KEY POINTS:
The countdown has well and truly begun! Only three more sleeps until the first episode of That Guy's World Cup, the revolutionary internet rugby show that promises to fulfil all your Rugby World Cup needs. (Visit tvnzondemand.co.nz.)
As the producer, I can say with a fair degree of confidence that we are now a lot clearer on the actual format of the programme than we were this time yesterday. We have agreed it is a low-key rugby chat show with the odd snippet of yet-to-be-prerecorded video footage; it will also probably have guests. We have agreed to disagree with claims that it is just another run-of-the-mill studio sports show that talks aimlessly about aspects of the game we have no control of, or know nothing about.
Our goal is to take full advantage of the fact that we are literally thousands of miles away from the action, with little or no communication with anybody on the ground over there. We are seeing this as a challenge and an opportunity to offer viewers undistorted journalism delivered by presenters who are unlikely to let their egos cloud their judgement. This is unlikely to happen as I have purposely handpicked two reporters who have extremely low self-esteem at present and have little or no ego to speak of.
Because they are past their professional prime and because they have been shat on by most other networks, including late-night radio, they will be hungry and keen to prove a point. Both of these men have struggled with alcohol and in one case plastic adhesives, but I think they are worth taking a chance on and I will stake my professional reputation on these guys delivering the goods.
Matt Johnson is a legendary radio broadcaster, best known for the weekend sport show Reece and Royden's Sunday Cider Sessions in which he broadcast under the maiden name of his first wife, Reece Taylor. I made up the other half of the dynamic duo and went under the name of Royden Scott for IRD reasons. Radio-station manager Andrew Schuzterman who now works at C4, publicly blamed Reece and Royden for the demise of Channel Z.
Jason Hoyte has been involved in sports broadcasting for as long as he can remember. He recently came out of a coma to find himself hosting this sports show with Matt and myself.
Since the accident Jason has been unsure of his own identity and has spent much of his time boning up on rugby stats and of course on his court battle to get his share of the Hoyts theatre empire. If he is successful we may lose Jason for the final few shows.
What is an undistorted journalistic approach? A classic example I often use when explaining the show's undistorted journalistic approach to potential sponsors is the sinking of the Titanic.
When the Titanic tragically sank in 1912 there were no journalists on board sending back their "personal spin" yet somehow the story still seemed to get out and was covered a few days later in an honest, less emotional and less distorted manner.
Most of the potential sponsors seemed to grasp this concept, but unfortunately our show has "come at the wrong end of the financial year".
So what are the critics saying about the show?
It's been dubbed the sexiest rugby chat show to hit the screens for many years, and by all accounts that's not just because of the hosts but because the shorter, 15-minute format that enables the viewers to both watch the show and have sex within any given commercial half an hour.
In the past it was usually one or the other, and in most cases it was the sex life that was sacrificed!
The new short on demand format allows you, the viewer, to choose how to watch it. Within any given half hour you can have sex and then watch the show, or watch the show, then have sex. Alternatively you could have sex while you are watching the show, then watch it again to see if there was anything you missed, or watch the show, then have sex a second time to see if there was anything or anybody you missed. Please note these examples assume that sexual encounters lasted for 15 minutes or less and that the user was using broadband to download the show.
There will obviously be variances between the speed of people's computers and their ability to make love.
Most women we surveyed agreed that the new, short format is the best they have seen, but don't just take my word for it, hear it from Nolene Edwards, of Herne Bay, Auckland: "It's great. Instead of playing second fiddle or third french horn to long, oversponsored rugby programmes, I now get to share my partner with a shorter, under-sponsored rugby chat show that seems to fulfil all our needs both sexually and with regard to game analysis and player stats. This show is probably going to save my marriage!"
But don't just take her word for it - find out for yourself on Wednesday by visiting That Guy's World Cup at tvnzondemand.co.nz)
