Throng

TMZ are reporting that Kara DioGuardi is the latest casualty of the American Idol reboot.

Rumor is that Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez will be joining Randy Jackson on the show's next season.

If this is the new judging panel, what are your thoughts?

TV3 & C4’s next generation Video on Demand Service has more than tripled the number of shows streamed since its launch in May and doubled its audience base – and continues to grow steadily.

The pre-launch average of 15,000 to 20,000 viewers is now up to over 60,000 viewers weekly. The average streams before launch which were 40,000 to 60,000 streams are now up over 180,000 streams each week

Director of MediaWorks Interactive, Siobhan McKenna says:  “We’ve seen fantastic growth of audience since the launch two months (May 24) ago as well as an increase in the shows available to view.”

“TV3 and C4 viewers can now enjoy a much higher quality On Demand viewing experience - with a shared TV3 & C4 channel player, clean design, easy to use search function, show alerts and a nifty clock that counts down the adbreak so viewers know when their show will return.”

Yesterday was a huge day in New Zealand politics.  So big that it came as a real surprise that TVNZ's Close Up program, you know, the one that brands itself with "No one gets you closer", kicked off their show with a story that happened two days earlier.

Meanwhile, over on TV3, John Campbell was on form giving Chris Carter a harsh reminder as to what happens when you're not running away from a camera crew.  If you missed it, you must watch it.

Twitter was alive with praise as Campbell's lesson tore up the screen for an entire fifteen minutes.  The best, coming from Simon Pound:

@poundito: Yeah, 111? I want to report something. At the TV3 studios right now. @JohnJCampbell is on fire.

It was superb current affairs and an interview that was a pleasure to watch. Mark Sainsbury's interview, when he eventually got to it, didn't come close.

TVNZ 7 highlights New Zealand innovation and development throughout August with its Spotlight on Science + Technology, in association with the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST).

The month of special programming officially launches on Tuesday 3 August at the City Gallery in Wellington with the unveiling of new local television series Ever Wondered?, produced in partnership with the Royal Society of New Zealand, which, like MoRST, is concerned with promoting the importance of science and technology for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

Ever Wondered?, presented by the winner of the 2009 Prime Minister's MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize, Dr John Watt, is set to inspire Kiwi minds and spark curiosities as Watt searches high and low for answers to today's most challenging scientific questions.

ONE News:

1. Chris Carter - aftermath (Live cross, Francesca Mold)
2. Chris Carter - aftermath (Live cross, Garth Bray)
3. George Hawkins' nomination update
4. Police press conference after shooting (Joy Reid)
5. Murder investigation in Wellington

3 News:

1. Chris Carter - aftermath (Live cross, Rebecca Wright)
2. Chris Carter - electorate responses (Ingrid Hipkiss)
3. George Hawkins' nomination update (Lachlan Forsyth)
4. Police press conference after shooting (Hamish Clark)
5. Missing Auckland woman - Carmen (Jane Luscombe)

Commentary:

Very similar Top 5 stories tonight.  3 News had more in-depth reporting on the George Hawkins' nomination update.

The Apprentice New Zealand’s resident mogul Terry Serepisos has missed out on a place in the National Business Review annual Rich List.

The high profile Wellington businessman who featured as the “boss” on the popular TVNZ show has been omitted from the 24th edition of the list which features the heavy-hitters of the kiwi business world.

Serepisos, who also owns the mighty Wellington Phoenix, has been in the headlines constantly since his appearance on the show for supposed cast-flow problems which, although highly publicized, have not had an impact on him missing the list.

American Idol will lose the services of judge Ellen DeGeneres for the next season with the talk-show host deciding to exit the judging panel.

The exit is said to be a mutual decision between DeGeneres and the Fox network and part of an Idol overhaul which will see the network try to re-invent the brand.

The Ellen DeGeneres show host made her feeling clear to Idol producers months ago that she was looking to quit in order to concentrate more on her own successful show.

"I told them I wouldn't leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next," DeGeneres said. "It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for."

7 Days funny men, Jeremy Corbett and Ben Hurley, embark on a pie-fuelled bro-mance adventure in the comedy special Ben & Jeremy's Big Road Trip, screening on Monday, August 9th at 7:30pm on 3.

Directed by Jason Stutter (Predicament), Ben & Jeremy's Big Road Trip follows Jeremy Corbett and Ben Hurley as they embark on a road trip adventure in the name of science, via a fictional documentary film crew's cameras.

Playing heightened versions of themselves, the fictional Jeremy Corbett is a computer game obsessed loner who thinks he's the most popular and funniest comedian on (and off) television and Ben Hurley, as the egocentric, popular but broke new comedian on the block.