Apprentice start date confirmed

The line-up for The Celebrity Apprentice Australia 2013

The Sunday Telegraph reports

Nine has finally confirmed an air date for Celebrity Apprentice.

Sources say the network's decision to postpone the original launch date of last week was because boss David Gyngell was concerned how it would fare against rival Seven juggernaut My Kitchen Rules.

And it would seem his worries were right as the cooking program has managed to hold its own against Nine's The Voice.

Despite The Voice securing figures of around two million viewers each episode, MKR has still managed to maintain high ratings.

Celebrity Apprentice, with swimmer Stephanie Rice as one of the contestants, is scheduled to launch on April 30 at 8.40pm, with programmers slotting it in straight after The Voice to capitalise on its strong audience.

We can't wait.

TV-loving couch potatoes can now get involved with social media

 Option to be active: Television sports fan Source: The Daily Telegraph

Neil Keene, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Prime-time television is no more a spectator sport for couch potatoes - social media has helped them be part of the action.

Hit shows like My Kitchen Rules and Celebrity Apprentice, and live sports such as Nine's cricket broadcast, are tapping into Australia's exploding obsession with media multi-tasking, urging viewers to be involved in real-time via Facebook and Twitter.

That made a kind of virtual water-cooler - an online space where viewers go to vent their feelings on a program as it goes to air.

TV industry commentator David Knox, from the TV Tonight blog, said social media now set the tone for shows even before official ratings figures were released.

"Ben Elton's show (the short-lived Live From Planet Earth) was arguably killed off by Twitter before it had even bedded in," he said.

"When you're live and trialling new material, Twitter is absolutely unforgiving. But it is also a remedy against piracy because it compels us to watch free-to-air as it happens to engage with the live debate."

A Yahoo!7 survey of nearly 8000 TV fans found more than 40 per cent used Facebook while watching their favourite shows, with many sharing comments as the programs went to air.

More than a quarter watched based on recommendations from social networks and about the same number said they had been made aware of a program via social media.

Yahoo!7 head of television Kristin Carlos said the number of people using official TV show websites and watching them simultaneously doubled in the past 12 months.

In November the company launched Fango, an app that lets users "check in" to shows and chat online. It had 200,000 downloads, with 10,000 new users daily.

"Viewers are changing the way they watch TV and we've changed the way we produce shows to cater for this," Channel 7 CEO Tim Worner explained.

The Hoff sticks up for Patti

David Hasselhoff turns businessman for Celebrity Apprentice. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: Herald Sun

Luke Dennehy, The Sunday Herald Sun, reports

David Hasselhoff and Patti Newton formed an unlikely bond on the set of The Celebrity Apprentice.

Hasselhoff told the Sunday Herald Sun he had a huge amount of respect for Newton, and he could relate to her situation regarding the intense scrutiny on son Matthew's problems.

Newton was on set filming The Celebrity Apprentice on the same day her son was in the headlines again after his assault case against a taxi driver was adjourned in court.

"She is like a sponge pincushion," The Hoff said of Newton.

"She has a lot of people trying to stick things into her because of whatever is going on in the press with her family and she's very sensitive about it.

"It's something we've had a long talk about and some things in her family is something I can relate to, and we've bonded in that way."

Newton has been well received on the set of The Celebrity Apprentice and she has won the admiration not only of her fellow contestants, but the crew behind the scenes.

Hasselhoff last week left the show to return to the United States for work commitments.

Speaking on set after one boardroom session, he said he had an amazing time on the show, and was full of praise for many of the contestants, including Melbourne's Jason Akermanis (inset, left).

"He's a great guy, very compassionate," he said.

"Even though he sounds like a big mouth he really isn't. The thing with Aker is that he answers questions, when everyone else walks away he just answers them and says what we are all thinking.

"To me that is a man of real honour -- he's a great guy and probably a long-lasting friend."

Without giving too much away, it looks as if the one celebrity causing some friction is Tania Zaetta.

Let's just say there were fireworks on set during the week when I visited.