The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 49

Ihf Sijbnfy Borning jrralb the guide switched on counterculture Angel (Seven, Wednesday, 1 0.30 pm) NBC scoops Emmys APR 23-29 2001 While we were all in the thick of it last September, NBC's Olympics coverage seemed like less of a 100-metre dash Dodging bullets has helped Linda Mottram prepare for her new role fronting ABC Radio's AM, writes Heather Chapman. than a steeplechase, complete with hurdles and water traps. Not only were the ratings disappointingly low, critics complained that highlights packages were poorly compiled and that live broadcasts were too few and far between. Well, that was then; now NBC Sports is crowing after winning 10 Emmys (that's America's answer to the Logies) for its coverage of the Games. Last week in New York, Bob Costas won his 13th Emmy for his job as host, while the remaining nine gongs included Outstanding Live Event Turnaround, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Technical Achievement for the network's virtual swimming graphics (which involved superimposing a virtual flag onto the lane of the competitor).

NBC sports and Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol was predictably chuffed. "These awards represent the incredible teamwork of more than 2,500 talented men and women who together put forth an extraordinary effort in Sydney," he said. Unfortunately he didn't explain what the category of Outstanding OpenTease was all about. Sacha Molitorisz 1 io "in It i ii Dark brooding looks by Angel -1 Length of dark brooding look -1 hour Scenes with lesbian overtones at least 3 Scenes with implausible detective work at least 3 Feeding frenzies 2 Shopping sprees -1 Scenes likely to corrupt the morality of minors yeah right Sacha Molitorisz Linda Mottram takes over from Peter Cave on ABC's AM from today. s.

Linda Mottram fronts the prestigious I yyj current affairs program AM today, knowing she will be judged on how well she measures up against the long line of respected presenters who have Wedding TV Primetime Productions in Melbourne Jhave sold a format called Marry Me to lthe Nine Network. Producer Rhonda backtrack Jill Singer collapses while presenting Today Tonight, May 14, 1996 Byrne did the deal with Nine execs for the show, which is described by insiders as "a proposal The company's previous projects include The World's Greatest Commercials and Grear Escapes on Seven, and Australia Behaving Badly for Ten. The deal has surprised industry insiders given the poor record of marriage proposal shows Ten's Do, I Do failed spectacularly several years ago, and the recent US Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire? ended in disaster after the couple split and the groom's turbulent and at times litigious relationship history was revealed. former ABC cameraman and now a BBC video producer based in Sydney. Mottram says it is too early to talk about making changes to AM: "I just want to get the presentation role down pat because it's not something I've done in current affairs before, although I've done news reading.

I'm focused on how the program is physically put together and my role in that. I'm not sure whether I want to do anything different, but obviously my interest is in foreign reporting so I would want to do a fair bit of liaison with the foreign reporters, along with our producer. We need to talk about the scope for changes further down the track." Calming a fretting Jack as we talk, Mottram says: "This job suits me right now, I need to come off the road. I would happily be on the road reporting foreign for the rest of my life -that's my great love for radio. But I've done two postings with the ABC and now, with Jack, this is what I'd rather be doing.

"I don't think journalists automatically make good presenters. I don't automatically assume that because I can perform reasonably well from the field that I can slot into a presenting job. I am going to have to work at it pretty hard to get myself up to speed. There are a lot of very good presenters out there and I'd like to be like them, but I don't think it's going to happen overnight. It's very different from what I've been doing." She says Cave has been giving her "heaps of help and advice" over the past few weeks as he was preparing to move out.

Listeners will still hear the cool voice of Cave, and see him on television, as a roving reporter on major breaking stories as well as providing commentary and analysis on international events, as he did with the US elections last year and the most recent Fiji crisis. He will report directly to Max Uechtritz, the director of news and current affairs, and says: "I can't wait. I love it. I've always got a bag half-packed." AM is broadcast weekdays 6 am and 8 am on 702 and 7 am on Radio National preceded her. Departing host Peter Cave has fronted AM for 4 12 years, and today he, too, will take on a new role as the ABC's foreign affairs editor with a new TV and radio foreign affairs unit a change he welcomes and considers an advancement.

There are so many women now in top ABC jobs that Mottram's gender has not been a matter of comment, but since AM began in 1967 only one other woman Ellen Fanning -has presented the program that is heard across Australia on Radio National as well as the metropolitan network. Mottram, a seasoned foreign correspondent who has worked in some of the world's toughest areas, admits to being nervous about her new role: "It's a position that carries a lot of weight with it it's pretty prestigious stuff," she says. "AM has had a lot of clout over the years and I've been in awe of it in my younger days. I'm a bit old-fashioned about these things: I feel it's a pretty big privilege to do it." If, as many believe, AM is the jewel in the ABC's crown, it follows that Aunty is picky about choosing the program's presenters. Having the sangfroid to report competently from overseas hotspots, sometimes under threat from bullets or bombs, obviously helps, and a Walkley Award or two doesn't go astray.

Cave has three Walkleys and has covered stories in 40 countries over 25 years; Mottram has been a journalist for 15 years and has spent most of her working life with ABC radio; she has reported from Russia, where she was based for three years, the Balkans and the Middle East. She was awarded a Walkley for her radio coverage of the Kosovo conflict in 1999. For the past year Mottram, on maternity leave to have son Jack, was living in South Africa with her husband, Andrew Kilrain, a More real life LrL Crackerjack Productions has stitched up a deal with the Ten Network for their new show, Real Life Adventure. The format involves sending people unaware they are being filmed -on a courier assignment, where they encounter people who are in fact actors following a script. Cameras capture their misadventures, and at least one point in the journey, the contestants cross paths, still unaware they are playing a game.

Producer Mark Fennessy told The Guide the first special had taken "a little longer than expected" to finish because of the logistics involved. Now finished. Real Life Adventure has not yet been scheduled. Internationally, the show has been optioned by Pearson Television, who beat Target and Columbia TriStar for the deal. Michael Idato Fair tffltaoug Today is yesterday in Canada, writes Sacha Molitorisz.

What happens when a journalist under pressure and poised on the brink of a scoop, finds the rug pulled out by her superiors? All very well for Networks Howard Beale to urge viewers to open their windows and scream: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any On the night of May 14, 1996, Jill Singer was primed to introduce a Today Tonight story expanding on an earlier report into alleged links between Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett and a poker machine industry tycoon. Singer collapsed and was taken to hospital. Seven, denying either political pressure or dummy spitting, cited "legal Singer recovered and Kennett expressed disappointment saying he had hoped to complete his home renovations with the proceeds of the defamation proceedings he envisaged ensuing. Doug Anderson Acting editor Kym Nicoll Phone 9282 3287 Fax 9282 2481 Email knicollmail.fairfax.com.au Mail GPO Box 506, Sydney 2001 Designer Vanessa Samuels Managing editor Phil Scott Advertising Paul Down Phone 9282 2088 Fax 9282 1748 Cover Crew members on the HMAS Perth 1941-1943. In two weeks, Today should jl rightfully change its name to Yesterday.

That's because for one Sydney-based team on every excursion since. The team has broadcast from the UK, continental Europe, Florida and Hong Kong, as well as numerous Australian destinations. "I think viewers enjoy the change in pace," says Wood. "It's a nice way to go on an armchair ride." The irony is that while the pace of the show will slow to a gentle holiday rhythm during the week in Canada, Wood and co including hosts Steve Liebmann and Tracy Grimshaw will have to work harder to cope with the logistics of a live two-hour broadcast from overseas. So, is Operation Canada a cheap ratings stunt? Not if you believe Wood, who says he is delighted with Today's ratings.

"They've been sensational," he says, every bit the house-proud EP. "Over the last 10 years we've buried a couple of morning shows that have been up against us. Good Morning Australia was the main opposition for a number of years, and I think it was five years ago they disappeared, and since then we've grown from year to year." Today's 7ve broadcast from Canada can be seen on Nine at 7 am from May 7 to 11. week Nine's morning show will be coming to you live from Canada, and the time difference means that 7 am in Sydney translates to about 2 pm the day before in Banff, or Whistler, or Vancouver. "That's the good part about going east," says executive producer Steve Wood, clearly relishing the prospect of making a morning television program at a civilised hour of the afternoon.

"When we go west there's always been a time problem, so we've usually prerecorded the show. In Ireland last time we did it live-to-tape, all without stopping. But to keep the costs down we had to get the courier to fly the master tape over to London, then Steve Liebmann (left), Monty Dwyer and Tracy Grimshaw. send it onto Sydney via satellite, so the problem was always the angst of wondering will it arrive on time and in one piece? It was very close a couple of times." The Today show has a healthy history of overseas sojourns, starting with a week in Ireland seven years ago. Steve Wood was there for that one, and has accompanied his.