Channelsurf

WEDNESDAY SOLSTROM: THE SPECIAL SBS, 7.50pm WATCHING it on television is never going to match the feeling of watching the Cirque du Soleil performers firsthand. But its still quite a spectacle to behold. In this special, magical solar wind transforms everyday life into a playful world that blends fantasy with acrobatic performance. Ordinary characters suddenly change into jugglers, hand-balancers, acrobats, contortionists and a myriad of other incarnations. Offering sumptuous lighting, music and ...

Television

The programming elves have ensured there's something for everyone this week, so long as you're not too discriminating. Melinda Houston reports.

Hoop Dreamers Take Shot For Salvation

AUSTRALIAN basketball at the elite level has reached a crossroads after a steady decline in crowds, sponsors, television coverage and overall profile in recent years. Foundation club Brisbane and perennial powerhouse Sydney, who between them have won four of the past six National Basketball League championships, joined a growing scrap heap of extinct clubs last off-season, leaving just 10 teams competing for the 2008-09 title. The NBL and Basketball Australia are in the middle of a thorough ...

The Slash And Burn Path Will Destroy Some Newspapers

Quality newspapers can survive. But not the way Fairfax is heading.

The Deeper North

Tour guides John Doyle and Tim Flannery delve into the Top End, writes Sacha Molitorisz.

Revelling In The Roar Of The Crowd

BESIDES building state-of-the-art stadiums that will soon have tumbleweeds blowing through them and stationing three attendants at every toilet block, another way the organisers of the Beijing Olympics spent $50 billion was by putting a television in each room at the media village that provided a direct feed to each event - as well as channels devoted exclusively to strangely meditative single camera shots of the "live action" from the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

Letters

Points on the Compass

Nine's Court Loss On Electronic Program Guides Opens Up Viewing Options

NINE Network has lost a court case to stop independent companies compiling electronic program guides.

Too Much Is Never Enough

Australians have an almost insatiable appetite for sport, and live television has turned us into gluttons. But with so much on offer, we are also becoming more discerning in our tastes. Now only the best will do, writes JOHN HUXLEY.

Sacked Gemstar 'genius' Faces Jail Over Fraud Probe

Henry Yuen invented the G-Code for recording television shows, seduced Rupert Murdoch into investing billions, and set himself up for retirement with a $A50 million severance package. Now he may be going to jail.

Turmoil On Television

TELEVISION has a much bigger role in my life than any other inanimate thing. Wherever I go in my home there is television. Even when the damn thing is off it is there, a giant black eye that demands eye contact with mine. But it is the management of television in my home that takes most from

Television Guide

The Applause entertainment liftout in yesterday's Illawarra Mercury contained the wrong week's television guide. Unfortunately, a technical problem caused last week's guide to be reprinted, instead of the coming week's. The Mercury sincerely regrets this error and the inconvenience it has caused

Tennis Commentator Knows When To Raise A Racket Television

THE next best thing to playing on centre court is having the best seat in the house. At Wimbledon, Australia's former tennis champion Liz Smylie has that honour all wrapped up. Smylie, who once ranked in the Top 20 in women's singles and won more than 40 doubles titles, has swapped the sweat

The Power To Program Your Viewing

IT'S late, you've just come home and anything you wanted to watch on television has long since finished. In the pre-digital television age, your options are limited to a diet of tired American re-runs, endless talk shows, telemall shopping or the off button. But when the switch for digital broadc

Sbs Swings Into The Sixties Television

FLOWER power rules a week of change as SBS Television prepares for the new century with a fresh schedule. From Sunday, the multicultural broadcaster will instigate major timeslot changes but will soften the blow by dedicating a week of programming to the Swinging Sixties. Block programming ev