China bans sexy ads!

The Associated Press is reporting that China has banned ads for bras, underwear and sex toys, in its latest push to rid China of what it calls "social pollution".

God, they sound more like the Republicans every day!!!

They might as well ban ads for those figure hugging madarin dresses which are so synonomus with China. Those dresses look even sexier than bras and underwear do.

Lois Maxwell: 1927-2007

Sad news which came out this morning. Lois Maxwell died on Saturday evening at Fremantle Hospital in Western Australia. She was 80 years old.

For me, as for many others, she was incomparable as Miss Moneypenny in 14 James Bond films from Doctor No in 1962 to A View To A Kill in 1985. But she had a far greater career than playing just one role in a series of films.

IMDB is my usual source for film information, and a quick search for Lois Maxwell tuns up a whole host of roles that I have never seen, but one I do remember. She was the voice of Lt Atlanta Shore in Stingray.

Rest in peace, Miss Moneypenny.

Shakira gives something back

TMZ.com is reporting that Shakira has dug into her very deep bank account and contributed $45 million to charity during Clinton's Global Initiative on Friday. It's good to see her giving something back. It was songs like this, one of my all time favourite songs, which helped make her that money.

US Cable News Ratings: Live vs Live + SD: The Debate will continue...

It is noted by Inside Cable News that the Drudge Report has noted that according to the live ratings, the Debate on MSNBC hosted by Tim Russert was beaten by FNC's Hannity and Colmes.

This is true, although the margin was small, just 4,000 viewers(1,453,000 for FNC, 1,449,000 for MSNBC). However, that victory was on the Total Viewers ranking, and it was Live numbers only. On Live + SD, it was the other way around, as reported by TV Newser. 1,472,000 watch the debate on MSNBC, whilst 1,465,000 watched Hannity & Colmes, a victory to MSNBC of 7,000 viewers.

In the 'money demo', whether you use Live or Live + SD, the result is the same, a victory to MSNBC. Live: MSNBC 539,000 vs FNC 426,000; Live + SD: MSNBC 559,000 vs FNC 437,000.

So, on the balance of the numbers, I think it's safe to call that an MSNBC victory overall.

I think it's fair to say that the whole debate on Live vs Live + SD viewing figures is not going to go away anytime soon.

Ratings Review: BARB Week Ending 16th September 2007

The latest publically released viewing figures from BARB reveal some interesting facts. The first one to catch my eye, was this...

Sky Three is watched by more people than Sky One!

It's true. Check the Weekly Reach figures, which shows how many people tuned into the channel for at least 3 continuous minutes. Sky One was watched by over 6.4 million people. Sky Three was watched by over 7.7 million people.

This little factoid should be setting off alarm bells at BSkyB headquarters in Isleworth. It should be saying to them, do the deal with Virgin Media and get Sky One back on Cable. The only other alternative is to make Sky One a Freeview channel replacing Sky Three. That is not likely to happen, given the fact that they do not own FTA rights for all their programmes, only some of them.

If you look at the top rating digital channels, that's excluding the big 5 terrestrials, the most popular digital channel is ITV2, with a 2.4 share / 32.9 weekly reach. That is a huge set of numbers. If you look at ITV2's top 10 rated programmes, you'll see The X Factor and The Xtra Factor hold 5 of the top 10 slots, but all of the top 10 programmes score better than half a million viewers. That is a pretty rare sight, and one worth noting.

Coming in behind ITV2 is Sky Sports 1, with a 1.9 / 13.1. Whilst Sky Sports 1 is only 0.5 behind ITV2 in share, it's 19 percent plus behind on weekly reach. Behind them are BBC3 with a 1.3 / 27.2, ITV4 with a 1.3 /20.2 and ITV3 with a 1.3 / 14.8. ITV4 was helped by Rugby World Cup coverage which has brought more people to the channel than ever before, whilst BBC3 was helped in no small measure by some stellar numbers for Eastenders repeats and Heroes.

Once you get outside the Top 5, it gets a little close but also more interesting. CBeebies comes in next with 1.2 / 10.3, followed by E4 with 1.1 / 19.6, and then, BBC News 24, with a 1.0 / 16.8. Now, these numbers for BBC News 24, should really scare BSkyB. Because, not only does it beat Sky News by quite a margin (0.7 / 11.4), but with a weekyl reach of over 7.9 million viewers...

BBC News 24 was watched by more people than Sky One.

If that doesn't make Sky want to improve Sky One, then I don't know what it will take.

Rounding out the top 10, Sky Sports 3 with a 0.9 / 7.9, helped by Live Twenty20 World Cup Cricket, and finally, Sky One just sneaks in to the top 10 with a 0.8 / 13.6. Whilst ITV2's top 10 all rated above half a million viewers, not one of Sky One's top 10 programmes managed to score half a million viewers. Looking at these ratings, I just have to say this...

If I were in charge of Sky One right now, I would be seriously worried about my job, and would be seriously considering just what can be done to turn Sky One around.

Having been just a couple of years ago, the most watched digital channel, and now, struggling to remain in the top 10 most watched digital channels, Sky One has gone from being must see TV, to an also-ran channel. That, truly, is a scary thought.

My regular weekly check of the worst performers of the week, reveals some of the usual suspects in the lower levels of the ratings league, where if relegation was a worry, then these guys would have been biting nails to the bone! As it happens, just the usual dose of humiliation via the ratings numbers.In no particular order, as they're all pretty bad anyway...

Sky Travel Shop - 49,000
The Business Channel - 52,000
Hollywood TV - 85,000
Life One - 83,000
MusFlash - 55,000
MUTV - 66,000
Overseas Property TV - 78,000
Rockworld TV - 84,000
Simply TV - 5,000
The Baby Channel - 43,000
XLeague.TV - 77,000

Every single one of these channels should look at their ratings and feel ashamed. These are not the channelsof the premier league that I talked about earlier. No,these channels are some 12-15 leagues below that level, equivalent to one of the local amateur leagues, and as for Simply TV, I cannot honestly remember a channel ever scoring that low, except when a channel was closing down or going into receivership that week. Simply TV is still on the air, though how, I'm not sure.

If Sky One's performance of the past couple of years has been disappointing, then Simply TV's performance in it's entire life, has been a complete disaster. And this week's performance is simply, the lowest of an incredibly low bunch. If Simply TV are to make any kind of ratings, they will have to put together something a hell of lot better than what is being aired currently.

The weekly Hall Of Shame is one thing I look forward to reporting, but I too realise that there are people's livelihoods at stake when channels are in trouble and shutting down. The reason I report these figures, is not, as I sometimes say, for the ritual humiliation, but as a way of saying to these channels, whatever you're doing, it ain't good enough yet, do better. It's an easy thing to say, but a difficult thing to do.

Australian PM soon to call a federal election?

ABC Australia is reporting that there is mounting speculation as to whether PM John Howard will call an election this weekend. ABC Australia seem so certain on this that their election site is already up and running.

Out of interest, I decided to look at the other Australian news sites. NineMSN didn't show anything of interest there. The SBS World News Australia site reports that Howard says he has more to do before setting an election date. Seven News doesn't have anything to say on the matter, whilst Sky News Australia highlights the fact that unofficial campainging is already underway.

One thing I can assure you, is that when the election happens, I will cover Australia's Election Night, right here on Viewpoint.

Sorry, Did you say something?

Salon has a very funny, and spot on, political cartoon on their site called This Modern World. The current edition is particularly spot on!

The Ridiculous News File: Lawsuit filed against God. God Responds!!!

Earlier this week, a Nebraska State Senator filed a lawsuit, against God!

This in itself, is enough for ridicule, and even the Senator himself admits this, and claims this is exactly his point.

But today, the story takes a turn for the even more ridiculous!

God responded!

Okay, so somebody has a sense of humour, even going so far as to name St Michael the Archangel as a witness!

But, I think the point has been well made, the story should come to an end here as it is totally... Ridiculous!

What an outfit!

I would recommend that you head on over to Booted Up and look at this post.

I gotta agree with Teri, who runs the site. It is an absiolutely stunning outfit and I think it all works so well together. The top, the trousers, the boots, the gloves, it just all works.

9/11 +6.

And now, from Viewpoint, an extra special commentary on September 11th.

You know every time this date comes round, it seems to be more and more infamous every time. There is no doubt that what happened at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was the kind of event that you do not ever forget if you witnessed it. I happened to be in front of the TV that afternoon UK time, and I did witness the live video footage of the second plane crashing into the other tower of the World Trade Center.

Looking back at the in depth sections of BBC News and CNN reminds me just what a mind numbing event it was, how at the time, we had no immediate idea what had really gone on. Even now, we know a bit about what happened, but we really don't know it all. What has happened since has been the great politicising of 9/11, and the increased divisiveness of politics in the USA, which since Reagan has always been somewhat divided, but the 1994 congressional elections saw it stepped up a level and 9/11 has seen it stepped up to yet another level of intensity.

Patriotism became the new watchword. If you criticised the Bush administration's policies, you were called unpatriotic, or even treasonous. It became almost like the new McCarthyism, where those back in the mid 50s who disagreed with the policies of time were branded as Communists. This was at the time when Stalin ruled the Communist regime of the Soviet Union, and was the "enemy du jour" for the Republican administration of Dwight D Eisenhower.

Now, 6 years on, the world has never seen a more unpopular US president, nor a more divided political landscape, helped in no small part by a so-called news channel, whose real aim is to spread anti-Democrat and pro-Republican propoganda. A channel which blurs the line between news and opinion and not only presents it as fact, but as "Fair and Balanced" news, rather than what it truly is. It is the ultimate in spin-meistering, and it used 9/11 to make itself the most popular news channel in the ratings for years to come.

Now, as unpopular as President Bush has become, Fox News Channel is slowly headed the same way, albeit nowhere nearly as unpopular as the president and his Republican party. But as viewers slowly realise that they are being fed propoganda by Fox News, they are moving away from the channel. Last Friday, Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC was the most popular programme in the key 25-54 advertising demo, according to the Live + Same Day DVR ratings, beating Bill O'Reilly for the first time ever.

All of this is a result of the wasted opportunity that was basically handed to President Bush in the wake of 9/11. An opportunity to create a truly bi-partisan politics, where both Democrats and Republicans could go forward together in unison, finding common ground. What happened was not that. What happened was Republicans decided how things were going to be and expected everybody to follow like sheep into the pen of warmongering and fearmongering. It happened for a while, but there is an old political saying which Republicans would do well to remember. ""You can fool some of the people all the time, and all the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."

OutFOXed, online and viewable

I have discovered that the movie that spawned the Newshounds web site, OutFOXed, is available to watch online via Google Video.

Fox News is well known for its slogans "Fair & Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide". But do they actively persue a Republican/Conservative agenda? Watch the film, and see what you think.

I've reported, now you decide.

Viewpoint Extra: TNA Doubles Its iMPACT!

Forgot to mention, fans in the UK and Ireland can get to watch TNA's No Surrender on Wednesday (12th September 2007) at 9pm in the evening on Bravo 2. If you want to see the big announcement, about TNA Impact!, made in the ring by Mike Tenay, catch it then, along with seeing if Kurt Angle can continue to hold all the gold in TNA. It should be an absolute corker, don't miss a moment!

TNA Doubles it's iMPACT!

Some very interesting news for the pro-wrestling industry was announced at TNA's No Surrender pay-per-view last night in the US. From October 4th, TNA Impact! becomes a two-hour show on Spike TV on US cable.

It is anticpated that UK satellite channel Bravo 2, which is currently airing Impact in the UK and Ireland will also expand their slot at around the same time. Whether EuroSport will do the same with their airings is not yet known.

This will prove to be quite troubling for WWE. Until now, TNA's 1 hour shows were not regarded as serious competition by WWE. But with the expansion of Impact! to 2 hours, WWE cannot afford to take the newcomer lightly. Now, it can truly be said that TNA has arrived. It has monthly pay-per-views, it has it's own World Championship, as it now no longer has use of the NWA world Heavyweight Championship, and now, its main show, Impact!, is expanding to 2 hours weekly.

Let the new wars begin! WWE vs TNA. The battles are just beginning...

Dubious Awards for Dubious News!

I have some awards to hand out to "newsmakers" and organisations, who have the dubious distinction of creating some very dubious news stories.

The Backpedalling Bicycle Award goes to Idaho Senator Larry Craig (Republican) for stating that if he can get the disorderly conduct case overturned in court in Minneapolis, he will NOT resign his Senate seat. Of course, once you've pled guilty, getting that plea overturned is very, very difficult indeed.

The Award for the Most Desperate Attempt at Momentum Scuttling is shared between Newsbusters, the blog of the Media Research Center, and The Mark Levin Show for the desperate attempt at stopping MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann's current momentum, which resulted in a week of great numbers, including the most total viewers who have ever watched the show, and the first victory ever for Countdown against The O'Reilly Factor in the key 25-54 advertising demographic.

Newsbusters uses the Mark Levin Show site as proof that Keith Olbermann, or as Mark Levin seems to like to call him, Keith Overbite, is a mysoginist. The trouble is that the links on the page, the links that Newsbusters seem to highlight as being proof of his mysoginy, are in fact on the New York Post website, which is owned by the same person who owns Fox News. Yes, you've guessed it, your friend and mine, Rupert Murdoch. And guess what, the stories highlight what is said against him, and are treated as fact, when in actuality, all we really have in those articles, is one person's side of the story. No hard and fast facts here for the Truthseeker to find.

So, possible lies, and nothing offered in the way of proof. Can we believe the stories to be undeniable fact? No, plainly we cannot, because of the lack of proof, and because the New York Post, much like it's broadcast cousin Fox News, has a definite agenda against Keith. It was the New York Post, if you recall, that trivialised the story about the white powder that was sent to Keith Olbermann's home. Keith later set the record straight on his own newscast.

So, why did Newsbusters highlight this? Simple, to try and slow down the momentum that has built up since NBC aired a live edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann on a Sunday Night not too long ago. Nothing more than that.

Congratulations to our rather dubious award winners!

Luciano Pavarotti 1935-2007

Last night I recieved an email news alert which said that Luciano Pavarotti had been taken seriously ill. This morning, I woke up to breaking news from Classic FM, that he had just died. He was 71, and was perhaps best known for two things. Nessun Dorma, from Puccini's Turnadot, and the Three Tenors, which he performed alongside Jose Carerras and Placido Domingo.

As a tribute, courtesy of YouTube, we feature two videos here featuring Pavarotti in some of his greatest performances. The first is a recording from Spanish television channel TVE1 of Pavarotti performing Nessum Dorma in concert.



The second and final video is a performance of La Donna e Mobile by Carerras, Domingo and Pavarotti, from a Three tenors concert.



Enjoy the performances.

BBC News has more on the tributes being made to one of opera's brightest burning stars ever.

Dorma eterna, Pavorotti.

PVC clothing popular in celebrity circles?

It wasn't long ago I was talking about Girls Aloud and their latest look for their new video, called "Say No No No", PVC Catsuits.

But it seems as if they were following a trend that has been noted elsewhere. Fashionising's blog highlights the fact that at Glastonbury, Kate Moss was wearing a pair of PVC pants and highly inappropriate boots for the muddy surrounds. Then at the relaunch of the Spice Girls, Posh Spice aka Victoria Beckham was wearing a decidely un-posh pair of PVC jeans too.

Then Hilary Duff made an appearance in some faux-leather leggings.

Perhaps it is merely PVC's time now. When PVC was first introduced as the fabric of the future back in the 1960s, parafin heaters were the norm, and caused the PVC to melt or catch fire. Now, with central heating and air conditioning, PVC maybe finding it's mark as more than just a fetish fabric.

For more possible evidence that PVC is making something of a comeback, let me direct you to the Greta Constatine site, where the pictures of their latest collection show models wearing PVC gloves. Maybe there is something of a revival just beginning to happen.