Brooke Hanson collapses

Swimming champ and presenter on Nine's What's Good For You, Brooke Hanson today collapsed at a spa exhibition in Melbourne.

Witnesses described her collapse as appearing to be the result of an electric shock following a day of swimming and public appearances at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

Hanson was rushed to the Alfred Hospital where she will remain overnight for observation.

Full story: Herald-Sun. Read more...

It's the finale countdown!

As we close in on the middle of the year, there's only a handful of episodes of Prison Break left.

In fact many of our favourite shows are dwindling down in the "fresh" department. It's part of the reason we see repeat eps filling in. Law & Order: SVU will have at least 6 weeks of back to back repeats!

So just how many eps do our favourite shows have left up their sleeve?

Check out our FINALE COUNTDOWN list here!

This list documents all new episodes in current seasons for series that are currently on air in Australia. The list is based on Melbourne market (some exceptions regarding Boston Legal / Prison Break differ in Syd / Bris markets).

The list counts and includes all eps from the week of Sunday June 17 2007. ie. NCIS has 6 new eps in the current season including the one airing on Tue June 19.

As of Sunday June 17

Ugly Betty 8 + 1 special
Grey’s Anatomy 9 + 1 special
What About Brian 7
Alias 17
CSI 14
CSI Miami 16
Survivor 10 + 1 special
Robin Hood 4
Big Love 10
Drawn Together 2
Supernatural 3
Torchwood 13
Desperate Housewives 5
Brothers and Sisters 5
Boston Legal 7
Scrubs 7
Crossing Jordan 4
CSI NY 8
All New Simpsons 8
NCIS 6
Numb3rs 12
Prison Break 2
Heroes 3
24 1
The Unit 23
Cold Case 11
Without a Trace 12
House 10
Medium 7
Law and Order: SVU 7
Law and Order: CI 7
That 70s Show 14 + 1 special
Lost 7 + 1 special
The Amazing Race 2
Family Guy 12 + 1 special
Pirate Master 13
Dr Who 13 + 1 special

This list is subject to change and updating.

Copyright 2007. Please do not re-post in other messageboards, but direct enquiries to this site, thanks! Read more...

Ray, Bert, Mike to go?

Could Ray Martin be cut from Nine? His is the latest name being circulated as the axe looms over Channel Nine salaries and costs.

Other names such as Bert Newton and Mike Munro are included in a newspaper article, alongside Sam Newman and Paul "Fatty" Vautin.

"The days of being a cherished reporter or journalist or producer at Channel Nine are dead,'' a Nine insider told News Ltd.

Martin is reportedly on a $2m salary yet has no regular show. His interviews appear on either 60 Minutes, Sunday or as stand-alone specials. But Martin is highly respected by celebrities and statespersons, he can access profile stories when big stories break. Nine needs to decide whether others on the payroll such as Tracey Grimshaw can achieve the same results. Her interview with the Beaconsfield Miners hit 2.6m viewers.

Mike Munro isn't even hosting What A Year in 2007 -that's gone to Bert. Munro hosts weekend News and narrates Missing Persons Unit for a reported $500,000 a year.

Bert's $800,000 will only see him hosting clip shows. But Nine would get better bang for its buck if it dropped The Nation and let Bert host a Parkinson style show on Friday or Saturdays nights. Newton is also a good interviewer and live host, neither of which is proving Molloy's strength so far.

Sunday is a shadow of its former self. Ellen Fanning and Ross Coulthard are an odd combination on an empty set. It will be a tragedy if this long-standing show limps out with a whimper...

60 Minutes, Today and Getaway are also likely to see changes. If Sea Patrol works, don't be surprised if McLeod's Daughters starts getting mentioned in the same circles too. How many times can ladies in akubras fall in love or fall under a tractor?

And could costs be saved by bringing Eddie back to The Footy Show? It could potentially save two salaries and likely bump the ratings up anyway.

What a headache ahead!

Source: Daily Telegraph. Read more...

A Nine try, but Seven touches down.

It was a case of close, but no cigar for the Nine Network as Seven snatched glory in Week 24.

Seven finished 28.3% to Nine's 27.9%. TEN had 21.7%, the ABC 16.5% and SBS 5.5%.

The week was a nail-biter with Seven and Nine only 0.1% apart after Friday night. All eyes were on Saturday which fell Seven's way thanks to Seven News attracting 1.5m ahead of Nine's 1.2m. Seven also took out Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights. Nine ruled Wednesday and Thursday. It also won Sydney and Brisbane for the week with the southern cities going to Seven.

The last time that Nine aired the State of Origin it won the week, and it should have done likewise this week, but a decision to not air first-run CSI eps on Sunday may have cost it dearly. Morale at the network which also lost The Catch-Up this week must be a challenge....

Seven News continues to boom, attracting its biggest audience on the public holiday, and with interest in the NSW floods. Today Tonight also hit 1.8m on Monday evening too. Next best was It Takes Two, Desperate Housewives, All Saints, Grey's Anatomy, and the finale of My Name is Earl.

The State of Origin was the week's top show at 1.9m. 60 Minutes was next for Nine at 1.5m, then RPA: Where Are They Now, Temptation, 1 vs 100, National Nine News and Getaway. The Nation slipped from 772,000 to 610,000failing to make the week's top 100 shows. Tuesdays remain a problem for Nine. Can Molloy make it to 8 weeks, his last record with the station?

For TEN there was little change from the previous week. NCIS was the best performer. Big Brother hovered around 1.1m. The Simpsons attracted the same. House repeats were only 1m and Law & Order won likewise. With a late start on a long weekend, Rove was under 1m. Teen Fit Camp at only 685,000 was pulled to be replaced by Pirate Master, hosted by Cameron Daddo.

With interest in the State of Origin, both The Chaser and Spicks and Specks were well down for the ABC. Other top shows for Aunty were its News, Robin Hood and Taggart.

Monday was again SBS' biggest night.

Week 24 ratings. Read more...