The 54th TV Week Logie Awards

Comedian Hamish Blake (pictured) was last night (Sunday) awarded the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 54th annual TV Week Logie Awards.

There was also celebration for Blake and his comedy cohort Andy Lee with their program Hamish And Andy’s Gap Year also winning a Logie for Most Popular Light Entertainment Program.

Following the usual Red Carpet coverage, Gold Logie nominee Adam Hills was the first presenter on stage at Crown Palladium.  Although Hills stressed that he was not hosting the show last night, his opening monologue showed that perhaps he was someone who should have been.

Other presenters on the night included Chrissie Swan (pictured), Lincoln Lewis, Rodger Corser, Jacki Weaver, Alison Langdon, Hamish Macdonald, Alex Dimitriades, John Wood, Sigrid Thornton, Rove McManus, Kate Ritchie, Shane Jacobson, Tracy Grimshaw, Kerry O’Brien, Julia Morris, Manu Feildel, Denise Scott, Essie Davis, Stephen Curry, Don Hany, Georgie Parker, Lisa Wilkinson and Karl Stefanovic as well as Blake and Lee.

It was a long night, with Shaun Micallef appearing on screen after midnight to announce the winner of the Gold Logie – however controversy occurred behind the scenes, with the Herald Sun apparently reporting Blake’s victory online before it had been formally announced at the event itself and almost two hours before it appeared on air in the eastern states.

The newspaper said the mishap occurred during “live testing” of its iPad application and blamed the glitch on Google, claiming that the search engine had found the article before it had been published and hence perpetuated the headline online even after the Herald Sun had removed the article.  Media reports say Google has refuted the claim, stating that it can not access material that has not been published.

The Nine Network claimed six Logies on the night, including Underbelly: Razor star Chelsie Preston Crayford winning the Graham Kennedy Award for Outstanding New Talent, Nine News’ coverage of the Queensland floods winning Most Outstanding News Coverage and Nine’s coverage of the NRL State Of Origin III winning Most Outstanding Sports Coverage.

Seven’s Packed To The Rafters came away with two Logies – Most Popular Drama and Most Popular Actor (Hugh Sheridan) – prompting an unusual response from star Rebecca Gibney (pictured):  “For a show that’s in decline, we’re doing OK.”  Seven’s other dramas Winners And Losers and Home And Away also collected awards.

Network Ten’s Bondi Rescue won again for Most Popular Factual Series, and the network’s coverage of the 2011 AFL Grand Final won Most Popular Sports Program.  The network also ‘shared’ a Logie with ABC, with actress Asher Keddie winning the award for Most Popular Actress for her roles in Ten’s Offspring and ABC’s Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo.

ABC took away a number of awards, particularly among the industry-voted categories, for programs including The Slap, My Place, Spicks And Specks and Four Corners.  Adam Hills was awarded the Silver Logie for Most Popular Presenter, following a year that saw Spicks And Specks wind up after seven years and the debut of Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight.

SBS won the Logie for Most Outstanding Documentary Series for its widely-acclaimed series Go Back To Where You Came From.

There were musical performances from UK teen band One Direction, the legendary Tony Bennett, Flo Rida and The Voice judges Seal and Delta Goodrem.

As speculated in recent media reports, Ian ‘Molly Meldrum (pictured) was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall Of Fame, with tributes from John Paul Young, Red Symons, Delta Goodrem, Dannii Minogue and Michael Gudinski.  The segment had a fairly sombre tone about it, appearing more like an obituary rather than a celebration of Meldrum’s work, but nevertheless Meldrum is a worthy recipient of the honour and it was well overdue.  The former Countdown and Hey Hey It’s Saturday presenter is recovering from severe injuries sustained from a fall just before Christmas and was not able to attend the awards presentation.

Mick Molloy’s moving tribute to actor and former colleague Bill Hunter (pictured) led the list of those that have passed on in the last year – including Ian Turpie, Vince Lovegrove, Carl Bleazby, Godfrey Philipp, Jon Blake, David Fordham, Sean Flannery, Bob Davis, Michele Fawdon, Googie Withers, Paul Lockyer, Ian Carroll, John Bean, Gary Ticehurst, Rex Mossop and Harold Hopkins.

With the debut of The Voice and the four-hour Logies telecast, the Nine Network claimed a massive ratings victory, on a night where all three commercial networks rolled out the big guns to kick off the ratings after the Easter break. 

Nine led the field on 37.2 per cent, followed by Seven (18.4%), Ten (13.4%), ABC1 (10.1%), SBS One (4.0%), 7mate (2.9%), One (2.6%), GO! (2.5%), GEM (2.3%), Eleven (2.1%), 7TWO (2.0%), ABC2 (0.9%), ABC3 (0.7%), ABC News 24 (0.6%) and SBS Two (0.4%).

The Voice topped the chart with 2.1 million viewers (OzTAM, 5 cities), with the TV Week Logie Awards occupying second and fourth spots (1.8m for the Red Carpet, 1.379 for the awards presentation).  Seven’s series return of Dancing With The Stars scored 1.076 viewers and ranked sixth for the night, while Ten’s screening of the movie Avatar was well down the list on 553,000 viewers.

Public-voted categories:

TV WEEK GOLD LOGIE – Most Popular Personality
Hamish Blake

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Popular Actor
Hugh Sheridan (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Popular Actress
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten / Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Popular Presenter
Adam Hills (pictured) (Spicks And Specks, ABC1/Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight, ABC1)

MOST POPULAR NEW MALE TALENT
Steve Peacocke (Home And Away)

MOST POPULAR NEW FEMALE TALENT
Melissa Bergland (Winners & Losers Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR DRAMA SERIES
Packed To The Rafters (Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
Hamish & Andy's Gap Year (Nine Network)

MOST POPULAR LIFESTYLE PROGRAM
Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR SPORTS PROGRAM
2011 AFL Grand Final (Network Ten)

MOST POPULAR REALITY PROGRAM
The Block (Nine Network)

MOST POPULAR FACTUAL PROGRAM
Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)

Industry-voted categories:

TV WEEK LOGIE AWARDS’ HALL OF FAME
Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie
The Slap (ABC1)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Outstanding Actor
Rob Carlton (pictured) (Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Outstanding Actress
Melissa George (The Slap, ABC1)

GRAHAM KENNEDY AWARD FOR MOST OUTSTANDING NEW TALENT
Chelsie Preston Crayford (Underbelly: Razor, Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING NEWS COVERAGE
The Queensland Floods (Nine News, Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING PUBLIC AFFAIRS REPORT
"A Bloody Business" (Four Corners/Sarah Ferguson, ABC1)

MOST OUTSTANDING LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
Spicks And Specks (ABC1)

MOST OUTSTANDING SPORTS COVERAGE
State Of Origin III (Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
My Place (ABC3)

MOST OUTSTANDING FACTUAL PROGRAM
Go Back To Where You Came From (SBS) (pictured)

Source: TV Week, Herald Sun, The Australian

Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2012. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior
written consent of OzTAM.  Program performance and ranking information subject to change when not based on final program logs.

Seven wins ‘11

No surprises for anyone to read that the Seven Network has come out as the overall winner in the 2011 ratings battle – its fifth annual win in a row.

Seven ends the year (Weeks 7-48, excluding Easter, 6pm-12mn, 5 cities) with a 31.0% share, followed by Nine (26.3%), Ten (21.4%), ABC (15.9%) and SBS (5.4%).  For Seven it’s an increase from last year’s share of 28.7% while Nine, ABC and SBS recorded drops compared to 2010, and Ten rose only slightly from 21.2% as it launched its new channel Eleven this year and revamped former sports channel One.

Broken down to individual channels, Seven (23.0%) was ahead of Nine (19.5%), Ten (15.8%), ABC1 (12.4%), SBS One (4.6%), 7TWO (4.6%), GO! (4.0%), Eleven (3.5%), 7mate (3.4%), Gem (2.8%), ABC2 (2.3%), One (2.1%), SBS Two (0.8%), ABC News 24 (0.7%) and ABC3 (0.6%).  The growth in the multi-channel audiences has seen all primary channels recording a decline on 2010’s numbers.

7TWO overtook Nine’s GO! as the top-rated multi-channel, while Ten’s new youth-themed channel Eleven ends its first year in third spot.

It was a year where Seven could do little wrong, achieving a clean sweep of 40 overall prime-time wins out of 40 weeks, due to a strong early evening line-up of Seven News, Today Tonight and Home And Away and its reality portfolio – The Amazing Race: Australia, Dancing With The Stars (pictured), My Kitchen Rules, Australia’s Got Talent and a revamped The X Factor – all performing well giving the network a massive lead up to mid-evening.  Thursday nights got a boost with Beauty And The Geek, and the long-running Better Homes And Gardens gave Seven a boost on Fridays.

Seven also scored a massive hit on Sunday nights with British series Downton Abbey.

Drama series Packed To The Rafters was still a standout performer but didn’t rate quite as well as in 2010, having lost a number of key cast members in the last year, and with some risky scheduling by Seven that saw the series given a lengthy mid-season break and then winding up the 2011 series prematurely.  But the mid-season break for Rafters saw it replaced by the new series Winners And Losers, a strong ratings performer though not a match for Rafters.

In the morning battle, Sunrise is still dominant in the breakfast timeslot nationally but Nine’s Today is performing stronger in Sydney and Melbourne.  The Morning Show continues to rule the mid-morning timeslot, claiming victory over Nine’s Kerri-Anne (which was cancelled last week) and The Circle.

But not everything quite went Seven’s way.  The network’s new period drama Wild Boys, featuring Daniel MacPherson and former Rafters star Zoe Ventoura, got off to a strong start but failed to maintain an audience and will not return in 2012.  Game show Deal Or No Deal, once a dominant performer at 5.30pm, is fading against Hot Seat, and drama series City Homicide went out with a whimper.  And last week’s special Kyle And Jackie O’s Night With The Stars was presented with a lead-in of two million viewers (with the “winner announced” on The X Factor) but saw viewers switch off in droves.

New imported series No Ordinary Family, Detroit 187, Teen Wolf, Suits and Law And Order: LA all failed to click with viewers. 

For the Nine Network the year started confidently, with promises that the network would be the “home of comedy” in 2011.  It was soon apparent, however, that the only ones laughing were the other networks.  The supposed flagship of the new comedy line-up, Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth, was a spectacular dud, even leading to a public apology by Elton himself, and was axed after only three weeks.  New US shows $#*! My Dad Says and Mike And Molly also failed.

The once dominant US sitcom Two And A Half Men was on the decline on the back of the Charlie Sheen scandal and his subsequent sacking from the series, but The Big Bang Theory – ironically from the same producer as Men – became a strong performer, to the point where Nine has become somewhat over-reliant on its popularity, ended the ratings year with 14 episodes scheduled in prime-time over five nights.

The multi-million dollar deal which saw Hamish Blake and Andy Lee come across from the Ten Network saw their new series Hamish And Andy’s Gap Year start to a strong ratings result but overall popularity waned as the series progressed, although it rated well in younger demographics.

The Joy Of Sets with Tony Martin and Ed Kavalee promised a humourous and affectionate look at the various aspects of television, but viewers didn’t take to it at all with later episodes playing out in a late-night timeslot.

Nine’s first half of the year was also not helped by lack lustre performances by new Eddie McGuire vehicles Million Dollar Drop, Between The Lines and a revival of This Is Your Life.

Nine had some smiles, however, by strong ratings for the ongoing Underbelly franchise, with a series of telemovies and the 1920s-themed series Underbelly: Razor rating well. 

The TV Week Logie Awards rated well (1,323,000, over four hours) up against the series return of MasterChef Australia (1,569,000, 90 minutes), while the NRL State Of Origin series returned excellent figures with all three games well exceeding the 2 million viewer mark.

But while the first half of the year was not a great one for Nine, its second half was  somewhat better and can be largely attributed to adopting the reality genre in the stripped 7.00pm timeslot, starting with a new-look The Block which became a ratings hit.  Some strategic coding by Nine in the ratings system has seen The Block – The Winner Announced claim the #1 program of the year – all seven minutes of it.

(Such coding of programs, a tactic employed by all three commercial networks, have made a mess of the Top 20 list – as below – where individual episodes of series and specific segments of special events are singled out to give them higher or multiple positions in the rankings.)

Nine then used the 7.00pm timeslot for its late-year series Celebrity Apprentice, also returning strong results. The popularity in the reality genre for Nine will see it launch an Australian version of singing competition The Voice, and reviving Big Brother in 2012.

But while it was a year that Seven could do little wrong, for Network Ten it was a year where there was little they could get right.  The network’s heavy investment in expanding its news and current affairs portfolio saw 6PM With George Negus (later 6.30) fail to maintain any audience traction up against the tabloid opposition, although the network should at least be credited for attempting to lift the bar in the standard of prime-time current affairs reporting and giving the show a fair run before finally axing it in October.

The 6.30pm Ten Evening News failed to click with viewers and was axed after two months, and Ten’s subsequent extension of the 5.00pm bulletin to a 90-minute format saw its numbers drop considerably.  The mess of the network’s weekend newscasts, which saw the national 5.00pm newscast dropped and then re-instated and the 6.00pm state-based bulletins launched and then dropped in favour of an extended national news bulletin, has not done it any favours either. 

The 7PM Project has now been extended to an hour, and re-named The Project.  Its overall average has dropped as a result and it is to be seen if the expanded format can build on its numbers in 2012.

Ten’s reality giant MasterChef Australia was back for a third series this year.  Although the program continued to rate well, the mood of the audience was well down on previous years and the show’s finale – split into two shows to ‘force’ viewers to sample The Renovators sandwiched in between – rated well lower than the two previous season finals and its Junior MasterChef spin-off also failed to maintain a strong audience.

The new show The Renovators (pictured) promised to do for home makeovers what MasterChef did with cooking – crank the challenges, production values and the budget to the hilt, and to saturate the schedule.  The problem was that viewers didn’t take to The Renovators as they had come to adopt MasterChef, therefore dragging down Ten’s entire schedule.  It will also be no coincidence that Nine’s revamped The Block made its debut just prior to The Renovators and hence stole much of its thunder.

Ten’s drama slate has looked somewhat depleted this year, with Neighbours being moved across to Eleven.  Ten’s second series of Offspring was a strong performer and will be back next year, but action-packed police drama Rush again failed to gain a decent audience and will not appear in 2012.

Apart from MasterChef’s two-part finale, Ten’s only appearance in the year-end Top 20 was the AFL Grand Final, ending the network’s ten-year association with the league as the free-to-air rights next year go solely to Seven.

Ten’s re-working of comedy show Good News Week into Good News World was a critical and ratings disaster, while the new topical discussion show Can Of Worms got a modest audience response but was not helped by some erratic scheduling.  The second series of the Australian version of Undercover Boss also failed to rate with viewers.

The network did have better results with the return of The Biggest Loser and Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation.

Imported shows Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-O, The Defenders and Ringer have also returned poor results, while the big-budget series Terra Nova – filmed on location in Australia – started strongly but has failed to maintain viewers’ interest.

Over at ABC ratings are not of primary concern but the ABC1 channel has scored some critical and ratings hits during the year.  The two-part series Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo (pictured) was a ratings hit in April, while the eight-part adaptation of the book The Slap was widely acclaimed and received strong Thursday night figures for the broadcaster.

The long-running Spicks And Specks also rated well during the year with its final-ever episode last week scoring over 1.5 million viewers.  The Gruen Transfer and its spin-off Gruen Planet were also popular on Wednesday nights.

Highlights for SBS during the year included Cadel Evans’ victory in the Tour de France (704,000), followed by documentary series Go Back To Where You Came From (pictured), where six Australians were taken on a reverse journey of those taken by refugees that have landed at our shores.

In digital multi-channels, the most-watched broadcast was Day 9 of Wimbledon on 7TWO, attracting 737,000 viewers, followed by movies Transformers and 2012 on GO!.  Neighbours was a consistent performer for Eleven, often winning nightly digital channel rankings but its average over the year saw it ranked at the 10th most popular program on digital channels for the year.

But the biggest TV event of the year is one that fell outside of the official ratings survey.  The April wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, with coverage across four free-to-air networks and a number of pay-TV channels, was watched by millions but took place during the two-week ratings break taken around Easter so its numbers are not included in the year-end tally.

From today networks go into summer non-ratings mode, though viewing data is still collected and reported to networks over the non-ratings period.

The 2012 ratings year begins on 12 February and continues through to 1 December, with a two-week Easter break in April.

Seven wins 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007

Free-To-Air Top 20 Programs (Rank, Title, Network, Duration, Audience (five cities)):

1 THE BLOCK -WINNER ANNOUNCED (Nine) 0:07:06 3,370,000
2 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT-THE WINNER ANNOUNCED (Seven) 0:10:06 2,980,000
3 UNDERBELLY: RAZOR -EP1 (Nine) 1:01:21 2,794,000
4 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - THE WINNER ANNOUNCED (Ten) 0:16:00 2,745,000
5 THE BLOCK -AUCTION (Nine) 0:45:50 2,736,000
6 THE 2011 MELBOURNE CUP CARNIVAL: MELBOURNE CUP-THE RACE (Seven) 0:06:05 2,667,000
7 TEN'S AFL FINALS 2011: GRAND FINAL COLLINGWOOD V GEELONG (Ten) 3:02:30 2,641,000
8 STATE OF ORIGIN RUGBY LEAGUE QLD V NSW 3RD - MATCH (Nine) 1:50:58 2,492,000
9 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - FINALE NIGHT (Ten) 1:01:34 2,402,000
10 UNDERBELLY: RAZOR -EP2 (Nine) 1:01:16 2,352,000
11 THE BLOCK -GRAND FINAL (Nine) 1:07:10 2,309,000
12 STATE OF ORIGIN RUGBY LEAGUE QLD V NSW 1ST - MATCH (Nine) 1:41:24 2,245,000
13 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL (Nine) 1:51:01 2,172,000
14 STATE OF ORIGIN RUGBY LEAGUE NSW V QLD 2ND - MATCH (Nine) 1:44:00 2,165,000 
15 MY KITCHEN RULES-WINNER ANNOUNCED (Seven) 0:10:00 2,127,000
16 THE X FACTOR - THE WINNER ANNOUNCED (Seven) 7 0:08:00 2,026,000
17 THE 2011 MELBOURNE CUP CARNIVAL: MELBOURNE CUP-RACE PRESENTATIO (Seven) 0:33:27 1,967,000
18 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT-TUE (Seven) 1:34:32 1,936,000
19 THE 2011 GRAND FINAL PRE GAME (Ten) 0:20:58 1,914,000
20 DOWNTON ABBEY (Seven) 1:11:48 1,906,000

Free-To-Air Digital Multi Channel Top 20 Programs (Rank, Title, Channel, Duration, Audience (five cities)):

1 WIMBLEDON 2011 - DAY 9 (7TWO) 1:37:11 737,000
2 TRANSFORMERS -EV (GO!) 3:00:14 486,000
3 2012 -EV (GO!) 3:14:57 441,000
4 AUST FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 - RACE (One)2:00:00 428,000
5 WIMBLEDON 2011 - DAY 7 (7TWO) 2:46:45 408,000
6 SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND -EV TX1 (GO!) 0:58:00 371,000
7 HEARTBEAT-SAT (R) (7TWO) 1:07:09 350,000
8 JONATHAN CREEK (7TWO) 1:07:32 349,000
9 SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND -EV (GO!) 1:36:15 344,000
10 NEIGHBOURS (Eleven) 0:30:35 343,000
11 M-FIRST BLOOD (7mate) 2:00:51 338,000
12 PAUL BLART: MALL COP -EV (GO!) 1:56:36 337,000
13 HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE -EV (GO!) 3:20:46 337,000
14 DOC MARTIN-EP.2 (7TWO) 1:02:01 335,000
15 HEARTBEAT (R) (7TWO) 1:06:18 330,000
16 HEARTBEAT-EP.2 (R) (7TWO) 1:05:31 325,000
17 THE VICAR OF DIBLEY-TUE (R) (7TWO) 0:49:38 322,000
18 HEARTBEAT-SAT EP.2 (R) (7TWO) 1:02:40 315,000
19 HEARTBEAT-WED (R) (7TWO) 1:08:04 314,000
20 DOC MARTIN (7TWO) 1:03:09 308,000

Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2011. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior written consent of OzTAM.

TV’s golden girls signing off

It was a morning of farewells as two of TV’s golden girls signed off from their respective shows today.

Over at Ten’s The Circle, Denise Drysdale (pictured) announced her retirement – marking the end of a showbusiness career that has spanned more than fifty years.

Starting as a performer in early children’s shows including The Happy Show and The Tarax Show, Drysdale worked her way up to pop music shows such as Uptight, Kommotion and Dig We Must.

Then in the 1970s she became Ernie Sigley’s ‘barrel girl’ on The Ernie Sigley Show, forming an enduring partnership that saw both of them win Gold Logies in 1975, with Drysdale winning a second Gold in 1976.

One of TV’s more versatile performers, she has appeared in dramas such as Division 4, Homicide and Cop Shop, comedies like The Bluestone Boys and The Norman Gunston Show and countless music and variety shows including Countdown, The Penthouse Club, The Daryl Somers Show, The Mike Walsh Show right through to Spicks And Specks. 

Living on a farm in Gippsland, in the 1980s she hosted a morning show for local channel GLV8, and later took over from Jacki MacDonald on Nine’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday before being re-united with Sigley to host morning shows In Melbourne Today and In Sydney Today (both shows later merged into Ernie And Denise).

In the ‘90s, Drysdale teamed up with Frankie J. Holden on the revived In Melbourne Tonight before moving to the Seven Network to host her own daytime show, Denise.

Early last year Network Ten announced that Drysdale was joining the presenting team on its new morning show The Circle.  Later in the year she was again re-united with Sigley in a segment on the show.

Although the show faces tough competition, particularly from The Morning Show on Seven, The Circle this year won a Logie for Most Popular Light Entertainment Program.

Drysdale now looks forward to taking a well-earned break and spending time with her new grandson.

Meanwhile, over at the Nine Network, there was a farewell for Kerri-Anne Kennerley whose morning show comes to an end after nine years on air. 

Kennerley was a teenager when she appeared on children’s programs on Queensland television in the 1960s and 1970s.  After working overseas for several years she returned to Australia, appearing on the soapie The Restless Years before taking over as co-host on Network Ten’s Good Morning Australia in 1981.  It was a role that she made her own for 11 years, outlasting a number of her male on-air colleagues.  She later hosted an afternoon show, Monday To Friday, and worked in Sydney radio.

In the mid-1990s, Kennerley took over as host of Nine’s Midday – giving the show a new lease on life after some years of instability.  The show wound up in 1998 and after a stint back at the Ten Network on ill-fated shows like Moment Of Truth and Greed she returned to Nine in 2002 to host Mornings With Kerri-Anne, later re-named Kerri-Anne.

The show achieved global fame in 2007 when an interview with a “jet-lagged” John Stamos went viral.

The demise of Kerri-Anne comes after recent speculation about the show’s future, sparked by Kennerley taking leave from the program and with the show featuring a number of guest hosts. 

Although the Kerri-Anne program has ended – the ‘summer series’ of best-of segments starts on Monday – Kennerley remains with the Nine Network for future projects.

Nine will replace Kerri-Anne next year with a new show to be hosted by Sonia Kruger, who is coming across after more than a decade with the Seven Network and is best known as the co-host for eleven seasons of  Dancing With The Stars.

YouTube: aussiebeachut0, Michael Shephard

ABC to say goodbye to Gordon Street?

ABC is set to expand its premises in inner-city Melbourne with construction of a new television studio.

The new development, which has now been approved by the ABC board, will be built adjacent to the broadcaster’s existing radio and administration complex in Southbank.

The new television studios will be used for both internal productions as well as being made available for external hire.

No timeline for the development has been announced and neither has there been any announcement as to the future of ABC’s existing Melbourne television studios in Gordon Street, Elsternwick, although The Age reports that it appears that the property will be sold off to assist in funding the new development.  In 2009 the Elsternwick site was estimated to be valued at around $25 million.

The Elsternwick studios, located next door to the historic Ripponlea homestead, were opened in May 1958 – eighteen months after ABC’s Melbourne television station ABV2 commenced transmission.  For the previous eighteen months the various functions of the new television station were carried out from makeshift premises scattered around Melbourne.

The studios have hosted various productions for ABC including Bellbird, Adventure Island (pictured), Countdown, Power Without Glory, The Saturday Show, Australia – You’re Standing In It, The Factory, Countdown Revolution, The Big Gig, The Late Show, Phoenix and Seachange. 

Spicks And Specks, The Marngrook Footy Show and Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight are also produced at Elsternwick.

The potential sale of the Elsternwick site comes after the sale of the historic GTV9 studios in Richmond last year – while Seven and Ten have long moved out from their original studio premises in South Melbourne and Nunawading respectively.

Source: The Age, The Australian, ABV, ABC, Real Estate Source

Seven-year itch for Spicks And Specks

After seven years and 277 episodes, the team from ABC’s Spicks And Specks announced yesterday that the show’s current season will be its last.

Host Adam Hills said in a statement:

“I have loved every second of my involvement with Spicks And Specks, and especially working with Alan and Myf. We always said we wanted to leave when we were on top and while we were still having fun, and now feels like the right time.  We are indebted to our loyal fans for giving us seven amazing years on Australian television, and I hope they’ll hold the memories of Spicks And Specks close to their hearts.”

Team captain Myf Warhurst said the show has allowed her some great experiences:

“It's been a wonderful privilege to be part of Spicks And Specks. I've worked with an incredible team of people, both on and off screen, and miraculously, managed to keep a job on TV for seven years, on a show that people love.  I’ve been lucky enough to experience many great things. I've seen Frank Woodley's privates, been naked under a desk with Pete Murray, and met many of my childhood musical crushes. Life can't get much better than that, so this seems like the perfect time to wind things up.”

Fellow team captain Alan Brough said it was best to walk away too soon rather than too late:

“For seven years I've had a job where I've met Gourd Orchestras, Oompah bands and Status Quo. Very few people can say that.  I'd rather people were upset because we stopped a little early, than upset because we stayed far too long.”

Recorded at the ABC studios in Melbourne (in the same studio that hosted Countdown) the show began rather modestly back in February 2005, only a week after another music-based quiz show, RocKwiz, had debuted on SBS.  There were inevitable comparisons between the two programs, especially as both shows were hosted by comedians and comprised a three-on-three battle on questions related to music, but it was evidently clear that both have their own distinct style.

Spicks And Specks became a popular performer in its Wednesday night timeslot on ABC and was the springboard into a Wednesday night comedy and youth-oriented line-up for the network.  With the popularity that Spicks And Specks was attaining, it was inevitable that a string of similar team-versus-team shows would follow on various genres – history (ADbc), sport (The Squiz, The Locker Room, Between The Lines), television (The White Room) and popular culture (Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, You May Be Right) – though few have been a success.

More than 150 guests have appeared on the show over its seven years, representing almost a who’s who of Australian entertainment, including Marcia Hines, Jimmy Barnes, Jon English, Jim Keays, Renee Geyer, Denise Drysdale, Hamish Blake, Kamahl, David Campbell, Colin Lane, Meshel Laurie, Debbie Byrne, Ella Hooper, Cal Wilson, Pete Helliar, Fiona O’Loughlin, Toni Lamond, Patti Newton, Wilbur Wilde, Ian Turpie, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, Noeline Brown, Tina Arena, Dave Hughes, Amanda Keller, Geoffrey Rush, Caroline O’Connor, Kate Miller-Heidke, Shaun Micallef and Rhonda Burchmore.

The show was recognised this year with a TV Week Logie Award for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program, and host Adam Hills has been nominated for the Gold Logie four times since 2008.  This year saw Hills launch his own talk show, Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight, which will return for a second series.  ABC is also in discussions with Warhurst and Brough over potential future projects.

The final episode of Spicks And Specks is scheduled to screen on ABC1 on Wednesday, 23 November at 8.30pm.

The 53rd TV Week Logie Awards

Today host Karl Stefanovic (pictured) was last night awarded the TV Week Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at this year’s presentation of the TV Week Logie Awards.

It is the Nine Network’s first Gold Logie win since Ray Martin last won the award in 1996.

Stefanovic’s Gold win comes on the back of an aggressive marketing campaign by Nine which encouraged viewers to send in SMS votes to get him over the line.  Other nominees Rebecca Gibney, Jessica Marais, Chrissie Swan, Adam Hills and Asher Keddie were also promoted by their respective networks, but Nine’s “Vote for Karl” campaign was certainly the most prolific.

The Today host even mentioned the campaign in his acceptance speech.

The campaign attracted some criticism as being a “tacky” stunt as opposed to having talent judged on its own merits.  Seven news chief Peter Meakin told Crikey, “Karl’s a really nice guy, I regard him as a mate. But I just think this was tacky.”

Stefanovic’s Gold was his second Logie on the night.  Earlier in the evening he’d been awarded the Silver Logie for Most Popular Presenter, and in accepting that award made mention of his wife, remarking that '”she's also got the best arse I've ever seen.”  Not the most elegant of acceptance speeches.

The Nine Network also scored three Logies for last year’s Underbelly instalment, Underbelly: The Golden Mile, including Most Outstanding Drama and Firass Dirani walking away with the two New Talent awards.

Seven’s popular Packed To The Rafters won Most Popular Drama, and actor Hugh Sheridan was awarded Most Popular Actor. 

The Seven Network was also awarded Most Outstanding Factual Program for the special Trisha And Krishna: The Quest For Separate Lives, and the long-running Better Homes And Gardens won Most Popular Lifestyle Program.

Seven News won the Logie for Most Outstanding News Report for its coverage of the New Zealand mine disaster.

Ten’s reality hit MasterChef Australia, which returned for its third season last night up against the Logies, not surprisingly won the award for Most Popular Reality Program.  Ten also picked up awards for Bondi Rescue for Most Popular Factual Program, and Offspring’s Asher Keddie for Most Popular Actress. 

Ten’s morning show The Circle won Most Popular Light Entertainment Program, while co-host Chrissie Swan (pictured, far right, with colleagues Denise Drysdale, Yumi Stynes and Gorgi Coghlan) may have missed out on the Gold but did take the Most Popular New Female Talent award.

ABC collected a number of awards this year.  Richard Roxburgh won Most Outstanding Actor for his role in Rake, and Claire van der Boom won Most Outstanding Actress for her role in Sisters Of War.  ABC3’s Dance Academy won Most Outstanding Children’s Program, and Spicks And Specks won Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program.  The Four Corners story “Struggler’s Paradise” won Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report.

Jana Wendt appeared on stage to induct former colleague Laurie Oakes (pictured) into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.  There were congratulatory messages from Prime Minister Julia Gillard, opposition leader Tony Abbott, former prime ministers John Howard and Kevin Rudd and ABC presenter Kerry O’Brien.

Performer Eddie Perfect and comedy trio Tripod presented a moving tribute to those in the television and showbusiness industries that have left us over the past twelve months.

Other music performances on the night came from Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Jessie J. 

Megan Gale, Andre Rieu and Rachel Griffiths were among the guest stars to hand out awards.

Credit to Shane Bourne for courageously taking on the role as host that invariably draws criticism, and succeeding to lead the night with good humour and without wearing out his welcome.

One aspect of the telecast that did wear out its welcome, however, was the “Logies Minute” segment which appeared at various stages of the night as advertorials for the telecast sponsors but came across as awkward and unnecessary and mostly went beyond their promised “Minute” of airtime.  Said sponsors might have got more value by the network just running their commercials.

Across the five major capitals the awards presentation averaged a preliminary overnight rating of 1,323,000 viewers over four hours – including both the red carpet arrivals and the Awards themselves – while the return of Ten’s MasterChef averaged around 1,569,000 viewers over its 90 minutes.

Nine won the night overall with a rating of 28.2 per cent, followed by Ten (18.9%), Seven (18.7%), ABC1 (11.8%), SBS1 (3.6%), GO! (3.5%), GEM (3.3%), 7mate (3.1%), 7TWO (2.7%), Eleven (2.4%), One (1.7%), ABC2 (0.9%), SBS2 (0.6%), ABC3 (0.4%) and ABC News 24 (0.4%).

TV WEEK GOLD LOGIE – Most Popular Personality on TV
Karl Stefanovic (Today, Network Nine)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Popular Actor
Hugh Sheridan (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Popular Actress
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten)
TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Popular Presenter
Karl Stefanovic (Today, Nine Network)

MOST POPULAR NEW MALE TALENT
Firass Dirani (Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Nine Network)
MOST POPULAR NEW FEMALE TALENT
Chrissie Swan (The Circle, Network Ten)
MOST POPULAR DRAMA SERIES
Packed To The Rafters (Channel Seven)
MOST POPULAR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
The Circle (Network Ten)
MOST POPULAR LIFESTYLE PROGRAM
Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)
MOST POPULAR SPORTS PROGRAM
The Footy Show (AFL) (Nine Network)
MOST POPULAR REALITY PROGRAM
MasterChef Australia (Network Ten)
MOST POPULAR FACTUAL PROGRAM
Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)

OUTSTANDING AWARDS

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie
Underbelly: The Golden Mile (Nine Network)
TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Outstanding Actor
Richard Roxburgh (Rake, ABC1)
TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE – Most Outstanding Actress
Claire van der Boom (Sisters Of War, ABC1)
GRAHAM KENNEDY AWARD FOR MOST OUTSTANDING NEW TALENT
Firass Dirani (Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Nine Network)
MOST OUTSTANDING NEWS COVERAGE
“New Zealand Mine Disaster” (Seven News)
MOST OUTSTANDING PUBLIC AFFAIRS REPORT
“Smugglers' Paradise” (Four Corners, ABC1)
MOST OUTSTANDING LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
Spicks And Specks (ABC1)
MOST OUTSTANDING SPORTS COVERAGE
The Ashes 2010 First Test - Day One at the Gabba (Nine Network)
MOST OUTSTANDING CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
Dance Academy (ABC3)
MOST OUTSTANDING FACTUAL PROGRAM
Trishna & Krishna: The Quest For Separate Lives (Channel Seven)

TV WEEK LOGIE AWARDS’ HALL OF FAME
Laurie Oakes

Source: TV Week, Crikey

TV Week Logie Awards – race for Gold begins

TV Week has announced the nominations for the upcoming 53rd annual TV Week Logie Awards.

This year saw an increase in the amount of votes received for the Awards due to the voting process being held entirely online and over a longer period than in previous years.

The night’s major award, the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, will be contested by representatives of all three commercial networks plus ABC.

And although Packed To The Rafters continues to appear numerous times amongst the award nominees, Network Ten’s new drama of 2010, Offspring, has also snared a number of nominations in both the publicly-voted and industry panel-voted categories.  Nine’s Underbelly: The Golden Mile and ABC1’s Sisters Of War and Rake have also received multiple nominations, as has Ten’s The Circle and Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation.  SBS also received a rare Most Popular nomination for Who Do You Think You Are?

TV Week is yet to announce this year’s inductee into the Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

Full list of nominations:

GOLD LOGIE
Most Popular Personality on Television*
Adam Hills (Spicks And Specks, ABC1)
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten)
Chrissie Swan (The Circle, Network Ten)
Jessica Marais (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Karl Stefanovic (Today, Nine Network)
Rebecca Gibney (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
(2010 winner: Ray Meagher, Home And Away)

* Voting for the Gold Logie from the list of nominations is now open to the public up until the day of the event.  Voting for other categories is now closed.

SILVER LOGIES
Most Popular Actor
Callan Mulvey (Rush, Network Ten)
Don Hany (Offspring, Network Ten / Tangle, Foxtel [Showcase])
Erik Thomson (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Hugh Sheridan (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Michael Caton (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
(2010 winner: Hugh Sheridan, Packed To The Rafters)

Most Popular Actress
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten)
Jessica Marais (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Margot Robbie (Neighbours, Network Ten)
Rebecca Gibney (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Zoe Ventoura (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
(2010 winner: Rebecca Gibney, Packed To The Rafters)

Most Popular Presenter
Adam Hills (Spicks And Specks, ABC1)
Chrissie Swan (The Circle, Network Ten)
Hamish Blake (Hamish & Andy 'Specials', Network Ten)
Karl Stefanovic (Today, Nine Network)
Shaun Micallef (Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, Network Ten)
(2010 winner: Shaun Micallef, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation)

Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie
Hawke (Network Ten)
Packed To The Rafters (Channel Seven)
Rake (ABC1)
Rush (Network Ten)
Sisters Of War (ABC1)
Underbelly: The Golden Mile (Nine Network)
(2010 winner: East West 101)

Most Outstanding Actor
Erik Thomson (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Hugh Sheridan (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Jason Gann (Wilfred, SBS)
Richard Roxburgh (Hawke, Network Ten)
Richard Roxburgh (Rake, ABC1)
(2010 winner: Don Hany, East West 101)

Most Outstanding Actress
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten)
Catherine McClements (Rush, Network Ten)
Claire van der Boom (Sisters Of War, ABC1)
Justine Clarke (Tangle, Foxtel [Showcase])
Kat Stewart (Offspring, Network Ten)
(2010 winner: Claudia Karvan, Saved)

Graham Kennedy Award For Most Outstanding New Talent
Emma Booth (Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Nine Network)
Firass Dirani (Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Nine Network)
Richard Davies (Offspring, Network Ten)
Ryan Corr (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Sarah Snook (Sisters Of War, ABC1)
(2010 winner: Matt Preston, MasterChef Australia)

LOGIE AWARDS
Most Popular New Male Talent
Charles Cottier (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Eddie Perfect (Offspring, Network Ten)
Firass Dirani (Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Nine Network)
Manu Feildel (My Kitchen Rules, Channel Seven)
Ryan Corr (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
(2010 winner: Luke Mitchell, Home And Away)

Most Popular New Female Talent
Chrissie Swan (The Circle, Network Ten)
Emma Booth (Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Nine Network)
Hannah Marshall (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Julie Goodwin (Home Cooked! With Julie Goodwin, Nine Network)
Poh Ling Yeow (Poh's Kitchen, ABC1)
(2010 winner: Carrie Bickmore, The 7PM Project)

Most Popular Drama Series
Home And Away (Channel Seven)
Neighbours (Network Ten)
Offspring (Network Ten)
Packed To The Rafters (Channel Seven)
Rush (Network Ten)
Underbelly: The Golden Mile (Nine Network)
(2010 winner: Packed To The Rafters)

Most Popular Light Entertainment Program
Good News Week (Network Ten)
Hey Hey It's Saturday (Nine Network)
Sunrise (Channel Seven)
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Network Ten)
The Circle (Network Ten)
(2010 winner: Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation)

Most Popular Lifestyle Program
Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)
Domestic Blitz (Nine Network)
Getaway (Nine Network)
Grand Designs Australia (Foxtel [The Lifestyle Channel])
Ready Steady Cook (Network Ten)
(2010 winner: Better Homes And Gardens)

Most Popular Sports Program
Before The Game (Network Ten)
The Footy Show (AFL) (Nine Network)
The Footy Show (NRL) (Nine Network)
The Matty Johns Show (Channel Seven)
Wide World Of Sports (Nine Network)
(2010 winner: The Footy Show (NRL))

Most Popular Reality Program
Dancing With The Stars (Channel Seven)
MasterChef Australia (Network Ten)
The Biggest Loser Australia (Network Ten)
The Farmer Wants A Wife (Nine Network)
The X Factor (Channel Seven)
(2010 winner: MasterChef Australia)

Most Popular Factual Program
Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)
Bondi Vet (Network Ten)
RPA (Nine Network)
Undercover Boss Australia (Network Ten)
Who Do You Think You Are? (SBS)
(2010 winner: Bondi Rescue)

Most Outstanding News Coverage
"Afghanistan Rocket Attack" (Ten News)
"Election 2010" (Sky News)
"Laurie Oakes Election Leaks" (Nine News)
"New Zealand Mine Disaster" (Seven News)
"Pakistan Floods" (ABC News)
(2010 winner: Victorian Bushfires, Seven News)

Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report
"Brothers In Arms" (Sunday Night, Channel Seven)
"Hey Dad..! Scandal" (A Current Affair, Nine Network)
"Iraq's Deadly Legacy" (Dateline, SBS)
"Smugglers' Paradise" (Four Corners, ABC1)
"The Condemned" (Dateline, SBS)
(2010 winner: “Code of Silence”, Four Corners)

Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program
Hamish & Andy's Caravan of Courage: Great Britain & Ireland (Network Ten)
Luke Nguyen's Vietnam (SBS)
Spicks And Specks (ABC1)
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Network Ten)
Yes We Canberra! (ABC1)
(2010 winner: Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation)

Most Outstanding Sports Coverage
2010 AFL Grand Final (Channel Seven)
2010 Melbourne Cup (Channel Seven)
Rugby League - 2010 State Of Origin - Game One (Nine Network)
The Ashes 2010 First Test - Day One at the Gabba (Nine Network)
XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi (Foxtel)
(2010 winner: V8 Supercars: Supercheap Auto Bathurst)

Most Outstanding Children’s Program
Camp Orange: Castle Mountain (Foxtel [Nickelodeon])
Dance Academy (ABC3)
Dead Gorgeous (ABC3)
Hi-5 (Nine Network)
Prank Patrol (ABC3)
(2010 winner: My Place)

Most Outstanding Factual Program
Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)
Miracle in the Storm (ABC1)
RPA (Nine Network)
Such Is Life: The Troubled Times Of Ben Cousins (Channel Seven)
Trishna & Krishna: The Quest For Separate Lives (Channel Seven)
(2010 winner: Law And Disorder)

Shane Bourne will host the TV Week Logie Awards from Melbourne’s Crown Casino on Sunday 1 May, to be telecast on the Nine Network.

Source: TV Week

Gordon Street goes back to the future

Spicks And Specks host Adam Hills (pictured) launches his new talk show, Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight, this week on ABC1.

The title of the program refers to the location of the Melbourne ABV2 studios, which were opened in May 1958 and have hosted many productions for the national broadcaster in the decades that have followed.

In promoting the new series – with the tagline “it’s the future of television” – ABC has dug out some archival footage of some early programs to come from the Gordon Street studios, including children’s series Adventure Island (1967-1972).

Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight. Premieres Wednesday 9 February, 8.30pm.  ABC1.  Repeated Saturday 7.30pm, ABC2.

TV Week Logie Awards voting opens

It’s a new era for the TV Week Logie Awards as TV Week has today opened the voting for the 2011 awards presentation.

Traditionally, voting for the popularity-based categories starts in the new year and is conducted through both the TV Week website and in the printed publication. 

This year the public voting is being conducted entirely online via the TV Week website.

But despite obvious efforts to improve the online voting process compared to previous years – at least now we can see who we are being asked to choose from – there still appears to be some discrepancy or omissions from the nominations list.

A glance at the nominees list noted a few missing names, though this a far from being an extensive list:

Most Popular Actress: Janet Andrewartha (pictured. Neighbours) – who was also missing from last year’s list, Heidi Arena (The Librarians), Jane Badler (Neighbours), Rachael Blake (Hawke), Kate Box (Offspring), Danielle Cormack (Rake), Victoria Eagger (The Librarians), Kaarin Fairfax (Bed Of Roses), Alicia Gardiner (Offspring), Caroline Gillmer (Bed Of Roses), Rachel Griffiths (Rake), Jane Harber (Offspring), Sasha Horler (Rake, Hawke, Offspring), Kaiya Jones (Neighbours), Jordy Lucas (Neighbours), Heather Mitchell (Rake), Eve Morey (Neighbours), Nicole Nabout (The Librarians), Valentina Novakovic (Neighbours), Adrienne Pickering (Rake).

Most Popular Actor: Lliam Amor (Hawke), Stephen Ballantyne (The Librarians), Morgan Baker (Neighbours), Keith Brockett (The Librarians), Vince Colosimo (pictured. Wicked Love), Richard Davies (Offspring), Firass Dirani (Underbelly 3: The Golden Mile), Bob Franklin (The Librarians), Kim Gyngell (The Librarians), Kevin Hofbauer (Rush), Lachy Hulme (Offspring, The Librarians), Josh Lawson (Hawke), Geoff Morrell (Rake),  Erin Mullally (Neighbours), Eddie Perfect (Offspring), Jordan Smith (Neighbours), Matthew Werkmeister (Neighbours), Sandy Winton (Neighbours), Felix Williamson (Hawke).

Most Popular Presenter: Paul Barry (Media Watch), Peter Evans (My Kitchen Rules), Peter Everett (Ready Steady Cook), Manu Feildel (My Kitchen Rules), Julie Goodwin (Home Cooked), Andrew Hansen (Strictly Speaking). Peter Helliar (The Bounce), Jonathan Holmes (Media Watch), Amanda Keller (Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation), James O’Loghlin (The New Inventors), Sandra Sully (pictured. Ten News), Peter Thompson (Talking Heads), Josh Thomas (Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation), Bill Woods (Thursday Night Live).

Some of the names listed above do appear, however, in the Most Popular New Talent category – seemingly implying that any new talent nominee is ineligible for any of the above categories.  A curious, and possibly new, condition given some have been in very prominent roles or have given exceptional performances.

Some inconsistencies also appear – Poh Ling Yeow (Poh’s Kitchen)qualifies for the Most Popular Presenter vote as well as Most Popular New Talent, although Julie Goodwin (Home Cooked) only qualifies for the latter.  Spicks And Specks team captains Adam Brough and Myf Warhurst qualify for Most Popular Presenter votes, but their equivalents at Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Josh Thomas and Amanda Keller, do not.  Generation’s Charlie Pickering qualifies for a vote based on his role as co-host on The 7PM Project.  The X Factor judges Guy Sebastian, Ronan Keating, Natalie Imbruglia and Kyle Sandilands all qualify for a vote, but their So You Think You Can Dance counterparts – Jason Coleman, Matt Lee and Bonnie Lythgoe – miss out.

While TV Week is possibly only listing names provided by the publicity agents of the networks (and looking at the lists above, it seems that ABC and Network Ten are being the most remiss), it is unfortunate that such omissions do occur or that some quality control over the list of names doesn’t seem to happen, even after such inconsistencies with the nominees list have been occurring for some years.  And while column space might have been limiting in the print edition, causing some names to not be included, now with online voting there is more space allowed to include a more comprehensive list of names.

On a more positive note, the award nominations this year do take into account community television for the first time.  While it is unlikely that these programs or presenters will walk away with a popular-voted award, the acknowledgement that they even exist is a positive one.

An industry-based panel will again judge contenders for the Most Outstanding award categories – including the Hall of Fame and the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent.

Online voting for the popularity-based categories closes 20 February 2011 and the 53rd annual TV Week Logie Awards will take place on 1 May 2011.

TV Week Logie Award nominees announced

TV Week has announced its list of nominees for this year’s TV Week Logie Awards, to be held at Melbourne’s Crown Casino on 2 May.

On the short list for the Gold Logie are last year’s winner Rebecca Gibney, three-time Gold Logie winner Rove McManus, Home And Away stalwart Ray Meagher, ABC hosts Adam Hills and Wil Anderson, Ten’s Shaun Micallef and Paul McDermott and Home And Away’s Esther Anderson.

Then the categories for Most Popular Actor and Most Popular Actress are basically a two-way battle between Home And Away and Packed To The Rafters, while nominations for Most Popular Drama are Home And Away, Packed To The Rafters, Neighbours, Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities and All Saints (RIP).

Ten’s 2009 hit Masterchef Australia (pictured) received three nominations – one for Most Popular Reality Program and two for judge Matt Preston, both in New Talent categories.  Ten’s other hit of 2009, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, also scored five nominations, including Micallef’s Gold nomination.

Hey Hey It’s Saturday – The Reunion has scored a nomination in the Most Popular Light Entertainment Program category.  Sunrise curiously also got a nomination for Most Popular Light Entertainment program, not doing it’s news credibility any favours, while co-host Melissa Doyle is nominated for Most Popular Presenter – up against Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Rove McManus, Shaun Micallef and Paul McDermott.

Among the industry-voted categories, three networks – ABC, Seven and Ten – were nominated for Most Outstanding News Coverage for their reporting of the Victorian Bushfires.

TV Week is yet to announce this year’s inductee into the Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

Full list of nominations, including both public and industry-voted categories:

GOLD LOGIE*
Most Popular Personality on TV
Esther Anderson, Home & Away (Seven)
Wil Anderson, The Gruen Transfer (ABC)
Rebecca Gibney, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Adam Hills, Spicks and Specks (ABC)
Paul McDermott, Good News Week (Ten)
Rove McManus, Rove (Ten)
Ray Meagher, Home & Away (Seven)
Shaun Micallef, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)
* Voting for the Gold Logie from the list of nominations is now open to the public up until the day of the event.  Voting for other categories is now closed.

SILVER LOGIES
Outstanding Actor
Roy Billing, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)
Don Hany, East West 101 (SBS)
Garry McDonald, A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne (Ten)
Ben Mendelsohn, Tangle (Showcase)
Aaron Pedersen, The Circuit (SBS)

Outstanding Actress
Justine Clarke, Tangle (Showcase)
Claudia Karvan, Saved (SBS)
Asher Keddie, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)
Susie Porter, East West 101 (SBS)
Kat Stewart, Tangle (Showcase)

Outstanding Drama Series, Mini-series or Tele-movie
A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne, (Ten)
East West 101 (SBS)
Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Tangle (Showcase)
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)

Most Popular Actor
Luke Jacobz, Home and Away (Seven)
Todd Lasance, Home and Away (Seven)
Ray Meagher, Home and Away (Seven)
Hugh Sheridan, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Erik Thomson, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)

Most Popular Actress
Esther Anderson, Home and Away (Seven)
Rebecca Breeds, Home and Away (Seven)
Rebecca Gibney, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Jessica Marais, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Jessica Tovey, Home and Away (Seven)

Most Popular Presenter
Natalie Bassingthwaighte, So You Think You Can Dance Australia (Ten)
Melissa Doyle, Sunrise (Seven)
Adam Hills, Spicks & Specks (ABC)
Rove McManus, Rove (Ten)
Shaun Micallef, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)

LOGIE AWARDS
Outstanding News Coverage
Bushfire Disaster (Ten)
Godwin Grech (ABC)
Samoan Tsunami (Nine)
Victorian Bushfires (Seven)
Victorian Bushfires (ABC)

Outstanding Public Affairs Report
Code of Silence, Four Corners (ABC)
Liberal Leadership Meltdown (Sky News)
Matthew Johns Interview, A Current Affair (Nine)
Proof of Life, Australian Story (ABC)
Rising from the Ashes, 60 Minutes (Nine)

Outstanding Factual Program
Bombora: The Story of Australian Surfing (ABC)
Bondi Rescue (Ten)
Darwin's Brave New World (ABC)
Last Chance Saloon (SBS)
Law and Disorder (SBS)

Outstanding Light Entertainment
Chandon Pictures (Movie Network)
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)
Thank God You're Here (Seven)
The Chaser's War on Everything (ABC)
Wilfred (SBS)

Outstanding Sports Coverage
Golf: Women's Australian Open 2009 (ABC)
Horse Racing: Emirates Melbourne Cup Carnival (Seven)
League: 2009 NRL Grand Final (Nine)
2009 AFL Grand Final: St Kilda vs Geelong (Ten)
V8 Supercars: Supercheap Auto Bathurst (Seven)

Outstanding Children's Program
Camp Orange: The Final Frontier (Nickelodeon)
Dirtgirlworld (ABC)
Hi-5 (Nine)
My Place (ABC)
The Elephant Princess (Ten)

Most Popular Drama
All Saints (Seven)
Home and Away (Seven)
Neighbours (Ten)
Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)

Most Popular Reality Program
Dancing with the Stars (Seven)
MasterChef Australia (Ten)
So You Think You Can Dance Australia (Ten)
The Biggest Loser Australia (Ten)
The Farmer Wants a Wife (Nine)

Most Popular Lifestyle Program
Better Homes and Gardens (Seven)
Domestic Blitz (Seven)
Getaway (Nine)
Ready Steady Cook (Ten)
Top Gear Australia (SBS)

Most Popular Light Entertainment
Deal or No Deal (Seven)
Hey Hey The Reunion (Nine)
Spicks and Specks (ABC)
Sunrise (Seven)
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)

Most Popular Sports Program
Before the Game (Ten)
Sports Tonight (Ten)
The Footy Show AFL (Nine)
The Footy Show NRL (Nine)
Wide World of Sports (Nine)

Most Popular Factual Program
Bondi Rescue (Ten)
Border Security (Seven)
Find My Family (Seven)
RPA (Nine)
RSPCA Animal Rescue (Seven)

Most Popular New Male Talent
Luke Mitchell, Home and Away (Seven)
Charlie Pickering, The 7pm Project (Ten)
Matt Preston, MasterChef Australia (Ten)
James Stewart, Packed to the Rafters (Seven)
Josh Thomas, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (Ten)

Most Popular New Female Talent
Kate Bell, Home and Away (Seven)
Carrie Bickmore, The 7pm Project (Ten)
Ashleigh Brewer, Neighbours (Ten)
Mirrah Foulkes, All Saints (Seven)
Katherine Hicks, Rescue Special Ops (Nine)

Graham Kennedy Award for Outstanding New Talent
Anastasia Feneri, My Place (ABC)
Anna Hutchison, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Nine)
Camille Keenan, Satisfaction (Showcase)
Eva Lazzaro, Tangle (Showcase)
Matt Preston, MasterChef Australia (Ten)

Bert Newton will host the TV Week Logie Awards on 2 May, telecast on the Nine Network.

Seven wins ‘09

No real surprises here.  The Seven Network has claimed victory for the 2009 season, based on the 40 weeks of prime-time (6.00pm-12.00am) ratings competition.

It is Seven’s third consecutive year at the top – this year managing an audience share of 28.8%, followed by Nine (26.8%), Ten (22.2%), ABC (16.4%) and SBS (5.9%).  Taking the various networks’ digital channels into account, Seven/7TWO wins on 28.1%, followed by Nine/GO (26.6%), Ten/One (22.4%), ABC1/ABC2 (17.0%), SBS1/SBS2 (5.9%).

Seven’s primary chanel won 34 out of the 40 ratings weeks, though when adding primary and digital channels together, the Nine/GO combination brings Seven/7TWO’s total wins down to 29 weeks.

In the more advertiser-friendly demographics, Seven will claim victory in the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups (although adding Nine + GO will see them just edge ahead in 25-54), while Ten will claim victory in the 16-39 age bracket.

Although Seven continued to maintain strong consistency with its early evening line-up – Deal Or No Deal, Seven News, Today Tonight, Home And Away – and continued to score highly with its weekly drama Packed To The Rafters, there was one series that surprised everyone and created the year’s biggest buzz – Ten’s Masterchef Australia. 

There was a lot of scoffing when Ten announced that it had taken on the Masterchef format to replace Big Brother, but the new show turned around the 7.00pm timeslot for Ten and the grand finale captured a total of 3.726 million viewers (OzTam, 5 cities) – making it the most-watched program for the year, even out-rating the AFL Grand Final (2.878 million), the Melbourne Cup (2.673 million) and the NRL Grand Final (2.528 million).

Ten also managed a surprise hit when it launched Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation in the wake of losing Thank God You’re Here to the Seven Network.  The new Shaun Micallef show returned high figures with an average of 1.601 million viewers over its series, while Thank God You’re Here in its first series on Seven averaged 1.515 million viewers.

The Nine Network had a couple of stand-out hits this year – the second series in the Underbelly franchise (averaging 2.158 million viewers) and two top-rating Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion specials (2.149 million and 2.213 million).  Nine also scored well with the NRL State Of Origin series (2.121 million average) and the TV Week Logie Awards (1.664 million).

ABC’s best figures came from Midsomer Murders (1.421 million), New Tricks (1.221 million), Spicks And Specks (1.219 million), The Chaser’s War On Everything (1.203 million) and The Gruen Transfer (1.176 million).

The 2010 ratings season starts on Sunday 7 February and continues through to Saturday 27 November, with a two-week break over Easter.  Next year will also mark a significant change in ratings reporting as it will also incorporate time-shift viewing via devices such as VCRs, personal video recorders (PVR) or branded equipment such as Tivo or Foxtel IQ.

It’s Seven in ‘08
Seven wins ‘07