BB FANS

BB Australia continuing to cause a few concerns....



Link to Reuters article

22jun05
The Australian

A *****, even a flaccid one, on free-to-air television after 9pm has been enough to spark a political backlash that could threaten reality TV shows and commercial licences.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan has asked the Australian Broadcasting Authority whether a man exposing his ***** while massaging a female "inmate" and naked shower scenes on the Ten Network's Big Brother are in breach of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.
Senator Coonan has also asked the ABA if the safeguards are tough enough "in light of the increasing amount of reality television programming".

MPs and senators in the Coalition partyroom yesterday gave loud support to two MPs - Trish Draper and Christopher Pyne - who raised the concerns of constituents about the show's increasingly graphic scenes.

Ms Draper, a backbencher from South Australia, said last night young people were being exploited like porn stars for ratings.

"Sadly, the people on Big Brother receive a lot of publicity and are role models for younger people," Ms Draper said.

"After receiving complaints from constituents, I watched the program and I was disgusted, just disgusted.

"One of the young women actually said, 'Gee, we're like porn stars now'.

"These young people are being exploited for ratings and younger people, and young children, are being exposed to pornography."

Mr Pyne, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Ageing and Health, said the show was now at the "extreme end of bad taste".

"Channel Ten should be embarrassed by the quality of their program and they know their demographic is young teenagers, therefore they also know they are sending messages about poor values to young people," he said.

Network Ten advised Senator Coonan that it has "an experienced program classifier dedicated solely to the classification of Big Brother".

Two of the programs were classified as MA15+, which meant they could not be screened until after 9pm and had to show warnings about the content of the program.

Jun 22, 2005
TVNZ

Australia's Big Brother programme has apologised for the attitudes of some of its male housemates towards women, including one who exposed his ***** on late night TV.

The apology follows growing concern among MPs about scenes on the late night Big Brother Uncut, and an Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) probe into whether the programme breaches the industry code.

Community groups have also complained to the industry watchdog about nudity and sexual acts that have gone to air during the uncut version of the show.

On one occasion, a male housemate was shown massaging a female's shoulder with his ***** exposed.

"Network Ten (station that airs the show in Australia) apologises for any offence the late-night programme, Big Brother Uncut, may have caused regarding the attitude of some male Big Brother housemates towards women," the network said in a statement.

"Ten and the Big Brother producers, Endemol Southern Star, are aware of their responsibilities regarding the portrayal of women, and will seek expert advice to raise awareness of this issue in the Big Brother house."

Big Brother Uncut shows housemates doing things not allowed to be aired in the normal daily Big Brother episodes.

Forecasting a bumper annual profit, Ten identified Big Brother as a key weapon in its drive for higher ratings, particularly among the 16-39 demographic.

But now Communications Minister Helen Coonan has asked the ABA to investigate whether Uncut complies with the TV industry's code of practice, and to check whether current mechanisms are enough to deal with reality TV shows.

"I think it's appropriate that what we do is find out whether there has been a breach of the code, which is incidentally not voluntary, and then to take action depending on the advice I get," Coonan said.

The ABA is yet to comment on the issue other than to say it was awaiting a formal complaint from the government.

However, Ten said it would cooperate with any investigation that took place.

"As has happened on certain occasions during the past five years of Big Brother, housemates have been warned and penalised with respect to issues including violence, racism and sexism," Ten said.

"Network Ten will encourage Endemol Southern Star to again reinforce these warnings to the housemates, especially with respect to appropriate behaviour towards women to ensure this sort of behaviour is not repeated."

Earlier a spokeswoman for the broadcaster said there was little chance of the Uncut format being axed.

"Goodness, that's a bit pre-emptive," the spokeswoman told AAP.

"We're taking the concerns seriously and we'll cooperate fully with the government and the ABA."

23jun05
Northern Territory News

BIG Brother might be sleazy and controversial, but the reality show has kept the tills ringing at Ten Network.

The number three broadcaster yesterday confirmed it was on track for a record August year as advertisers back the station's ability to reach young people.
Chief executive Nick Falloon said Ten "clearly has ratings momentum and with advertisers staying loyal we are well placed to retain our revenue share position".

He said the Ten TV network and the previously troubled outdoor advertiser Eye Corp had both outperformed their competitors.

"For Network Ten to achieve nearly 8 per cent revenue growth in a tougher advertising market and in the midst of a fierce ratings battle is a fantastic achievement," said Mr Falloon.

"It reflects the confidence advertisers have in Ten's program schedule, particularly our big events, and the diligence of the network's sales and marketing team."

Ten's third quarter results saw pretax profit up 3.5 per cent on the corresponding quarter to $61.3 million, pushing the year-to-date total up 24.6 per cent to $269.1 million.

A second fully franked dividend of 9c will be paid, with an ex-dividend date of June 27 and a payment date of July 15.

That will take full-year regular dividends to a record 21.5.

Mr Falloon said ratings in the key 16 to 39 demographic were up despite many of Ten's best programs still to screen.

Outgoing television chief John McAlpine said Ten would remain number one in this demographic on the back of a swag of programs including Australian Idol, the AFL finals and the last weeks of Big Brother.

Big Brother has caused consternation in Canberra, with the Federal Government calling for a report from the Australian Broadcasting Authority on the uncut version of the show which features nudity, crude language and sexual content.

There are no such concerns among advertisers, who have flocked to the show, or investors, who have boosted Ten's shares by about 30 per cent recently.

However, investors yesterday found the journey better than the destination, marking down Ten shares by 22c or 5.24 per cent to $3.98.

Ten also defended Big Brother Uncut yesterday, saying it complied with the industry's voluntary code of practice.

Mr McAlpine said Ten had other stars in its stable.

"While Big Brother has given a significant boost to our ratings, the fact that we are on par with last year in 16-39 (age bracket) also reflects the contribution of programs such as Neighbours, Rove Live and The Simpsons," said Mr McAlpine.

Eye Corp's revenue jumped 45.8 per cent for the third quarter, lifting the year-to-date total by 47.5 per cent to $87 million.

TV revenue for the same quarter rose 7.7 per cent to $203.5 million, taking the year-to-date figure 12.7 per cent higher to $637.3 million.

23jun05
© The Australian

THE broadcasting watchdog will urgently investigate three episodes of Big Brother (Uncut), including one that showed a male housemate exposing his *****.

The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) has received a formal complaint from Communications Minister Helen Coonan about the late-night Channel Ten program.
ABA spokesman Donald Robertson said the watchdog would investigate the raunchy version of the reality program, which is screened at 9.40pm (AEST) on Mondays.

"The ABA board met this morning and it has decided to commence an investigation under Section 170 of the Broadcasting Services Act into three episodes of Big Brother (Uncut) ," Mr Robertson said.

"It's going to conduct the investigation as a matter of urgency."

He said the episodes included one screened on May 30, in which housemate Michael was seen massaging fellow housemate Gianna's shoulders with his pants down and his ***** exposed.

The other two episodes to be investigated were aired on June 6 and June 13 and contained "high level sexual references including two contestant's sexual fantasies and discussions about ********** techniques and depictions of implied ********** in a spa bath".

The June 13 episode also showed footage in which contestants Glenn and Michelle had a bath together naked.

Mr Robertson said he did not know how long the investigation would take, adding that there "may well be breaches of the (industry) code".

He said if Uncut was found to have breached the code, the first step the ABA could seek "an informal undertaking from the licensee as to what steps they'll take to make sure the breach does not occur again".

If this failed, the ABA could make the code a licence condition.

If there were further breaches, the ABA could issue a notice to the licensee to comply with the licence condition, impose further licence conditions or even suspend or cancel the licence.

"But it's very much an escalating process," Mr Robertson said.

"We wouldn't jump to the stronger penalties first up."

In regards to criminal sanctions, a breach of licence conditions could be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to mount a prosecution in the federal court.

If found guilty, financial penalties could be imposed on the licensee.

Senator Coonan has also requested the ABA ensure there are enough mechanisms to protect viewers from any future reality TV shows that may show too much violence or too much flesh.

"That will be a separate issue to the investigation," Mr Robertson said.

25jun05
news.com.eu

ADVERTISERS were yesterday urged to boycott Big Brother as family groups attacked the broadcasting watchdog for failing to "crack the whip" on the program they have dubbed "Big Brothel".

Australian Family Association vice-president Bill Muehlenberg labelled the Australian Broadcasting Authority a "toothless tiger" which allowed the television networks to dictate terms.
He accused the ABA of being at odds with community standards and urged advertisers to boycott Ten's Big Brother Uncut. "If you're trying to push a more family-friendly image then tell Ten please don't run your ad on this sleaze show. They're laughing all the way to the bank."

Mr Muehlenberg said the ABA should follow the lead in the US, where it was extremely difficult to get programs such as Uncut on free-to-air television.

"If you see sleazy programs coming out of America they're usually cable programs."

Big Brother Uncut has already drawn the ire of some advertisers, with motor oil company Valvoline expressing "great concern" after one of its ads was mistakenly run during the show.

Valvoline had booked an ad to be shown during Law and Order last week, but because of last-minute timeslot changes it was screened during the "adults only" reality program instead.

Ten offered Valvoline an apology and will rerun the ad for free on next Monday's Law and Order in Sydney and Melbourne.

The advertising space is worth about $50,000 to the network.

27jun05
Sydney Confidential

"MOODY" Geneva last night became the sixth person evicted from the Big Brother house, to the shock of, well, no one.

Variously described as, "pushy" and "overbearing" by her housemates, even ex-flame and mate Dean nominated the 19-year-old bar manager.
The eviction was a tight race with just 0.3 per cent between Geneva and another nominee.

Meanwhile, it appears the issue of bullying is now getting a workout, with Big Brother fan websites complaining bullying in the house is now as worrying as the sexual harassment.

There has been an outpouring of support for Vesna after she was repeatedly bullied by the other housemates during a master-and-servant task to the point she said she felt she was having a nervous breakdown.

It comes on the back of serious allegations of bullying of housemate Tim, who since entering the house has, among other things, been bound and gagged and kicked in the groin.

Intrusive trio to get into house

HERE'S a Big Brother update that doesn't involve debaucherous sexual activity.

Three intruders are due to break into the house on Wednesday night, with the trio now in lockdown in an apartment on the Gold Coast.

Two females and a male will go into the house during a live telecast show on Wednesday night.

June 27, 2005
News.com.au

Big Brother made an attempt to clean up its act in more ways than one in tonight's episode of the reality television show's late night program.

Big Brother Uncut, the raunchy late night version of the daily reality show, has angered viewers and community groups in the past few weeks with the housemates' risque behaviour and full frontal nudity.
Uncut is shown on Monday nights at 9.40pm and is classified MA 15+.

Three episodes are being investigated by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), at the request of Communications Minister Helen Coonan.

In one episode of the Channel 10 program a male flatmate was seen massaging the shoulders of a female with his pants down and his ***** hanging out.

While poking fun at the outrage, Big Brother tonight attempted to clean up some of its mess.

Host Gretel Killeen introduced the show by saying: "Tonight's Uncut is a very clean show ... with waxing and exfoliating."

But the show still displayed its usual full frontal nudity, and one housemate even pulled out a condom.

Tonight's program exposed the physical dirty conditions of the Gold Coast compound with one housemate, Christie, telling fellow housemates there was pubic hair among other things in the bathroom.

"I get scared to sit on the toilet," she said.

Most of the show focused on contestants cleaning each other with two semi-naked housemates Glenn and Kate soaping each other in the shower.

On a more serious note, Killeen also told viewers "we don't condone the behaviour of these housemates but we do believe it should be out in the open."

She said that the program "appreciated the debate" adding that she thought it was "healthy".

July 5, 2005
Sydney Confidential

CONTROVERSIAL Big Brother evictee Glenn "the shearer" Dallinger is being investigated by the RSPCA over his on-air boasts that he bashed a kangaroo to death and speared feral cats.

The animal protection group has not decided whether animal cruelty charges will be laid, but has promised to investigate the shearer's "totally inappropriate" claim that he ran over a kangaroo and killed it with a baseball bat.

News of the RSPCA investigation broke as Glenn – who was tagged as the BB love rat for his stark pursuits of the girls in the house – faced the media on his first day out of the fishbowl.

But it wasn't angry female viewers that saw him evicted with 49 per cent of the vote, says the Australian Wildlife Protection Council (AWPC) which claims to have led a campaign to boot the 21-year-old off the show.

"Animal wildlife protection groups were on a mission to evict Glenn and we did it," AWPC president Maryland Wilson said.

When Confidential spoke to the bloke from Stawell, in Victoria, yesterday he said he had "no regrets" over his controversial behaviour in the house.


"I went in there as a 21-year-old from the country to have fun and that's all I did," he said.

"But I probably wouldn't have hurt Michelle and Geneva the way I did. I do have compassion for women but I've think I've been made out as a chauvinistic pig."

Diddums.

Intruder Heath was yesterday given a strike by Big Brother for acting in a manner similar to evictee Michael, exposing himself to fellow intruder Rita.

ABC

06jul05
Heraldsun

MORE than 13,000 Victorian children under the age of 13 watched Channel 10's smuttiest Big Brother episode yet.

Outraged parents and politicians yesterday stepped up calls for a clean-up of BB Uncut as major advertisers and even some Ten executives distanced themselves from the controversial program.
More than 52,000 under-18s currently on school holidays watched Monday night's sleaze-filled show.

Ratings figures reveal 2000 viewers were under the age of five.

The latest outrage has sparked a fresh push by federal Coalition MPs to force BB Uncut off air.

Ten defied existing governmental and community concerns on Monday night, choosing to run an hour of television filled with sexually explicit scenes, profanity and toilet references.

But under the MPs' plan, any program under investigation by the new Australian Communications and Media Authority would be dragged from TV immediately.

Led by censorship crusader Trish Draper, the MPs will lobby Communications Minister Helen Coonan for amendments to the ACMA's governing legislation when Parliament returns next month.

"As things stand, the authority can only notify they are investigating various episodes," Ms Draper said.

"Meanwhile, back at the ranch -- that is, Channel 10 -- they can continue showing this trash. The show has gone to the extent now that it's simply pornography."

Ms Draper said up to 30 MPs supported a ban.

Key BB advertisers yesterday distanced themselves from the lewd action.

KFC, Hyundai, and Procter & Gamble -- which sells Pringles -- were quick to distinguish themselves as advertisers of the daily program, but not of Uncut.

"We have nothing to do with that bloody stupid Uncut show," Hyundai general manager of public relations, Richard Power, said.

"We purposely distanced ourselves from the adults-only show and would not want to be associated with it.

"We're only a sponsor in the family show."

Procter & Gamble and KFC were also keen not to be linked to the adults-only show proving popular among young children.

"It was our clear decision never to be involved with Uncut. We would much rather be part of the mainstream program," Procter & Gamble spokesman Raphael D'Alisa said.

Ten's head of corporate communications Margaret Fearn said to the best of her knowledge sponsors were happy with their BB links.

However, within the corridors of Channel 10, reaction to BB Uncut has been mixed. The Herald Sun believes several managers are acutely embarrassed about involvement with the show.

Others are happy that its racy nature is helping ratings. Ms Fearn defended Uncut as complying with the Code of Practice and attracting a million viewers each week.

"We appreciate and accept Uncut is not to everyone's taste, but it is popular," she said.

Parents groups want the program overhauled or screened at a later timeslot of 10.30 or 11pm, but Ten is not budging.

A spokeswoman for Senator Coonan said the minister was aware of the public's concerns about the show's content.

06jul05
The Mercury

THE outrage sparked by the latest instalment of Australia's Big Brother is nothing compared to that of the same reality show overseas, according to one of the creators of the UK version.

The chief creative at British production company Endemol International, Peter Bazalgette, admitted the show was controversial.

But he said if people thought the storm of protest generated Down Under was bad, he suggested having a look overseas.

"This is the show that caused a constitutional crisis in Malawi," said Bazalgette, referring to the nation where Big Brother was banned, along with a string of other African and Middle Eastern countries.

The latest Aussie version of the show has raised the ire of viewers, community groups and politicians.

Most complaints surround the screening of Uncut, the late night version of the show, which features full frontal nudity and vulgar antics from housemates.

Three episodes of Uncut are being investigated by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA).

In the latest controversy, the RSPCA is investigating evictee Glenn Dallinger over his alleged on-air boasts that he bashed a kangaroo to death.

Mr Bazalgette is in Australia to promote his new book - Billion Dollar Game - and said the suggestion Australia's latest Big Brother series should be axed was ludicrous.

"What (for) a little bit of nudity? Don't be ridiculous," Mr Bazalgette said.

"And as for sex - there's no explicit sex on Big Brother at all."

The British series of Big Brother has also caused controversy.

In one episode, police intervened after contestants threatened to kill each other.

Mr Bazalgette's efforts in bringing Big Brother to UK screens led to the Daily Mail newspaper labelling him one of the 10 Worst Britons of all time.

But he said he was still extremely proud of the show.

He pointed out that the latest UK instalment had been praised by the British Commission for Racial Equality for bringing together people from different backgrounds.

"Well successful entertainment does make money, it's true," he said of the show, which was recently launched in Russia and Thailand.

"(But) the people watching get to know them (contestants) as people - they see past the colours of a person."

06jul05
theMercury

TOWNSVILLE'S David Benson has launched a "Save Kate" campaign to keep his daughter in the Big Brother house.

Kate, whose real name is Richelle, is up for removal for the second consecutive week after her fellow housemates declared war on her during eviction nominations on Monday night.

Previously punters' favourite to be the last housemate standing in the Big Brother house, Kate racked up 10 nomination points against her name this week - equalling the record set by intruder Rachael earlier in the series.

Mr Benson said yesterday many of the housemates had worked out Kate had a good chance of winning the competition and wanted to get rid of her.

"It had to happen I suppose," he said.

But despite growing anti-Kate sentiment in the house he was optimistic she would survive eviction night.

"I think she's got a good chance (of staying)," he said.

He urged twin cities residents to help keep Kate in the Big Brother house by voting to evict either Vesna or Hotdogs this week.

Mr Benson said he and wife Carroll, Kate's stepmother, had become regular viewers of the Big Brother nightly show since she entered the house nine weeks ago.

But he said he was happy to give Big Brother Uncut a miss, believing there were some things a father did not need to see or hear.

"I tried watching one of them and I had to turn it off after a while," he said.

However, he said he was still pleased with how Kate was behaving in the house.

"What you're seeing is the real Kate," he said.

Mr Benson said he did not think any of the housemates were people with whom Kate would normally socialise.

Kate, a former Cri and Australian hotels barmaid, is ranked second in Big Brother 's online popularity poll.

Mr Benson said she had a good chance of winning the whole thing.

11jul05
TownsvilleBulletin

SUPPORTERS of Townsville's Big Brother housemate, Kate, let out a big cheer last night when it was announced she had survived eviction for another week.

Family and friends headed to the Cri hotel, where a "Save Kate" party was held to drum up support for Townsville's own housemate.
Kate, whose real name is Richelle, worked at the Cri for eight months while she studied at James Cook University before moving to Perth in 2003.

Kate's dad David Benson and step-mum Carroll took front row position in front of the big screen.

Best friend Jessica Wilson turned out in support of her friend, who she says has stayed true to her character while in the house.

"She's a beautiful girl," Ms Wilson said.

"She's very smart.

"As her dad said, the housemates have cottoned on to the fact she's a good chance to win.

"She speaks her mind."

Mr Benson, who admitted he was a little apprehensive ahead of last night's eviction verdict, was relieved the public had decided to vote out fellow housemate Hotdogs.

Hotdogs was nominated along with Kate and Vesna.

And Mr Benson's dream of owning a boat is alive for another week.

"She promised she'd buy me a boat if she won a million dollars," he said.

To help the campaign to keep Kate in the house, her stepsister Kristen Jackson designed a "Save Kate" T-shirt.

From Sydney Confidential
18jul05

HE was nearly kicked out of the house for keeping her a secret from Big Brother and last night Dean was reunited with the girlfriend who got him into so much hot water.

The beefy Queenslander got the boot from Big Brother's live eviction show last night.
He was the least favourite among the other three nominees, Tim, Rita and Kate, receiving 52 per cent of public votes.

But his lack of popularity with the viewers did not put off his blonde girlfriend Emma, who planted a wet one on his lips as they embraced just moments after he was out of the BB compound.

Seeming unfazed and almost happy to be out of the house, a grinning Dean checked out his new prizes, a 4WD and new mobile phones with his girl by his side.

Judging from the body language, it was quite clear Dean is looking forward to spending time with Emma now he's out of the house.

But it seems poor Christie was more disturbed by Dean's eviction than Dean himself, looking quite forlorn and distant when she realised he had been evicted.