Throng

Ben

People are talking like Australian TV is the greatest. Shows overrun for no reason, such as 5-10-15 minutes late just because. Then they take it off without warning when it is still advertised in the paper guide all the time or bump it a few hours later without warning. Even in summer 'non-ratings' they still chop and change shows. Sure they 'fast-track' some shows but 1 or 2 showed within the week is not enough with the shows so easily available by other means. They lie about season finales when they just decide to stop airing them, and some 'fast-tracked' shows they advertised like prison break were 7 episodes behind. They'll realise soon enough that they can't play these deceiving games much longer and retain an audience. The internet allows you to truly fast-track shows.

Kerry

As was mentioned below, NZ networks traditionally hold off the new shows until February so they have enough episodes to show them every week without the breaks they use in the states to stretch 22 episodes out over 9 months (Sep-May).

While I'm impatient and usually don't like to wait longer than I have to for shows once they've aired in the US (hence my large internet and credit card bills), I also don't like to wait too long between episodes. Yes, I'm difficult to please. I think the way Fox have shown Prison Break, basically splitting the season in half and showing it each week with a break after 16 episodes, is a good compromise. This way I get a new show each week for a few months, a mid-season climax/cliffhanger, then another two or three months worth a bit later. I think this would work for most shows, whether they're serialised or shows with single episode stories.

But saving the last four episodes of House's fourth season until last month was just stupid, I fail to see what that accomplished.

Kelly

In America, some channels (Esp. Fox, who TV3 has a deal with and who airs shows such as Prison Break and House), they often take a midseason break - play the first 16 or so episodes of a show, tak March. They also often have two week breaks between episodes to allow e an extended break over christmas and new year, and then resume in aboutfor sports coverage and other things, and often early in the season.. So if we were to get the episodes just a few days behind, we would be subjected to the breaks as well. I would rather have to wait a couple of extra weeks, and get to see them all together. Last season, with House, as it worked out, because of te breaks, even though we started seeing the beginning of season four several weeks after the US, we were only a week or so behind them at the end of the season. (Well, actually, last weeks episode was actually the season finale, but TV3 chose to split the season, probably because of the delays with the writers strike, and tack the remainder onto the beginning of season five)

reece_555

To be fair the only show that i have seen with the "Fast Tracking" brand was the Sarah Connor Chronicles otherwise the other shows have just been advertised normally without a mention of there closer airdate, so if you were a normal viewer of private practice who doesnt check the internet you would think they were season 1 episodes.

al

as has been stated, the only downside to being so far behind is you have the issue where in the US, shows will just not be on for one reason or another some weeks.

Fox do this with the Simpsons a lot, with baseball and football bumping it. We're currently 4 weeks behind the States (S20E03 was on here tonight, S20E05 will be on tomorrow). But I see there will be no episode again on 23 Nov in the US.

RingbearerNZ

I guess the fast tracked comment refers to how before, shows would only begin in February, which was the traditional start for new seasons of television shows in New Zealand since we deal with 2009 seasons, not 2008-09 seasons. However, with the rise of the internet and downloading, they are "fast-tracking" shows earlier than is tradition.
I must however bring up a point that a friend of mine who works at TV3 told me.... with their American TV series, they are aiming to try and do what they wanted to do last year, play non stop with no breaks over summer. By delaying the start as such, New Zealanders do not have to wait for new episodes.
For Heroes for example, when it takes its break midway through December, it won't come back until February at which time, we will be one or two weeks behind the US which will resolve itself when it come for the second break at the end of March. Also, sometimes, there will be a one week break for some shows to allow another run of episodes or for special events.
In this way, they are being smart and not having breaks which are prone to causing viewers to lose interest, especially when they miss the first episode after the break, something which has caused a sever drop in numbers for some shows in the US leading to cancellation. Edit: and with New Zealand having a small population, holding onto viewers is important
However, some shows I don't get like Fringe with its six to eight month delay.... I am sure TV2 could accommodate the show on their schedule instead of showing some repeats of programs for example.

Rachel

SimTV, it may have once been "years" behind the US but now it's months or weeks in general, not days or even hours like in Australia.

Remember Rockstar Supernova? That screened within hours of the US and we could even vote for once. So I'm not quite sure what is newsworthy about the article, since the trend has been like this for years now.

The term "fast-tracked" is being used in Australia for shows that air within hours or a couple of days behind the US.

If a show was on air in HD less than 24 hours after airing in the US, why would you download it? You'd possibly record it with your PVR or watch it as it aired and save your bandwidth for something that's months behind.

regan

Fringe, the hot new thriller from JJ Abrams, isn't starting until the middle of 2009. It would actually be nice to see the list of shows that are supposedly being fast tracked.

SimTV

Considering back in the 90's how TVNZ used to buy up large amounts of tv shows then leave them in the library until TV3 put something decent on, then yes I'd say the article is fairly accurate.

The shows, when compared to the old days, are fast tracked.

Not sure if screening them so close to on air in the US would prevent people from downloading though. Ask your average p2p user how many things they have downloaded in the last month and if they have listen to/watched it all

Rachel

If Australia can show House eight and a half hours behind the US, there's no reason why that can't be done on any show - and it would stop people downloading the show.

When you can find out (whether you want to or not) what's happened in an episode (especially a competition like The Amazing Race or Survivor), airing a few weeks after the US air-date is so pointless. I remember accidentally seeing who won Survivor Australia years ago when I specifically didn't want to, bugged me so much!

Brian (Shadowfoot)

Series 5 of The Amazing Race was shown 4 days after the airing in the US. (Well, for the first half a season it was. It was put off-kilter when TV2 "needed" to show an episode of Australian Idol.)

Since then, AFAIK, they haven't started a season of TAR while it's still showing in the US.

I want to know why they could do it once why can't they do it more often with series that have a consistent viewership.

Rachel

We're 19 days behind on Private Practice Season 2.

Barry43

TV2 is currently showing Private Practice epsiodes from season 2 here... I think before you do an article like this you should check your facts