US Survival Tips for Aussies

Entertainment

Radio:

• Niche Markets: Radio stations cater for specific audiences. These include an abundance of "light" and "easy-listening" music stations. It is also easy to find stations that only play music by "guitar bands" such as Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. Speciality stations like Spanish speaking ones also exist. It is however very difficult to find a station that plays a variety of music styles (cf JJJ in Australia). I'm not sure whether this is an attempt to isolate demographic groups in order to customise adverts, or merely a side-effect of having so many stations. At any rate it forces the listener to flick through stations to hear the latest releases.

  <...>except in a few rare markets with good commercial stations, the only chance of getting anything remotely resembling a good alt. aussie station like 3rrr is to ask about for the local college radio station. chances are no one listens to it, but they ought to at least tell you where it is. US commercial music is wretched. <...> -- dgold01 (Feb 96)

  You are quite right, radio in America bites, and that is especially true in the San Francisco Bay Area. Internet radio has opened many ears to what the rest of the world has to offer, and it's damned good and very wide in range. US radio is niche-markedted and restricted to a very limited playlist. Exceptions do exist: KPIG in Santa Cruz (available on the WWW) is one of the best non-formatted stations in 'Amuika'. The strange thing is that most Americans actually listen to a lot of different music, but that Amurikan radio does not reflect that. -- Greg Crow (Mar 2000)

  
  
• Dance Music is played in very limited quantities. At least not the British/European variety I'm used to hearing. In fact I think alot of that music does not even reach these shores. Not having been to an American dance club /disco I am not sure exactly what they class as "dance music" over here anyway.
  
  
• In the San Francisco Bay Area, at least, it is impossible to find a station that plays more than 3 songs in a row in the morning. This time slot is reserved for Announcers to talk about sex and the likes.

  <...> this is basically true. it pisses me off,too, because i absolutely can't stand any of the idiots who do those morning shows. if you have music on your way to work in Australia, you're lucky. <...> -- Eric Hollander (Feb 1996)

  
  
• DJs blend commercials in with announcements. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish a commercial from a weather or traffic report.
  
  
• Female DJs are still pretty rare (especially on "rock" stations).
  

  <...>Perhaps SF is years behind with female DJ's, but our area is busting with them. Particularly on Country/Western stations - their the standard.<...> -- rubyo ( Jan 1996)

  <...>I agree with the comments on cars and female djs that someone else made.<...> -- Carol Liu (Feb 1996)

  
  

TV:

As Bruce Springstein said "57 Channels and nothing on".

• MTV and VH1, the 2 cable music stations offer plenty of variety if you like listening to the Jackson family. They have nowhere near as much variety as "Rage".
  
  
• Pay-Per-View is alive and well in this country. This is the concept of paying for what you view. With rates similar to video rentals it provides an alternative to driving to the video shop. It also broadcasts sporting programs that can not be picked up elsewhere.
  
  
• Sega games can be downloaded via cable TV.
  
  
• Infomercial stations exist for people who just can't get enough commercials on the other stations.
  
  
• Australian TV in the US is limited to "Beyond 2000". Although it is actually presented by an American presenter. A much more heavily disguised version of "Quantum" also exists.
  

  <...>About Aussie TV here in America. It really depends on the area in which you live. Since cable companies are mostly regionally owned - you can get heaps of foreign programming, in the most rural of areas. Here in Colorado Springs, <...> we get <...> Aussie (Parliament (on CSPAN)/sports) <...> -- rubyo ( Jan 1996)

  You can get the "MacGregor saga" (aka the man from snowy river). I think its on FAM sometime in the afternoon. I've heard that they have started showing Bananas in Pyjamas early in the mornings in some areas. Plus there is some Blinky Bill programme on every weekday (but I'm not sure if that's the "real" Blinky Bill or an Americanised cartoon thing). The Beyond 2000 episodes on here also seem to be EXTREMELY OLD. Discovery also shows a heap of shows about Australian wildlife, and Bravo tends to be partial to old Australian movies such as Breaker Morant - but neither of these are regularly scheduled. -- Justin Ridge (Feb 1996)

  I have to tell you that I discovered a shocking, but unfortunately true fact in regards to "Aussie TV in the States". I found the "Sullivans" showing on Saturday afternoon on FV channel. Couldn't believe my eyes. No wonder we are considered a "quaint oddity" at least in small town Oregon. Another show that I hear about but have not seen is "Ocean Girl". They really are picking the cream of our TV programs to indulge us with over here. -- Amanda (Feb 1996)

  
  
• TV in Australian.
  

  <...>I find Australian TV (commercial) loaded with ads--there are more commercials allowed on TV in Australia than in the US. Also many things that would be viewed as free advertising in the US are reported in the news (Telstra introduces a new product, etc.). From my observances of Australian advertising, Aussies must buy an awful lot of furniture and draperies and no toothpaste or coffee.<...> -- Carol Denehy ( Feb 1996)

  <...> One thing that has always annoyed me in Australia is that the TV programs NEVER finish on time.  I have just returned from 18 months in the US, and though I had 150+ stations to pick from (even though many were unwatchable) they all finished on the hour/ half hour.  Why can't the 5 here manage this? <...> -- Richard Chater (Jan 2003)

  
  

Sport:

• American Sport
  
  
  • Baseball: was invented as an alternative to the boredom of cricket. Some may say its only slightly more interesting. Like cricket it is a Summer sport and comes with its own language. But unlike cricket it runs for a long season.
    
    
  • Gridiron: America's version of football runs for a relatively short season over the Winter (like all other codes of football).
    

    <...>"Gridiron" refers not to the game itself, but to the field on which it is played (the lines make it look like a grill) The game, we of course simply call football. <...> -- Eric Hemminger (Feb 96)

    
    
  • Basketball.
    
    
• Australian Sport
  
  
  • During our football season it is possible to see an hour of highlights of each of the AFL and the ARL every week on cable TV. The AFL grand final at least can be seen live via satellite (if you have a dish). Cricket on the other hand does not exist on the TV.
    

    Check with PRIME SPORTS about Cricket. I have seen it shown late at night on their channel. By the way, Cricket is quite popular on the East coast - New York, New Jersy, Boston and Miami. -- rubyo (Jan 1996)

    In most areas, the AFL grand final is carried live on cable too. Certainly in those areas where there is a Prime affiliate channel. -- Justin Ridge (Feb 1996)

Australian Films:

Don's Party. An American I met once cited this movie as the reason he immigrated to Australia! This movie was made in the good old days of Australian movies - when Australian moviemakers didn't give a rats if the rest of the world didn't get it!

Kids Stuff:

The Wiggles - Wiggle Time. My kids love this! As far as kids stuff is concerned The Wiggles have to be my favourites. I find myself singing this stuff more often than "adult" stuff!

If you have any comments/suggestions (including anything you think should appear on this page) please email me via donsi@uq.net.au (Don Simonetta).

Comments from Australian readers are in green whereas comments from American readers are in red. All other opinions expressed on this page are my own and accept no responsibility for any interpretations or uses made of these opinions.