances by some of the hottest names in Australian music, including Powderfinger, Cut Copy, The Panics, Pete Murray, Kasey Chambers and more.
Host of Monday Night Live, Australia's own electronic music guru Paul Mac, said of the series: "It's fantastic that we're able to bring these live and exclusive gigs straight to the desktops and handsets of music fans around the country.
"Monday Night Live is an awesome way for fans to experience live and intimate gigs by their fave Aussie bands. I'm really excited to be involved in a series that supports Australian music and that BigPond and the Telstra Next G mobile network make it so easy for fans to access these gigs and interviews no matter where they are across the country."
BigPond's group managing director, Justin Milne, said, "Delivering entertainment via new media is BigPond's specialty, and with tickets to see these artists being some of the hottest and hardest to get hold of at the moment, this is simply the next best way for fans to experience their top-notch music.”
AFGHAN TV STATION DEFIES GOVERNMENT ORDER TO STOP BROADCASTING INDIAN SOAP OPERAS THAT SHOW MIDRIFF FLESH
Afghanistan's most popular private television station, Tolo, defied a government deadline to drop two hit Indian soap operas deemed to violate Afghan culture, saying the order was illegal.
AFP reports that two other television stations have already cancelled shows that the culture ministry has ordered must not be aired, a decision backed by President Hamid Karzai on Monday.
Tolo director Jahid Mohseni told AFP, “We won't ban our serials. The government action is illegal... it's not based on law but on the personal opinion of the culture minister.”
The controversial minister, conservative Soviet-era resistance jihadist Abdul Karim Khurram, ordered five Indian serials to be pulled from television, saying he had received complaints from religious circles. His spokesman, Hamid Nasery, reiterated on Tuesday that if all shows were not off air by Tuesday evening the ministry would take court action.
The shows, which were criticised as ‘un-Islamic’ by the country's top religious council, the Ulema Council, feature unveiled Indian Hindu women in waist-exposing sarees and sometimes include Hindu deities.
Karzai told reporters Monday his government was committed to media freedom but “we want our television broadcasting to be in line with our culture, based on our society moral standards.”
FAMILY OF BRITISH CAMERAMAN SHOT DEAD BY ISRAELIS MAY ACCEPT BIG COMPENSATION PAYMENT – IF IT’S NOT A RUSE
The family of a British cameraman shot dead by Israeli troops in Gaza five years ago said yesterday they may accept a compensation offer of 1.8 million British pounds (A$3.8 million.)
But, according to the Guardian, the family said they had grave concerns that the move was a "ruse" to delay a civil action over the shooting.
James Miller was killed while filming a documentary in Rafah, near the border with Egypt. The journalist who accompanied him, Abdurahman Abdallah, said he was shot as he tried to leave a house while holding a white flag.
A British inquiry, based on a video of the incident, said Miller was shot in the neck by an Israeli army patrol. Miller's family is due to begin a civil action in the Israeli courts next month to decide culpability.
Previous attempts at out-of-court settlements failed because Israel had either "reneged" or "renegotiated to our detriment", the family said. However, they indicated that they may accept the new offer. "Having had an exhausting and expensive five-year fight, the possibility of an out-of-court settlement might be considered, although no agreement has been reached," their statement said.
Israel's foreign ministry said negotiations were continuing with the Miller family but would not confirm the amount of the proposed compensation. " Israeli officials told the daily paper Ha'aretz that the legal aspects of the case "had been settled" as part of the deal. In return, the British government will end its action to extradite the Israeli soldiers for trial in the UK, according to Ha'aretz.
AUSTRALIA GEARS UP FOR NEW YEARS DAY LAUNCH OF DIGITAL RADIO IN MAJOR CAPITAL CITIES
Australia is about to launch itself onto digital radio broadcasting over the airwaves with a $400 million broadcast system, a system that was legislated by the former Howard government and will start on the coming New Year's Day in the capitals, later in regional areas.
The driving force is the need to better use the spectrum - digital technology is more efficient - to make room for other services such as those demanded by mobile phone and digital TV operators.
Australia's radio industry is investing $400 million to update its infrastructure and is one of the first countries to adopt DAB , the second-generation digital audio broadcasting technology.
DAB provides a better signal, "CD-quality" transmission and more efficient spectrum use. It also allows simultaneous data services that will see stations display names of songs and artists, weather information, advertiser links and traffic updates on radio LCDs.
Digital broadcasting will start in the capitals after trials with Commercial Radio Australia, the radio stations' industry group that promotes the technology, and public broadcaster the ABC and SBS in Sydney and Melbourne.
It will be preceded by a three-month marketing campaign to tell analog station listeners that they have more choice in digital.
Potential listeners will be able to buy internet radios that let them listen to 13,000 online radio stations away from their computers and at their desks.
Commercial Radio Australia's ceo, Joan Warner, is excited about digital's prospects.
"We're very busy. It's a massive undertaking to coordinate the roll-out in all capital cities at the same time," Ms Warner says.
"We anticipate all 262 commercial radio stations will be migrating, as will the ABC's five existing services, SBS and the wide-area metropolitan community stations."
GUATEMALA’S INDIGENOUS MAYA PEOPLE GET THEIR OWN TV STATION
As of yesterday, the indigenous Maya people of Guatemala have a television station that will broadcast programs focusing on their culture.
AFP reports that TV Maya is operated under the supervision of the Guatemalan Academy of Maya Languages .The network has a small budget and will begin broadcasting only in the Guatemalan capital, though Academy president Domingo Pascual said he hopes it can be broadcast across the country next year.
The network will have three daily broadcasts of thirty minutes each that will include discussion of the importance of the day according to the Maya calendar, a program for children, and a three-part information segment that includes information on culture, current news and technology.
TV Maya will be broadcast on Channel Five - the same frequency used by the Guatemalan army during the years of military dictatorship.
During Guatemala's bitter 1960-1996 internal war 200,000 people were killed, and of these, 83 percent were indigenous Mayas, according to Human Rights groups.
There are around six million indigenous Maya that live in Central America, mostly in Guatemala but also in Mexico and Belize. About 40 percent of Guatemala's 13 million residents are of Maya descent.
BRIT STYLE QUEENS LAUNCH INTO AUSTRALIAN PRIME TIME WITH A PROGRAM ON WHY UK WOMEN HATE THEIR BREASTS
Channel Seven said that the popular UK straight-talking style queens, Trinny and Susannah will move into prime-time with the premiere of their new series Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation.
After their recent Australian tour, Trinny and Susannah have returned to to find out why women hate their breasts and loathe their bras.
In the UK, the search for the right bra has spawned an industry worth over 700 million pounds a year. Over 1.5 million bras are sold in the UK each week, but as Trinny and Susannah discover, many women may not be wearing the right size with some very unflattering results.
Other topics the girls take on in the series include: men’s lack of confidence with shopping and dressing, shape and body issues, dressing for your age and how to transform dowdy uniforms into something staff would actually wear.
Undress the Nation, unlike their previous work, is a mass approach to their traditional make-over.
In the five-part series, the duo travel nation-wide with some shock tactics and eye-catching stunts to inspire the British public to a more stylish future.
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