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TvCentral closes after data disaster

Tv_central_logo mumbrellaAustralian television industry website TvCentral has decided to shut its doors a week after a server migration saw all of its data lost in the process.

Owner Aaron Ryan said in a statement: “I have a second job outside TvCentral and aside from sleeping and eating, I have spent every ounce of free time on the site and quite frankly it was a little unhealthy”.

Ryan said that he would now focus on getting a job within the TV industry instead of writing about it. He said: “My real passion is programming, scheduling and formats and working within the programming department at a network would be a special dream come true and that is where my expertise lie. In my role at TvCentral I am essentially a journalist or a blogger and whilst I am showcasing my dreams though the website, I am not actually living the dream.” 

Ryan also said that he was withdrawing his threat of legal action against hosting service Ventra IP.

The site was lost about 18 months after tvauscast relaunched as TvCentral.

Ryan added: “I have the best team ever. All of us have other full time commitments, families and interests, yet we have had a polished and professional website that has included news, daily ratings, podcasts, reviews and media releases. From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank CJM, Riccardo and Joe for their friendship, dedication and commitment to the site and hope that we all stay connected in the future. We have broken so many stories and chatted via podcast to the likes of Tim Worner, David Mott, Luke Jacobz, Dan Barrett, Shannan Ponton, Bev McGarvey, Andrew Mercado, Blake Davis, Kim Dalton, Pete Everett, Reece Mastin, Todd Lassance, Tim Burrowes and many others – it has all been so much fun.”

He said: “I am considering offers to do a more simpler weekly blog with other websites. I am keeping my options open, but look forward to some well earned time out for the moment.”

February 20 update: Ventra IP issued the following press release:

Mr. Cheyne Jonstone, Chief Executive Officer of VentraIP Group, said:

“Last week we responded to Mr. Ryan’s baseless and to date unproven allegations in an effort to protect our reputation as a trusted provider of web hosting services.

After three days we made the decision to cease posting about the matter in public as all the allegations that needed to be addressed were answered, however, during and after this time, Mr. Ryan continued to post in public and email us even after being informed that we would not discuss the matter any further.

At the time, Mr. Ryan sent us a series of emails asking for a sum of cash in return for a “joint positive press release” that would clear our name and allow him to pay for an “administrator” to assist with rebuilding his website. We declined this request, as we stand by our original and unchanged position on the matter, being that Mr. Ryan had ignored crucial correspondence and submitted a cancellation request for a service which he did not have a backup of.

He also claimed that he would post damaging, and in our opinion false, allegations on his new website as he believed public sentiment was on his side.

Further correspondence continued from Mr. Ryan, even after we had informed him that he would now need to deal directly with our general counsel. When he refused to deal with general counsel, a letter was prepared and sent to him late Friday afternoon which informed him that we are considering exercising our right to apply to the Supreme Court of Victoria for injunctive relief and to seek damages as it was clear he had sought to damage our brand and reputation based upon false and deceiving accounts of an incident of his own making.

Again, Mr. Ryan did not follow written instructions and continued to reply to the original email over the weekend, where he said that his position had now changed and he had decided to cease the TV Central website. He then went on to offer us two press releases based upon our reply which was required by noon yesterday. Unfortunately, neither our executive team nor our general counsel work on weekends, and as such he proceeded to publish the second version of his press release which included headline-grabbing phrases such as “latest twist” and “kicking someone whilst they are down”. He is now claiming that we gave him no choice and that any claims for damages against him would be “fruitless” as he has no assets.

However, we are pleased to see that Mr. Ryan has finally accepted responsibility for his actions, and that he no longer intends to pursue VentraIP in any legal action. As a result we have decided not to proceed with our application for injunctive relief and damages as we would like to draw a close to this matter as I believe it is the best thing for both parties.

As a company that relies on word of mouth advertising from satisfied clients, we felt it has been important to respond to these claims as needed, and we are very happy that my staff and I can now refocus our attention on our customers and making any improvements to internal policies and processes to ensure that this type of situation is less likely to occur in the future.

VentraIP has a very valued reputation for offering industry leading customer service and support, and is one of the fastest growing web hosting and domain name companies in Australia. We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver outstanding service and product diversity that meets the needs of bloggers, businesses, government departments, and everybody in between.We are also very active within the community, and it’s a shame the media never highlight this aspect of our company. Last year we donated over 120 gifts to the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal, and several weeks ago we announced our $10,000 community chest initiative, which has already seen $1,425 awarded to the North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club for waterproof jackets to be used in lengthy search and rescue efforts.

We wish Mr. Ryan all the best in his future endeavours, and we are looking forward to putting his matter behind us and continuing to do what we do best.”

No further media enquiries will be taken on this matter.

 

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