Junior MasterChef out-rates the adult show on debut

This article is a report by The Daily Telegraph on the TV ratings success of the premiere of Junior MasterChef. The cooking reality show by Channel Ten beat its adult predecessors with 2.2 million viewers tuning in, compared to last year’s first season (1.43m), this year’s second season (1.74m) and Celebrity MasterChef (1.36m) It was also the top rating program nationally for Sunday night, beating ABC’s Midsomer Murders (1.43m), Nine’s 60 Minutes (1.15m) and Channel 7’s The X Factor (1.074m) in its 7:30 pm timeslot.

There were several well-chosen subjects who were interviewed. The Ten chief programmer David Mott heaped praise on the show for its stunning performance, while Julie Goodwin, last year’s winner came admitting tearing while watching the show. The soundbites of her three teenage sons was a welcome insight into the opinion of the audience who are in the same age group as the contestants. They were very impressed by their peers’ talent and ability to cook, and humbly joked that they couldn’t cook just as well.

It would’ve been better if they had seeked the opinion of the competing channels, especially Channel 7, whose reality show The X Factor is the closest contender in terms of genre and audience segment.

As an online story, it is very successful in incorporating the various interactive devices that can only be possible on the Internet. The main images are played as a slideshow loop, with buttons to navigate back and forth. There is an ‘Others’ tab which appears to be an online poll which has closed, and has been replaced with a ‘Survey Monkey’ ad, presumably the survey service provider. There is a ‘Recommend’ button for Facebook above the main image, and below, a link to TV Editor Holly Bryne’s blog on the same subject. The results of the online poll and a box of ‘related coverage’ links is left-aligned in a sidebar, halfway down the main story, to invite reader attention while being non-obtrusive. At the bottom is a comments box with the three most recent comments, and below that is an unrestricted post entry box where you can even decide if you want the site to remember your details and an email notification to be sent once the comment is published.

There are a few banner ads, but these are mostly arranged on a far-right column and at the very bottom of the page, so they are not really distracting. Overall, site design can be made less cluttered with the removal of the banner ads (although realistically, this is not possible since it’s a commercial tabloid news outlet), but the site really exploits the exclusive properties of the online medium to full use.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/original-masterchef-julie-goodwin-a-fan-of-new-recipe/story-e6freuy9-1225919773959

Matt was a Ticking Bomb: Patti Newton

This article is about Matthew Newton’s mother interview on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair and her comment about him being a “ticking time bomb.” It is written by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) and appears in the ABC News online site. As explained in the second paragraph, Matthew Newton lost his job as the host of Seven’s talent show ‘The X-Factor” after it was reported last week that he physically assaulted his girlfriend Rachael Taylor. She has taken out an AVO against him (the acronym was not explained with the assumption that the reader would be familiar with the criminal term) and the Seven Network has issued a statement saying his health was the reason for his removal.

It was also mentioned that Newton’s father Bert appeared on the show, admitting he had tried to help Matt and regretted publicly supporting him because it appeared as if he approved his son’s actions. The article also described his background history, with regards to his “one-off” assault on his ex-girlfriend Brooke Satchwell, his good behaviour bond being revoked by the court, and his month spent in a private drug rehab hospital.

The story is successful in summarizing Newton’s recent personal and career troubles. It would’ve been better if they managed to obtain a statement from him, Taylor or Satchwell, but as its focus is reporting on a recent ACA interview, it is not a necessity.

There were tags listed at the bottom of the story that helped attract search engine trawler bots, in turn drawing users who search these terms. The page is also clean and uncluttered, with a single image, a list of ‘Related Story’ links in a sidebar, and free of commercial advertising.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/30/2996958.htm