On the podcast this week, we get serious…about television. While the debate over an Australia network tender process may not be the sexiest tale you’ll hear all week, you will be excited when we deliver the exciting news about the return of Yes, Minister. But wait? There’s more? Calm down Bucko, we also have a discussion about the diminishing ratings of US cable drama The Killing.

As always, we also offer some TV highlights and sprinkle a little bit of magic throughout the podcast.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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As TV profits fall, pressures on networks to perform increases, and opportunities for multi-platform distribution arise, expect TV in Australia to get a whole lot more advertorial. This week saw Channel 9 launch their new datacasting service ‘Extra’, providing a similar mix of advertorial and infotainment content as seen on 7′s datacast channel TV4ME. No longer can networks truly afford to be a prestige service and rebuke advertising platforms such as this. Instead, they are being embraced and Extra / TV4ME is really just the start of what’s to come.

This week on the Televised Revolution podcast, Dan and Simon discuss:

• The launch of Extra and its ‘Twitter For Bogans’ messaging service.
• Nine prepare for an Olympics 3D channel.
• WIN ditch Freeview.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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Firing at full strength, Televised Revolution is back this week with a corker of a podcast. As each of us battle through our personal demons ranging from cigarette addiction to an addiction to the popular smart phone game Draw Something, we sit and talk television.

On the podcast this week we discuss:

• Channel 9?s financing.
• The return of Larry King to TV by way of an interesting IPTV service.
• Samurai Pizza Cats is finally released on DVD.

We also have a chat with the guys from cult TV show Danger 5 about the DVD release of their show.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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We have something a bit different on Televised Revolution this week. Usually we try and provide some commentary on the biggest TV-related news stories of the week, provide some TV highlights, and point out a few interesting issues related to the medium. This week we’re dropping that to take you into the belly of the beast.

The ABC is a multi-platform media giant in Australia. It has significant influence across TV, Radio, and Online. It also drives a lot of the innovation that we see in the Australian marketplace. Brisbane is the home to a brand new building for the ABC that brings into it staff working across all three platforms. It’s a purpose-built facility that was designed to ensure all three platforms are able to work together as part of the same harmonious entity.

On this weeks Televised Revolution, the manager of the project to build the new ABC South Bank (Brisbane) studios, Mike McGowan, takes us on a tour of the new building. He highlights some of the more interesting aspects of the building while also taking us through the key areas that may be of interest to Televised Revolution listeners.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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With the Queensland State Election on the horizon, it got us thinking about the coverage that this receives on the night. The TV networks usually all carry dedicated election coverage and trot out interesting panels and guests to position themselves as the most reliable channel in news.

Here at Televised Revolution, we’re generally pretty impressed with the coverage that Channel Nine put together for State and Federal elections (switching over to the ABC for commentary by Antony Green, of course). But, what goes into producing election coverage? We have a chat this week with the Executive Producer of the Channel Nine election night special Brendan Hockings.

We also discuss:

• Controversy at Channel Ten’s The Circle.
• Subscription TV via IPTV set to increase.
• The Prisoner remake Wentworth.
• The cancellation of Terra Nova.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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It’s pretty easy to dismiss the Telstra T-Box as a gimmick device at the same level as Telstra’s T-Hub and the various other similar devices that serve as gateway devices for consumers lacking savviness. The device does continue to evolve on a software level, providing greater functionality with each upgrade. 2012 will likely be seen as the year that Telstra get heavily involved in transitioning towards being a content distributor. Telstra have dabbled with distributing content ever since the early days of Bigpond Cable, with the T-Box serving as the current iteration of those efforts. It’s also the iteration that will serve as a transitory technology to move their analogue media consumers toward their digital services on the horizon.

Cnet offer a good review of the T-Box HERE.

This week saw the introduction of functionality to the T-Box which allows users to stream video and audio files from external storage devices. It’s not a new idea and lots of people already have that functionality via other devices connected to their TV’s. But, it will have people using their T-Box a whole lot more.

On Televised Revolution we discuss the new T-Box functionality, the launch of Channel Ten’s new Breakfast program, this weeks Academy Awards, and discuss just how good Australian TV productions have been of late.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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This week we have proof! Australians are not only watching more television, but they’re downloading more. And what more? If given legal options for better streaming/downloaded content, we’d be likely to utilise them a whole lot more.

On Televised Revolution this week we discuss:

• The Academy Awards air-times.
• Nielsen release their multi-screen report.
• Data from the Ericsson ConsumerLab indicates that Australians have less access to legal online viewing options and are consequently downloading more illegally.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

Sources:
The Nielsen report can be downloaded as a PDF HERE.
A detailed media release from Ericsson can be read HERE.

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We have a mixed bag of stories to discuss this week. Simon is off on assignment, so Dan and Dennis pick up the slack and discuss:

• Quickflix scores a cash injection.
• TV Central goes down.
• Kerri-Anne Kennerley officially signs with Seven.
• Is the Apple TV on the horizon?

Late in the podcast we briefly discuss comic book TV adaptations. If you’re interested in reading Doctor Who, Star Trek, True Blood, Smallville, or one of the many other shows currently adapted as comic books, I recommend getting along to your local comic shop to see what’s available. In Brisbane, I quite like the staff at Comics Etc. The staff are very friendly and will always go out of their way to help out new customers who don’t quite know what they’re looking for. In other states, might I suggest checking out Kings Comics in Sydney, All Star Comics in Melbourne, and Adelaide Comic Centre in Adelaide. If comic stores are still a bit off-putting, or inconvenient, you might want to check out the digital comics available via Comixology.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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The technological revolution may be responsible for the radical shifts in the way that we consume and interact with content, but the fundamental legal principles that protect consumers and content owners alike are still in place. This was put to the test with the Optus TV Now case in which the NRL, AFL, and Telstra sought an injunction to prevent Optus from continuing to provide the service.

This week on Televised Revolution we chat with Peter Black, Senior Lecturer in Law at the Queensland University of Technology, about the case and its implications on time shifting content.

Also up for discussion:

• BTjunkie shuts down for good.
• HBO invests $10 million into streaming service Quickflix.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

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Launching on SBS1 on Feb 27 at 9:30pm is Danger 5 – a TV show that finally embraces the medium to its fullest potential with its tales of Nazi’s, dinosaurs, and diamond-clad vixens.

For me, this is THE show of 2012. It’s a show that is doing something creative and unique on Australian TV. You will not see another show like this again. Well, probably not. On this episode of Televised Revolution, Dan speaks with the shows creators Dario Russo and David Ashby about the production of the series and how it came about.

At Televised Revolution, we look forward to receiving your mail and check us out on the Twitter. You can also find the podcast on iTunes (please leave us a review, it helps people find the show).

The Danger 5 trailer:

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