as mentioned by others, adidas has used some blue in previous Newcaslte kits (I think it was one of the first after they changed to adidas).
The thing that is most interesting about the release is the timing, typically clubs wait until the summer before starting to introduce the new kits. I wonder what motivated the early timing?
I'm also a big fan of the show...its great at presenting things from all sides, typically having a representative from a big club, a small club, and a foreign club. The episode on derbies was probably my favorite so far.