Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Future of Television

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  • Richard Aston,

    <.q> meaningful public broadcasting goals<q>
    What are these? and is public broadcasting an ideal that makes sense if TV is your only moving media view on the world - aside from films. How does public broadcasting sit in the rapidly expanding digital world ?
    I find I am watching as much recorded , on demand, online as live broadcast, than I did 10 years ago. Find myself looking for interesting digital places to watch stuff that interests, challenges and entertains me.
    My broadcast bandwidth is reducing rapidly being replace with digital bandwidth

    Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,

    Is The Shearing Gang fundamentally different from reality TV staples like Motorway Patrol, Airline, and Drug Bust? Day in the life of group of people employed in a particular line of work?

    Where do shows like those cross the dividing line between reality TV and documentary?

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Richard Aston,

    What are these? and is public broadcasting an ideal that makes sense if TV is your only moving media view on the world – aside from films. How does public broadcasting sit in the rapidly expanding digital world ?

    There are plenty of good cues from the CBC, the BBC, SBS -- and Radio New Zealand, which launches an online-only project at 5pm today. Content should be intelligent and shareable and fill the gaps the market leaves. Imagine the local radio landscape is there were was no Radio New Zealand, no iwi radio, no free frequencies for student and access radio to use.

    The big problem is that public-service style programming doesn't attract enough of the viewers commercial TV needs to reach. Ad that the group commercial TV has little use for is basically half the population and everyone over 55.

    Commercial TV attracts -- and needs to attract -- audiences in the tens and hundreds of thousands at any one time. The audience for any locally produced stream, podcast or whatever is a fraction of that. The good part is that on the internet, you don't need to fill a virtual Eden Park every week (which even a specialist show like Media3 did) to be viable. The Herald will be happy if 2000 people watch one of its live events streams.

    There are exceptions: music video has almost wholly moved from TV to the internet. NZ On Air doesn't even both to report TV screenings for the music videos it funds.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Dylan Reeve, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    Where do shows like those cross the dividing line between reality TV and documentary?

    There are lots of terms in use in the industry to separate different types of reality TV.

    Those show would all probably be classified as "obs-doc" - observational documentary - it really is not much different from traditional documentary. The narrative style within them may vary but the overall content and production techniques aren't much different.

    But there's also narrative reality (things like The GC) and competition reality (like Survivor) and many many hybrids of those and other sub-groups. All are, essentially, documentary in nature though.

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,

    Is The Shearing Gang fundamentally different from reality TV staples like Motorway Patrol, Airline, and Bondi Rescue? Day in the life of group of people employed in a particular line of work?

    The big difference between Shearing Gang and Motorway Patrol is who controls the content. Programmes that observe the work of state agencies do so at the pleasure of those agencies. This can reach critical levels in series like TV3's Drug Bust, which is all spectacle and no questions asked.

    That's basically the difference between a documentary and what's known in the trade as an "obs-doc".

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Dylan Reeve,

    But there’s also narrative reality (things like The GC) and competition reality (like Survivor) and many many hybrids of those and other sub-groups. All are, essentially, documentary in nature though.

    I would strongly disagree that Survivor et al are documentaries in any form. They're unscripted drama.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • John Elijah, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    This! DeepRed

    Hawkes Bay • Since Oct 2013 • 5 posts Report Reply

  • John Elijah,

    never saw more than part of the occasional episode; avoid these enfomercials like dry-rot in leaky homes.

    Hawkes Bay • Since Oct 2013 • 5 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Brent Jackson,

    we're now outside the target demographic.

    So do advertisers really expect me to not buy any different brand for the rest of my life ?

    I think that might actually be the problem. By our age Brent, we aren't really swayed as much by advertising lies. We know some brands are shit and no amount of advertising will change that, we know how to research products we really want to get the best brand ... again no amount of lies will change that.

    I watched ALL of the block, but there is still no way in the world I will drink Wild Bean coffee.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Dylan Reeve,

    I saw a survey, probably in the last year or so, that covered what people say they want from TV and what they actually watch.

    We have the same issue with food. You do a survey about what people want from new fruit cultivars and they say they want healthy fresh etc etc ... and then they walk out of the supermarket with 3 bags of chicken chips that were on special. You want people to buy apples? Make them taste like a burger ... sigh.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    So I watched ALL of the block NZ. We got hooked by the Aussie version. We love renovation shows and while The Block NZ missed the mark on several points for us (really the oldest contestant was 30?) and I seriously HAD to fast forward through Alice's voice sometimes. But it was easy entertainment while prep'ing or eating dinner.

    By contrast with the Aussie version the judges used were of um questionable taste and there didn't seem to be much time or money to incorporate really novel or exciting design into the houses. But it was fun to watch.

    But we also watch Grand Designs (because Kevin McCloud) and a lot of the Media7/3 episodes and all of The Blue Rose and will get Harry to watch when it comes out on DVD and The Almighty Johnsons is on the stack of things to watch soon. We are consumers of NZ media even if the advertisers care not a wit about us.

    Rather than worrying about getting "good" TV made in NZ, whatever that is? I am more worried about getting TV that is not simply lowest common denominator TV. There should be room for programs to be made that don't interest me but interest some other group, even if that group is fairly small. That's the part of the market that a public broadcaster is needed for, or at least a public producer that can afford to pay for things to be broadcast. I think it is when those "small interest" things get made that you have the chance to create, I guess I'd have to call it Art.

    I'm glad The Block NZ was made and was a success. I'm sad that some of the folks on it have been harshly used. But I also want to see other things made and like Russell I'm just not sure I know who will make those other things and how they will be funded.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Dylan Reeve,

    And if Roman-style gladiator matches somehow managed to be brought back, it probably won't be called "blood sport" or "snuff". It might be called something like "reality TV like you've never seen before".

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    And if Roman-style gladiator matches somehow managed to be brought back, it probably won’t be called “blood sport” or “snuff”. It might be called something like “reality TV like you’ve never seen before”.

    Blood-obs

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Lindberg, in reply to nzlemming,

    Blood-obs

    I'd watch that for a dollar!

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report Reply

  • Morgan Nichol, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    I remember the first series of NZ's Got Talent being a big Twitter event, but this time around virtually no one in my timeline is tweeting about it.

    Part of that has to be that it's noticeably more terrible this season. The talent is very thin. Which has lead the judges to be, without putting too fine a point on it, ridiculous. Their role is no longer any kind of criticism but a sort of wide-eyed boosterism, trying to convince the audience they're watching something good.

    Auckland CBD • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • Morgan Nichol, in reply to Dylan Reeve,

    But there’s also narrative reality (things like The GC) and competition reality (like Survivor) and many many hybrids of those and other sub-groups. All are, essentially, documentary in nature though.

    Ok, so just to calibrate. Would you say Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was also a documentary?

    Auckland CBD • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Paul Campbell,

    yes exactly – that’s why we need public TV if we want anything more high-brow than Shortland St

    Oh, Jesus… I’m trying to find one level on which that sentence doesn’t bug the fuck out of me. I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention over the last decade or so, but there’s plenty of “high-brow” television coming out of the dirty commercial sector and having spent two weeks in Blighty I can confirm the hallowed British Broadcasting Corporation is more than keeping its end up as a net contributor to the global shite supply.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    I can confirm the hallowed British Broadcasting Corporation is more than keeping its end up as a net contributor to the global shite supply.

    +1 on that. The Beeb has been mostly phoning it in for years on drama. And let's not start on the comedy ...

    Also, don't be hating on Shortland Street. It's basically ground zero for much of the New Zealand screen drama since -- in acting, writing and direction. The SPP house style reached its zenith with Outrageous Fortune, but it was born in Ferndale.

    We also forget that Shortland Street put brown people on screen and made them stars, presented gay characters and had them loved. It's as disruptive as anything else our television has ever produced.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • anth,

    TV in a wholly commercial environment will start to feel pretty weird ... especially if you happen to be in the half of the population that’s not in a target demographic

    Or if you're in the two thirds who are part of such a demographic but didn't watch that show.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Russell Brown,

    The SPP house style reached its zenith with Outrageous Fortune, but it was born in Ferndale

    Snappy observation. #onya

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Finlay Macdonald,

    I know, I know ... But you really can also read a book., There is an unspoken assumption in all this that TV is still the cultural fulcrum it (arguably) once was. There is incredible art being made for TV, yes, nearly all of it for a subscription fee now. Like you have to pay for a novel or a record (you know what I mean). But as the great uniter, the great public service, the great village well, the great receptacle of collective experience ... it's over. The public service argument is compelling, but it's too late. If you don't want to pay for the good stuff you will increasingly be sifting through thinner and thinner pickings.

    Since Apr 2013 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    So I watched ALL of the block NZ.

    Your resilience is admirable. Didn't see one glimpse of the builder I randomly knew was in the background somewhere despite watching at least 50% of the eps.

    Got to know the characters and the tone quite well. Crass product plugs seem rather American. Producers/Directors do a good job of the human side of the show, though the Aussie version seems to have more actual building involved. Enjoyed the Twitter angle from time to time, including finale.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Finlay Macdonald,

    can also read a book

    or a cave wall, if you're really keen.
    #culturalfulcrum

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Finlay Macdonald,

    There is an unspoken assumption in all this that TV is still the cultural fulcrum it (arguably) once was

    True. Broadcast aint the dominant arrangement but we're not adjusting our mindset uniformly fast. Consult most teenagers about how they see it.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Sacha,

    Consult most teenagers about how they see it.

    I am put in mind of our young fogey commisioner's incredulity at the news that our Media3 TV commentator, Joe Nunweek, did not own a TV.

    Thing was, of course, Joe was the only critic of Seven Sharp to watch the whole first week before crafting an elegant, insightful review of the programme.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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