MasterChef on the cheap — almost. MasterChef’s extravagant use of cross-promotions have been on the nose for a while now, but this time they may have promised something they can’t quite deliver. Curtis Stone, celebrity chef and the face of Coles’ new ‘Feed your family for under $10’ campaign, has been telling viewers that they can cook a delicious MasterChef Coq Au Vin for $7.76.

Crikey agrees that’s pretty good value, until you look at the docket. Coles lists the recipe’s most important ingredient — red wine — as free because you can get it ‘from the pantry’. We’re not sure how many amateur chefs are holding large amounts of cooking vino in their pantry, but 500mL of the stuff is surely going to nudge the recipe very close to that $10 mark. — Tom Cowie

ABC News 24 is here — almost. With speculation about the launch date of ABC News 24 building to a crescendo, the much-vaunted new channel has already begun quietly broadcasting. Unfortunately, viewers who stumble across the station’s new digital home on channel 24 will only be treated to the station’s test pattern which has been running on continuous loop for a few days now.

news24

The frenzied three-and-a-half minute promo, which features stars like Virginia Trioli and Annabel Crabb breathlessly extolling Aunty’s path to “a new digital future” amid soaring biblical “haaaaas”, is sure to be ripped apart by The Chaser and/or Wil Anderson very soon indeed. In the meantime, enthusiasts can treat themselves to this “incredibly important venture for Australian audiences” via You Tube.

The Australian muses the round-the-clock news service will launch on July 24 (or 24/7) which, according to some observers, could be well after the federal election is called. Never mind, at least we’ve got a glossy new promo to take our mind off things. — Tom Cowie and Andrew Crook

The Hun‘s new business deputy. Herald Sun overlord Simon Pristel has reacted swiftly to the mass exodus from the struggling tabloid’s business section by appointing Business Spectator interviews editor Isabelle Oderberg to the position of deputy editor (business). Oderberg, a former AAP resources reporter, will oversee BusinessDaily‘s print and online offerings with current deputy Matt Charles expected to take the reins as editor.

Charles replaces respected veteran Malcolm Schmidtke, who announced his departure last month after five years on the paper. As Crikey reported last week, three key members of Schmidtke’s loyal team — Fleur Leyden, Ben Butler and George Lekakis — have all left or are in the process of leaving, amid ongoing tension over the section’s direction, apparently owing to Pristel’s testy relationship with their storied boss. Ironically, the well-connected Lekakis will soon occupy a new desk close to Oderberg’s old one at Business Spectator‘s sister publication Eureka Report, to which he will contribute as a part-time banking scribe. Herald Sun journalists are expected to be formally notified of the new appointments later this afternoon. — Andrew Crook

Yes we can, say The Chaser. The Chaser “boys” (they’re in their mid-30s) are due to be let out of the ABC sin bin with a new election special hilariously titled Yes We Canberra! The show is a new format for the celebrated crew, who say they’ll be warming up the little-known Lateline live studio audience in the spirit of injecting some excitement into the late night wonkfest.

“To be honest we’re just relieved to have some paid work,” Craig Reucassel said about the warm-up gig. “Mark Scott is a very compassionate person. He gave Poh a job at the ABC when she lost MasterChef, and now he’s done the same thing for us.” The team admits Yes We Canberra! was not their preferred title for the show.

“We wanted the name of the show to be Ratf-cked 2010,” Chris Taylor explained, “but apparently that’s what the ABC’s main coverage is going to be called. Our next preference for a title was Andrew, Chris, Chas, Craig & Jules’ Election Fever but I think there was a legal problem with that too.” — Crikey intern Ben Hagemann

The Twits silent on ISP plans to censor

“The news was greeted with a widespread lack of interest from an Australian population which — for almost three years now — has been steadfastly campaigning against the idea of its internet being filtered in any way.” — Delimiter

Murdoch a ‘monstrous ars-hole’ — but the pay wall might work

“This prediction of failure is accompanied by rejoicing because it’s a Rupert Murdoch idea, so it must, of course, be evil. … The Times pay wall may fail as a business model, but that’s the only problem I have with it.” — The Guardian

German press agencies face off

“More than 20 years after the fall of the Wall, Berlin is taking a small step toward establishing itself as the media hub of Germany, as the country’s biggest news agency and a newly reinvigorated rival consolidate their operations in the city this summer.” — New York Times

Students driving the news on iPad

“Two graduate students from San Francisco’s Stanford University who developed an iPad application that aggregates news from multiple sources and presents it in a visual way — essentially a better RSS feed reader — have sold 100,000 apps in just a couple of months.” — The Australian

Ad banned for being light-fingered

“An ad featuring members of the Brisbane Broncos helping out in sponsor NRMAs office has been banned because player Sam Thaiday is featured pinching chocolate bars from a vending machine.” — Mumbrella