Broadcast six days a week Naked News is a little window on the world, an entertaining view of current events.
Naked News is an Entertainment News show like most current affair type news shows, except the female presenters are totally naked. This is by no means a replacement for the big news channels but it’s a nice way to catch up with the daily headlines.
Some people like the feel of paper when they read the news, some people like their news electronic and some people like their news Naked. An attempt at making the serious business of News a little more entertaining, light-hearted, can news be considered fun ?
The Canadian production first gained popularity in 1999 as a webcast TV show with only Victoria Sinclair anchoring the news. This quickly expanded to include many of our current favourites news presenters; Michelle Pantoliano, Roxanne West, Erica Stevens and later Kat Curtis aka Nerd Girl.
Within a few years the show had 9 million viewers a month. This was the peak period for Naked News, they appeared on Foxtel in Australia, Naked News North America was established specifically for the American market and many tv stations around the world picked up the show. During the internet advertising collapse – 2002 bubble bursts – Naked News was forced to change from earning advertising dollars to charging monthly membership fees, a month of NN will currently cost you $14.95 USD or $90 USD annually. At the moment it is only on Canadian TV and late night in the UK, everyone else will just have to buy membership and watch through the website www.NakedNews.com
Naked news Naked Nerd Girl – Katrina Curtis or Kat – has established herself in her own right on the web. Naked Nerd Girl – NNG – is becoming a celebrity. She might be one hot nerd girl but she is taking her depth as a journalist seriously. Being totally naked while interviewing Clerks director Kevin Smith was pure genius. She had him on the back foot from the get go. Also a regular on the renowned comics podcast ‘The Watchtower’, and a nominee in Wired.com’s “Sexiest Geeks 2009″ contest, Kat was a journalist well before she was a Naked News presenter and a geek girl before that.
With the shows opening segment ‘News off the top’, it’s straight into current events and light entertainment headlines. Various segments then break up main show; GameSpot, Entertainment Update, Naked at the Movies, Closer Look, Talk is Cheap, Digital Buzz, the format is standard light news entertainment but once April Torres takes her top off it’s all good news. They tend to cover all of the major current events, usually dig up some light interest or feel good stories to round out the news presentation, ‘News off the Top’. After the main news they present the various segments for the night. Closing out with ‘Locker talk’ with Michelle Pantoliano. All of this makes for a well paced and undressed TV show. The formula is very similar to mainstream 6.00 ocklock news shows, with a little more fluff.
Part of the fascination has to be the dead pan way presenters stare straight down the camera while undressing. You have to be comfortable in your own skin to be able to achieve this. To do it while still looking relaxed and natural, that takes skill.
Naked News, news with a face, a more personal touch. There is more getting to know the news presenters than with normal news shows. One of the attractions of NN has to be the personal touch, the anchors are personalities you will want to get to know. This does lead to quite a bit of opinion becoming part of the news but it seems to work. Michelle Pantoliano’s ‘Locker Talk’ was a segment that highlights this different approach. A segment where Michelle would talk about whatever was on her mind at the time, get stuff off her chest as it were. This eventually became her section and even though she hasn’t recorded one since 2005 they are often still played. The NakedNews site carries on this philosophy with enough information to build a back story for each of the current presenters, verging on stalker levels of information.
The interviews done out in the real world are hilarious just for the reactions of the people to the naked news reporter. April Torres is not bashful, loves to be naked, loves interviewing people while they stare at her nakedness. Some innocent bi-standers are left a babbling messes but most just join in with April’s enthusiasm for being naked.
With promotional video’s highlighting detailed, unabashed news reports, sports and weather, the producers of Naked News have been taking the news side of the show seriously for more than 10 years. Whether any of this actually matters is neither here nor there, the fact they feel it is important is cute.
Naked News is not sexually explicit nor is it pornographic at all, it is just a bit of light entertainment wrapped in the news. Now if we could just replace the current affairs shows on every channel around world with this.
.
Buddha’s Brother out…