Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: TVNZ: The Sub's Pencil Strikes

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  • Andrew Smith,

    Good on TV One for writing the new charter, but I think many of us are drifting further away from the old 'pushTV' model. I for one like my time spent more efficiently by researching news stories that are relevant and looking at entertainment and educational matters on the Internet. I really only like TV for some of the Sky docos and live sport now.

    Since Jan 2007 • 150 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    i'm with andrew on this one.

    but... part of me thinks there are still many km sq. in the burbs where people continue to passively consume pushTV.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    WTF is up with this one?

    What does an elephant have to do with anything?

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Michael Savidge,

    part of me thinks there are still many km sq. in the burbs where people continue to passively consume pushTV.

    And there would be more if a) the charter actually delivered quality, and b) there was more hard-edged journalism in the political arena. I really do feel that the MSM in NZ fail to fulfill their potential as the fourth estate. Ask more questions and demand more answers.

    I also don't understand why the talents of the Eating Media Lunch crew haven't been exploited further - everyone loves satire! Except those being satirised but their whingeing just makes it more fun.

    Somewhere near Wellington… • Since Nov 2006 • 324 posts Report

  • merc,

    Iz in your burbs consumin' ya pushTV.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    And there would be more if a) the charter actually delivered quality, and b) there was more hard-edged journalism in the political arena. I really do feel that the MSM in NZ fail to fulfill their potential as the fourth estate. Ask more questions and demand more answers.

    I'd actually like to be better informed: more analysis and less commentary on who is/isn't winning the game. It's interesting that the new political blogs at at Stuff and the Herald have pushed in that direction. And, as I said, I've appreciated an apparent move that way by Close Up.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Lucy Stewart,

    WTF is up with this one?

    What does an elephant have to do with anything?

    It's the symbol of the Republican party. The Democrats have a donkey. One can't help feeling that both PR teams were off their game that day.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Michael Savidge,

    I'd actually like to be better informed: more analysis and less commentary on who is/isn't winning the game.

    I totally agree. The game of who's winning is, fair enough, an issue in its own right - though not a particularly important one this far out from an election - but it shouldn't cloud debates over particular issues or policy.

    What I would like to see is more tenacity and analysis from reporters and editors in their initial reporting and follow-up on topical issues.

    But again, TV companies have to face up to their commercial imperatives and, regardless of the charter in TVNZ's case, they must tailor their material to try and seduce viewers into watching.

    I feel that 'infotainment' is the horse that's bolted and its going to be very difficult to shut the barn door now.

    Somewhere near Wellington… • Since Nov 2006 • 324 posts Report

  • Tony Kennedy,

    And, finally, I can see why Kate Moss still likes Pete Doherty

    Not any more she does ..
    http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/kate-gives-pete-the-flick/2007/07/06/1183351412253.html

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 225 posts Report

  • InternationalObserver,

    please stay focussed on the news that matters Tony!

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    I feel that 'infotainment' is the horse that's bolted and its going to be very difficult to shut the barn door now.

    sure. i agree. but... does every single channel have to offer it?

    SBS is an example of a news service that offers great, informative, non-'mainstream' news. it's snappy, interesting, and wide-ranging.

    why should new zealand forgo that type of news just because piercing nicky watson's boobs is popular with pushTV viewers?

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • InternationalObserver,

    The chip-on-the-shoulder attitude towards the Charter doesn't seem to be present any more, and there is a more positive embrace of public broadcasting obligations. In large part, of course, that is because the new delivery platforms emerging this year allow for the warm, fuzzy feeling of delivering public value, without the cold reality of shedding viewers on the two core channels.

    You're sure they weren't fixed smiles of the please-don't-make-me-redundant-I've-got-with-the-programme variety?

    Is Freeview uptake into triple digits yet?

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    that was me agreeing with you, btw.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • dc_red,

    Re: push TV. Methinks that avoiding it while still receiving a fair amount of entertainment and infotainment requires moderate amounts of (a) technical nous; (b) up-to-date hardware; (c) disposable income. All of which are in short supply I can assure you.

    At our place it's dial up internet and free-to-air tv on a 20 inch screen. And we're one of the better off households in the neighbourhood I'd wager.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And there would be more if a) the charter actually delivered quality, and b) there was more hard-edged journalism in the political arena.

    Well, I guess then we'd have a Charter that would consist of one sentence: THOU SHALT NOT MAKE SHIT. The problem is that even the BBC - which is so often held up as the model of public service broadcasting - doesn't measure if. (And if you don't believe me, Prime-watchers, please compare and contrast Extras & Hyperdrive. Never thought I'd use the words 'Nick Frost' and 'as funny as being buggered with a broken beer bottle' in the same sentence, but there you go.)

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

  • Rob Stowell,

    MMmmm might just be me missing it, but seems Extras is even better this series (so far!)
    Wot I want to know is- why isn't Prime on Freeview? (Sky own it, of course, but still!) and why can't we harvest a digital bounty on it, with, eg a feed of BBC World, SBS etc etc...

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report

  • InternationalObserver,

    Yes, the Freeview decoders seem awfully expensive for the number of channels you get with it. In the UK I particularly enjoyed the + 1 Hour delayed channels eg TV1+1 Hour ie the 6pm News screens at 7pm and so on. One would think there would be a lot more capacity available on the Freeview decoder now.
    And yes, this week's Extras episode was mind blowing. Very cutting.

    As for The Charter ... well, I'm over it, and have no faith in their "public consultation". Call me cynical or jaded but these things are always already pre-determined. When Auckland City ratepayers said they were in favour of clean harbours I don't think they meant they were in favour of hiking the cost of water by 9+% each year for the next ten years, but that is how Council have defined their responses.

    Whatever we say we want The Charter to be will be used to validate what they are making it anyway.

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report

  • WH,

    I guess having marijuana found in your Prius is one cause for anxiety that taking Xanax can't help you with.

    http://www.xanax.com/content.asp?id=1&sid=1

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Yes, the Freeview decoders seem awfully expensive for the number of channels you get with it.

    I understand there's some sort of monopoly for the first year on these decoders. Or... there's a limited number of providers of them.

    After that first year, I'd expect the price to drop a fair bit.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Michael Savidge,

    that was me agreeing with you, btw.

    Onya.

    I think there may be a culture of fear amongst local broadcasters that if they waver from the current *cough-successful-cough* model they will alienate viewers.

    Whereas I reckon the first one to take the brave step of delivering a more objective and analytical model of presentation would reap the rewards. A jaded and cynical audience is likely to welcome a step in that direction.

    And having read over that....I agree with me :)

    Somewhere near Wellington… • Since Nov 2006 • 324 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Yes, the Freeview decoders seem awfully expensive for the number of channels you get with it. In the UK I particularly enjoyed the + 1 Hour delayed channels eg TV1+1 Hour ie the 6pm News screens at 7pm and so on.

    They are expensive. I think the Freeview consortium (ie: the collective free-to-air broadcasters) got too control-freaky with their approvals process - why not have a real bargain option? - but OTOH they employ MPEG4 video, making them a generation ahead of the British boxes. The wait for a PVR decoder also seems much too long when there are households picking up MySky every week. Eventually, TVs will ship with Freeview built-in.

    One would think there would be a lot more capacity available on the Freeview decoder now.

    It takes time to develop content. TVNZ 6 (children's, family and arts) launches in September, and TVNZ 7 (news and information) in March next year. There some very adventurous props flowing in for both. It will be interesting to see what TV3's new owners decide to do it. I suspect they'll sit back for a while and let TVNZ develop the market. MTS seems keen to spawn another channel too.

    What happened with Freeview in Britain can't be repeated here, unfortunately. Freeview only happened after ITV Digital went down in a horrible screaming heap after losing a billion quid. When it died, it left a lot of DTT (digital terrestrial television) infrastructure as a sunk cost. Then the BBC was asked by the government to pick up the thread and act as an anchor tenant for Freeview.

    And what an amazing tenant., but man, does the BBC pay for it. I download Friday Night with Jonathan Ross every week free - the Beeb pays him £6 million a year (for three TV shows and some radio). They're paying a shitload for sports rights too. But Freeview is now roughly equal with Sky in installed base, which is great.

    Re the delayed channels, the BBC is a world leader in that. Repeats are a pain when you see them three months later, but a real boon when it's 24 hours later. That actually lets word-of-mouth work in a very useful way. If you hear around the water cooler that episode one of Series X was a bloody cracker, you can actually go home and watch it.

    But at TVNZ, yep, I've been looking at it fairly closely lately, and I seriously do think there's a culture change there, and that it's driven in part by the advent of the new platforms.

    It makes sense: with TV One and TV2, all the place had was an entrenched position, which inevitably leads to entrenched thinking. Now they have two whole new channels, plus online and mobile.

    The other difference is that Ian Fraser's gone. I'll always be grateful to him for the verbal permission to use the audio of Lange's Oxford Union speech, but I think the place was a disaster when he was there, in part because of the people he hired. For the first time I can remember, there now does not seem to be a current rumour about management infighting. To say this is a good thing is putting it mildly.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Anne M,

    SBS is an example of a news service that offers great, informative, non-'mainstream' news. it's snappy, interesting, and wide-ranging.

    Sob, sob, how I miss SBS. If anyone offers that on satellite TV they'd have our business the very next day.

    Freeview is very un-free to hook into at the moment. I'm hoping the cost comes down. Yes, yes, I'm cheap ....

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    Wish I could remember who said it, but it went something like:

    I had a spring clean, replaced the bulb in the oven, cleaned the glass door. Then I road tested it with a potato. A while later I happened to walk past, spotted it out the corner of my eye and thought for a moment that it was SBS.

    Yes, SBS does occasionally show movies like that, and for a while it was known as the Hitler channel on account of how there was almost inevitably a Hitler-related doco on every week - a bit like pyramids & the discovery channel.
    But it's true, SBS news is really a stupid-free zone. Can be done.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Isn't there some (highly illegal) system out there that lets you view broadcast TV streams over the net?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Venetia King,

    probably a good excuse to remind you that you can also sign up for the daily email heads-up from Public Address

    That reminds me - why does the footer in those emails say "You received this email because you have given bFM your email address"? I'm pretty sure I never did any such thing.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 117 posts Report

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