Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Balls

One of the ongoing pleasures of media watching is how seriously the participants take themselves and the way great importance is attached to relatively small changes. For example, the Nine Network recently tweaked its logo -- an event that prompted these snippets from News Ltd (translations are in bold).
“Acting Nine chief executive Sam Chisholm had been a driving force behind the new changes, bringing in former colleague Bruce Dunlop to work on a new logo last year.”
i.e. we’re dropping the balls.
“In a "back to the future" move, chief executive Sam Chisholm called in Mr Dunlop last May - soon after his own appointment - to start work on freshening up the image of the broadcaster.”
i.e. nothing really new you understand, we’re just dropping those balls.
“Jens Hertzum, creative directive at BDA, said yesterday that the object had been to streamline the Nine brand. But he was not in a position to say how much the campaign cost.”
i.e. we’re dropping the balls (it'll cost a motzah).
“Nine's new simplified logo, which dispenses with the familiar nine balls or dots - a feature from as far back as 1974.”
i.e. in case you haven’t heard we’re dropping the balls.

And then there’s this report on the “new look” Wheel of Fortune (hosted by Larry Emdur, one of network television’s premier meat puppets) carrying the fantastical news that:
“Emdur will be joined by The Great Outdoors presenter Laura Csortan when the show hits Channel Seven's screens at 5pm with a fresh new look. Unlike in the past, Csortan will have a microphone on at all times making her an integral part of the show.”
And you thought she was just there to show off prizes, wear designer duds and look good. What can Little Mr Square Eyes add except "Balls!"