Indonesian father daughter team Hussein Baron S., 53 and his daughter Natasha Sutadisastra, 24 finished last BUT SURVIVED in the most recent episode in the Amazing Race Asia - AXN Photo

Representing Malaysia married couple Ivan Evetovics and his wife Tengku Hilda were eliminated in the Amazing Race Asia - AXN Photo

Video Beat EXTRA - The AXN Network's PROGRAMMING TIME CHANGES

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

The AXN Network shows are now starting from 10 to 15 minutes AFTER the top of the hour to 15 to five minutes before. Confusing? You betcha. IS IT WORTH THE INCONVENIENCE to chase after AXN's erratic programming changes? - Recommended TV Listings

Wednesday November 10, 2010

IT'S A MATTER OF CHOICE

As the lyrics to a song the band Chicago sang, "I didn't know what time it was," and that certainly applies this time of the year with TV telecasts. In the USA this past week it became standard time when their time clocks are advanced an hour. The result being that the Larry King show is now airing at 5 PM in the Thailand/Cambodia time zones as well as an hour later in those Asian countries that do not observe the daylight savings time (explanation ).

For others it's a matter of choice as the AXN Network decided to flip their starting times. According to an AXN spokesperson the move was to satisfy displeased viewers that complained their brakes were too long. So… if you've been chasing around the channel to find the start times of the Amazing Race Asia and USA series and can't find it that is the reason why.

AXN shows are now starting from 10 to 15 minutes AFTER the top of the hour and 15 to five minutes before. Confusing? You betcha.

Up till now the start times of the initial weekly episode DOES start on time at the top of the hour but given the recent AXN history that could change in a moments NO NOTICE. The repeats of Amazing Race programs throughout the week vary. If it's a mess you're looking for this is it.

The situation that AXN is placing themselves in is counting on viewers to leave a program that they've already been watching to catch a show on their network that starts 15 minutes before the hour.

Conversely when an AXN program starts 15 minutes after the hour it often ends after the top of the hour thus viewers must make a choice to leave the channel to see another show that they like that starts at the top of the hour. It's a crazy situation that AXN has put itself in. Obviously they feel they have a captured audience with viewer loyalty or program addiction.

The programs schedules are listed on their website but it proved to be wrong for their Sunday morning November 7 listings of both Amazing Race series. It raises some questions. Is it worth it for a viewer to be inconvenienced by having to check the AXN web site that IS NOT SPOT ON to see what time a program starts? Do all of their viewers have a computer? If so how regularly do TV viewers use it to check a TV schedule?

An AXN spokesperson responded to our query regarding the matter with the following email:

"Our website does have a program schedule. You can in fact either view the schedule on a daily basis, or you can click on the show you're interested in and you'll be directed to a page where you can see what are all the repeat timings of that particular show.

"On the home page of www.axn-asia.com, mouse over the tab "Shows" and you'll see a secondary tab "Schedule" below. Click on "Schedule" and you'll be brought to a page that looks like this (the link is http://www.axn-asia.com/shows/schedule/11/04/2010/1): If you're interested in a particular show, say The Amazing Race Asia, click on the show title within the schedule, and you'll be directed to a page like this (the link is http://www.axn-asia.com/shows/tara):"

The bottom line is IT WORTH THE INCONVENIENCE to chase after AXN's erratic programming changes? If you're interested in the race to find the start times of the Amazing Race Asia, USA or other AXN programming you now have the tools to work with. The bottom line is IT'S UP TO YOU.

MORE AXN

Representing Malaysia married couple Ivan Evetovics and his wife Tengku Hilda were eliminated two episodes ago week on Amazing Race Asia. The Indonesian father daughter team Hussein Baron S., 53 and his daughter Natasha Sutadisastra, 24 finished last in the most recent episode. They are the first father daughter team ever in the Asian edition of the Amazing Race and Natasha is a former beauty queen.

Hussein couldn't complete that last task of the segment of swinging with your feet from a trapeze due to pain and a cut foot and they chose to take a four hour penalty. Fortunately it happened in a continuation leg of the race thus they will continue with a four hour delay behind the other teams.

Who will be the next elimination? Tune in TOMORROW Thursday November 11 on the AXN Network in East Asia.

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TV SCHEDULE

Note: The shows listed are for the Cambodia/Thailand time zone. Check our chart or your local listings for time in your area.

NOTE TIMES OF THE SAME TELECAST IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

10:00 PM - LOCKED UP ABROAD - National Geographic

1:00 AM - AMERICAN GREED - CNBC

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