Category: Videos: Promos

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Videos: Promos Videos: Top Gear

Top Gear Australia starts September 29th.

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As television readies itself to enter an alternate universe, where Kath and Kim is acted by Americans, and Top Gear is hosted by Australians, the folks at SBS are prepping for one of the biggest launches in their history.

Top Gear Australia will be the first international version of the show, and makes its premiere September 29th. The new series is being referred to as “very Australian” by anyone who’s caught a glimpse. And good or bad, it should be interesting to watch, if for no other reason then to say how it can never stand up to the original…

Just like everyone does with The Office.

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Nine Network Videos: Promos

Shouting at Channel Nine. It’s a national pastime.

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“You make me want to shout”.. is not a slogan I would associate with a television network, there are just too many ways to turn it around on them.

But then again this hilariously bad promo for Channel Nine is 18 years old, coming to us from 1990. And perhaps back then, times were simpler, and marketing departments didn’t have to worry about what bloggers would say about them.

– Thanks to Sam for digging this up from the archives.

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BBC (Other) Videos: Promos

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting, on the BBC.

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Here’s a challenge for you: condense a 400-year-old, 100 chapter Chinese novel into a two minute animated trailer for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Actually, don’t worry, the BBC have already done it…

That’s right, they’ve abandoned the traditional “gold-infused slow-motion footage of athletes” Olympics imagery in favour of something a bit more creative.

Animated by Gorillaz creator Jamie Hewlett with music by Damon Albarn, this video of Monkey and his friends made its debut last night in the UK at 7:27pm with a simulcast across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four and BBC News, and will form the centrepiece of the BBC’s Olympic coverage branding.

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ABC1 Videos: Promos

The ABC takes “TV out of the box”.

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The ABC has been teasing its viewers lately with the tagline “TV out of the box”. Well, this evening the ABC announced that its BBC iPlayer-esque service initally dubbed ABC Playback is now open to the public, and has been rebranded as ABC iView.

The BBC have been very succesful in establishing iPlayer as a brand despite its ordinary name, but really, iView was the best they could come up with?

Anyway, derivative name aside, the just launched ABC iView service is fairly similar to the beta version of the ABC Playback service that I reviewed earlier this year. And while the video quality is fine, and the content has increased to include news among other things, the interface still bugs me badly, and the whole thing doesn’t come close to the user experience of the newly launched BBC iPlayer 2.0.

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Channel 4 Videos: Promos

The Stanley Kubrick season on More4.

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Last week Channel 4’s digital sibling More4 launched the Stanley Kubrick season, a ten day film festival of some of the celebrated directors work. This stunning promo was shot in one long take, and is a look behind the scences of Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining, all from the perspective of the director himself.

The spot produced by Channel 4 Creative, was meticulously researched and was even shot using the directors favourite lens. Truly fitting for such a influential filmmaker.

British television seems to love the idea of programming “seasons”. More4 won an award for this promo used for their State of Russia season a few years back, and earlier this year BBC Four took its viewers on a trip into the Medieval mind.

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ABC1 Videos: Promos

Unafraid. Unelected. The Hollowmen.

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The Hollowmen is a new political comedy/drama coming to ABC1 from July 9th. With this being the first on-air promo for the new show. The use of photographs in the video is a possible allusion to a 2004 election campaign commercial that adopted a similar style, or perhaps I’m just reading too much into it.

Produced by the Working Dog, the team behind Frontline and The Castle, the show is about “the workings of an internal think tank, set up by the Prime Minister, whose responsibility is long-term policy vision”.

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BBC (Other) Videos: Promos

The cinematic promise of BBC HD.

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Fiona Bruce stars as the action hero, in this advert for the BBC HD service, available in the UK through Sky, Virgin, and Freesat, and now also available in Australia through Foxtel HD, with further international expansion expected.

The spot was developed by agency Fallon, and produced by Red Bee, and while the Antiques Roadshow inspired action sequences are fun and all, its the first few seconds with the BBC logo that most caught my attention.

– Thanks to Craig for the video.

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BBC Three Videos: Promos

Summer Heights High gets BBC Three’d

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Summer Heights High will have its UK premiere on BBC Three later this month. The show which had a successful run on ABC1 last year, went on to become this countries highest selling television series on DVD ever.

BBC Three, along with HBO in the United States acquired the rights to the show earlier this year, with both networks keen to point out the shows cult status and high profile fans, with the BBC’s press release noting that “fans include Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Nicole Kidman, Barry Humphries, Rachel Griffiths and Trey Parker.”

Having recently finished watching the BBC Three comedy Gavin and Stacey I’m confident that Summer Heights will fit perfectly onto the networks schedule, and with its target audience.

– And thanks to Andy for the video.

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ABC1 Videos: Promos

You may love May on the ABC.

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“You may love May”.. Are they suggesting there’s a chance we won’t? That’s the ABC’s confidence lacking tagline being used in this otherwise resplendent promo.

And while its obviously in reference to the month its the kind of thing your unlikely to see on another network. The ABC received some bad press over a recent Logies promo that went to air, so this deliberately low key outing is probably welcome.

Outside of the ABC however, May should be an interesting month for Australian television with a new look SBS set to launch, and Arena’s Bravo-style rebranding.

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BBC Four Videos: Promos

BBC Four gonna get Medieval on your ass.

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BBC Four launched its season of Medieval programming last week, linking a series of documentaries, dramas and other shows around the central theme of Medieval history. This detailed, and creative trailer for the season, accompanied by a cover version of Purple Haze brands the season as a “trip into the Medieval mind”.

The concept of creating a programming season, dedicated to exploring a specific topic seems a rewarding exercise for not only the broadcaster to promote itself, and its schedule, but also to engage viewers on a wider basis, something that is sorely lacking at times on Australian screens.

The UK seem to embrace the concept more than others, with the promo for BBC Two’s ‘White Season’ earlier this year generating a touch of controversy, and the beautiful trailer for ‘The State of Russia’ season on More4 winning a Promax.

The closest things you see to a themed “season” of programming on Australian television would be Ten’s current retrospective on Jazz Funk Hip Hop, also known as So You Think You Can Dance.