DISQUS

LOVE Louis Theroux. And yes, I pronounced it thee-row until I heard him say his own name on the show.

So far I think the prison episode might have been the best. He has an unparalleled knack of getting people to open up. It's definitely set to series record.

I need to see the neo-Nazi episode!

I loved Wilfred. I don't know why, but I just assumed Wilfred was supposed to be a real dog. Nothing deeper than that... just a messed up (and fun) execution. Possibly due to not having a multi-million dollar budget for a full CGI Wilfred, or possibly just due to it being a more human approach. Big ups!

Can't wait for season 2.

(Listening to Boxcutters in a very time-shifted manner... got another one to go tonight!)

Nerd time: I think the huge scroll was a grid of LEDs. So no issues with shadows from people, wires or other objects.

Stunning stuff.

Great episode, really enjoyed Adam Richard.

Love the new site.

Fair call. My experience with APRA has only been as an artist, which has been very good. The efficiency I was referring to was regarding their overheads, which I believe are around 3-4%.

For the record (check the witty pun!):

APRA = Distribute funds for the publishing portion of the song, ie. the notes, melodies and lyrics. The part that gets used in a cover or printed on sheet music (one of the main reasons it's separate, which isn't as relevant these days). Publishing is collected for radio play, TV play and by law as 6.25% (I think) of the physical sale of CD/downloads. Typically APRA is seen to represent the artists and publishers. Money collected by APRA goes to the song writer, which may not be the performer. APRA is non-profit and run quite efficiently.

PPCA = Distribute funds collected for "recording and/or music video of the song (a particular recorded performance)". So PPCA is all about a specific execution of a song. I'm a little shakier on PPCA because I've never dealt with them. Typically APRA is seen to represent the labels. PPCA is non-profit. I'm not sure how efficient they are.

Can websites reprint the program schedule?

No. Well, kind of. I believe all the big sites (YourTV/TVFix, eBroadcast, etc) all license the data from HWW (owned by Nine) in the same way other magazines and newspapers do. I'm not sure how much HWW pay the TV stations or FreeTV for the data though.

I would know, but they don't want our money.

Great show, as always :)

I agree that the HD channels don't have compelling content just yet. I guess the stations are probably a little scared because the market isn't there yet. And the market isn't there yet because the content isn't there. Won't be long though... things like real time F1 and other sports in high def will help, as will special interest programming.

ABC2 is great, the timeshift on Ten HD can be handy and HD does look much, much better than SD.

Regarding set top boxes: High def set boxes can usually play HD on a SD TV (but it's in SD) as mentioned on the show. HD STBs can be as cheap as $80ish (Coles was selling a HD set top box with HDMI for $79). Dick Smith Electronics have set top boxes for $99. More expensive big brand models are about $300.

Regarding Freeview: My understanding is that it's a service, not really a specific PVR. "Freeview is the operator of free digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom" (from wiki).

I believe Freeview in the UK manages the digital broadcast, in the same way Digital Broadcasting Australia (http://www.dba.org.au/). I'm not entirely sure how Freeview would fit into the picture here. My guess is that Freeview would also introduce a PVR and EPG that can be used by other manufacturers for a fee.

I think TiVo would have some issues launching in Aus without an EPG... and we all know what happens when you try to put one together independently! I guess that's why they chose the partner they did.

Hi. Thanks for trying out the new recommendation feature.

"To really make the payoff, IceTV should be there to let me know when a new series of Top Gear is starting, because it knows I enjoyed the last series"

Series record via Remote can record based on if the episodes are first runs or reruns. Favourites don't have this concept though. So, if you has Top Gear set as a series record with only first runs chosen, then only new episodes of Top Gear would be recorded.

We might add something like this for Favourites in the future, but for now the feature certainly exists.

"So sure enough, IceTV scored a nice 5 out of 10 in terms of other shows I'd like to watch. But is that really helping me much? I mean, there's so little on free-to-air in Australia I don't really need recommendations at all, much less recommendations that are as likely to be wrong as right."

The recommendations are supposed to be a quick way of checking you're not missing something you might like. 5 out of 10 seems good. It's a much smaller list to go through than the entire TV guide. If there's something you know you don't want to watch, then you can tell let the site know that you never want to see that recommendation ever again (it recommended I watch Home and Away! No thanks).

"Perhaps if IceTV offered me streaming previews, independent reviews rather than synopses, or even production stills. But the local commercial networks aren't about to help - they still see IceTV as stripping away revenue with ad-skipping features, when really they should see IceTV as one of the few things that can help them win and retain what remains of a viable media audience. Sigh."

Couldn't have said it better myself. We do have stills from the ABC though. Maybe one day we'll be able to use stills from all the networks.

Series recorded. I LOVE Shameless, so this needs to get the 3 episode look-in.

Will probably watch it tonight.

Felt more like tying up lose ends because they had no idea if there was going to be a Californication season two... and didn't have ideas for season two if there was. Shame. It was pretty good up until the last 5 mins.

Sounds quality was still better than some other podcasts, so nothing to be ashamed of! (btw, sounded like the sample rate for the computer was set to 32khz, or it was being clocked from anther device (DAT player?) that was set to 32khz).

"Hang on, aren’t LCDs more energy efficient than CRT screens of the same size?"

That's what I though.

I don't mind pressure being put on manufacturers to be nicer for the environment, but it seems wrong to suggest that new TVs are less efficient than old CRT TVs.

Regarding shows starting on time: Not an issue at all with recording padding. Something can be 20 minutes late and it doesn't frustrate me at all. Timeshift! Timeshift! Timeshift!

"What I would like to know is… How easy is it to hook up a HD settop box to TV which has Foxtel digital as a gateway between the arial and the TV ?"

Why not just have them both plugged into your TV separately and switch between them on the TV?

If you get a nice HD set top box or PVR with HDMI or DVI output, the last thing you'd want to do is run it through a standard def box with analogue outputs.

Maybe I'm not understanding what you're saying though.

"But, Mr. Gaspin said, “piracy was and is our No. 1 priority.” He said that the music industry had been devastated by the free exchange of music, much of it facilitated by iTunes."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/business/medi...

Shouldn't their #1 priority be making and funding good shows? Or thinking of creative ways to make money from those shows?

I can think of a million things more important to their business than piracy for NBC universal.

No Mac support. Forced to watch ads. Exploding, time limited media. No space-shifting support. DRM, DRM, DRM and more DRM.

It will bomb.

They'll be back on iTunes in less than 6 months.

I've never been a big fan of awards shows... but... Jeremy Piven FTW!

I agree regarding Weeds. An amazing show that could really do well here (or anywhere). I'd rate it in my current top 5.

Haven't seen Tell Me You Love Me or Flight Of The Conchords, but I've heard good things about both.

No blog post about the new Ten HD channel?

I certainly agree that the inclusion of Ten's EPG helps the IQ become a better box. It will be interesting to see what 7 do now. There's obvious advantages in giving Foxtel the EPG *and* in withholding it.

Josh: Let's hope IQ2 solves some of the UI niggles you have. I'm sure it'll be nicer.

I'm not sure we (IceTV) are direct completion to Foxtel... I think the #1 choice for a Foxtel subscription would be content. I can't imagine anyone subscribing to Foxtel IQ just to record FTA TV.

The only glaring omission in my opinion is Nip/Tuck.

It'd be #1 on my list. Brilliant writing, acting, direction and pushes all kinds of boundaries. Easily the best show on TV.

Thanks for the list... I can now work my way down it and watch the stuff I haven't seen.

NIP/TUCK FTW!!!11!!!!!

Excellent.

Can't wait!

PS: You're right Josh... we don't make anything that actually records and there's no way anyone from the office would have said that.

Thanks for the support!

As I'm sure you can all imagine, we're pretty stoked about the result. It's great to know we can keep working away on some of the new things we have coming... lots of unfinished business here!

Good news for Australia too. It'd be great if eventually there were 2 or 3 IceTVs. We're all for competing with a level playing field.