Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: About Campbell Live

565 Responses

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  • Hilary Stace,

    Wouldn't it be wonderful to have real public service television. Campbell Live would fit nice and securely there. Free to do intelligent compassionate work.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • martinb,

    Okay which dystopian future have I woken up in where Julie Christie and Mike Hosking control the future of the airwaves?

    Auckland • Since Jul 2010 • 206 posts Report Reply

  • webweaver,

    I just despair, I really do.

    And yet... I'm also watching the ActionStation petition gain 10,000 signatures in a little over an hour, which is good. And then I read Matthew Hooton's tweet from earlier "I understand that MediaWorks CEO Mark Weldon thinks @CampbellLiveNZ & @JohnJCampbell are too anti-government. " and get all depressed again.

    I felt compelled to write a very sweary comment on the TV3 Facebook page as well as sign all the petitions. Under the Paul Henry announcement. That was fun.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 332 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    This angers me greatly. Yet it is a perfect reflection of the nutty libertarian corporatism New Zealanders have voted for over the last few decades. Maybe we do not deserve real journalism any more?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to webweaver,

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Dylan Reeve,

    I look at this situation and I think - "wouldn't it be amazing if the likes to Netflix or Lightbox could take on something like this?"

    Ultimately the problem with this is that TV in New Zealand is purely commercial and all about ratings. However the maths works differently for services like Netflix where they simply need a wide enough variety of content to convince as diverse an audience as possible to pay a small subscription fee.

    Or could a collaboration of sponsors put a shot like Campbell's on YouTube or something?

    Ultimately though good journalism isn't cheap, even more so when that journalism is presented in video nightly.

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Howe,

    "things have reached a strange pass when the grown-up editorial voice in the room belongs to the damn sponsor." - Nice line. Sad but true.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2009 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Jeanette King,

    Some people suggesting this might be a poaching opportunity for Māori Television ... After all, MTV is the closest we have to a public service channel.

    Ōtautahi • Since Oct 2010 • 43 posts Report Reply

  • Dylan Reeve, in reply to Jeanette King,

    Some people suggesting this might be a poaching opportunity for Māori Television … After all, MTV is the closest we have to a public service channel.

    Definitely.

    Sadly Maori TV has a much smaller potential audience, and not sure they have the budget to carry a show like Campbell's.

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Serious question: who here regularly watches Campbell Live? And by that, I mean the full episode, live to air. Not occasionally watching a video someone has shared on Facebook.

    I don't. I really like John Campbell, but I haven't watched the show since the 2000s, and if Campbell Live had been cancelled five years ago I wouldn't have noticed.

    Campbell Live seems like one of those shows that people like the idea of in theory, but not enough people actually watch it for that theory to work in practice.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • John Morrison,

    I have to admit, now I only watch the news & CampbellLive, bar 1 -2 other programmes, on free-to-air. The rest is a mix of various channels recorded on the Sky box or via the internet.

    I despair as well.

    Cromwell • Since Nov 2006 • 85 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    Serious question: who here regularly watches Campbell Live? And by that, I mean the full episode, live to air. Not occasionally watching a video someone has shared on Facebook.

    I do. I watch it most nights. I generally really like it and - stating the obvious, I know- god knows it's a hell of a lot better than what else is on offer.

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Dylan Reeve, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    Campbell Live seems like one of those shows that people like the idea of in theory, but not enough people actually watch it for that theory to work in practice.

    This. This is the problem.

    It's the same with people decrying the lack of "quality" TV shows but not watching those shows when they are offered.

    Sadly all TV in this country lives and dies by the ratings.

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    Serious question: who here regularly watches Campbell Live? And by that, I mean the full episode, live to air. Not occasionally watching a video someone has shared on Facebook.

    Fair question. I can honestly say that Campbell Live is the only thing I would watch at 7pm, live to air. But do I watch it all the time? No. It's usually dinner time with the family. I watch live when I know they have a good story or interview and catch up on-demand when there’s a buzz.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Grant McDougall,

    I do. I watch it most nights.

    Same. And they know it, hopefully. Not that it shows in the 'ratings' their bosses are relying on. The trust generated by a show like this has a halo effect on the whole operation they're part of.

    It would be incredible small-mindedness to not take that into account. Given the calibre of recent management appointments, I'm not filled with confidence.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    Serious question: who here regularly watches Campbell Live? And by that, I mean the full episode, live to air. Not occasionally watching a video someone has shared on Facebook.

    I do, most nights. Have been a steady TV3 news watcher since the 90s and Campbell has just naturally followed on.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And then I read Matthew Hooton's tweet from earlier "I understand that MediaWorks CEO Mark Weldon thinks @CampbellLiveNZ & @JohnJCampbell are too anti-government. " and get all depressed again.

    And so fucking what? Let's remember which Prime Minister called John Campbell a "sanctimonious little creep" after a pretty rough -- and very far from flawless -- interview on a legitimate matter of public interest close to a general election.

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

  • Sacha, in reply to Dylan Reeve,

    Sadly all TV in this country lives and dies by the ratings.

    Because of our chronic lack of investment in public broadcasting, yes. I see the privatised Heartland channel is ending soon too. Even free is not cheap enough.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to martinb,

    Okay which dystopian future

    The one where the media only exists to make money. Where journalists are salespeople and management is already looking for the next job.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    I've also been surprised at the number of entirely reasonable people who have said today that would stop watching 3 News if Campbell Live was axed. From the days of Ralston and Nightline on, 3 News always felt like the underdog and I think a lot of loyal people are feeling betrayed.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    Serious question: who here regularly watches Campbell Live? And by that, I mean the full episode, live to air. Not occasionally watching a video someone has shared on Facebook.

    I do, a few nights a week (if I'm home), it's a grown up's show, mostly, I despair when they do the soft news stuff and look forward to them asking the difficult questions of the day.

    The thing is if they're not holding the government of the day to task they're not doing it right - if the real problem is that the current owners of TV3 don't like criticism of the Nats then they're becoming Fox News, they're not using the public airwaves for the public good and their broadcasting license should be taken back

    I fear that if CL goes there will no longer be any daily current affairs asking the politicians the difficult questions - remember when it used to be that the only way a politician could get on TV would be to come on TV and be put to the question, now they do their best to avoid it - getting their mates to shut down the last bastion of hard questions is probably the latest Crosby Textor master plan for mediocrity

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Shaun Lott,

    I've not long returned from the US, where there are of course very many channels of crap constantly available, but one source of light (as opposed to heat) can be found in the form of PBS - public-good television, based (as I understand it) on a subscriber and sponsorship model. When I finally got my Freeview working (Russell you were right - the aerial was bung!) I was again depressed to revisit the spots where TVNZ6&7 used to be, now occupied by those ridiculous +1 channels. Equally depressing is the fact that although we can find Freeview space for three shopping channels, three Chinese-language channels, and one Indian-language channel, we're not able to support anything that looks like national public service broadcasting, Add to this the (surely?) last-gasp patch protectionism by Mediaworks, TVNZ, Sky et. al. re: 'global mode' streaming services, and it seems to me that the future of the Campbell Lives of this world may indeed be in some kind of streaming service... or maybe on Maori Television?

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    Serious question: who here regularly watches Campbell Live? And by that, I mean the full episode, live to air.

    I don't -- because 7 o'clock is usually the dinner hour and we have a pretty strict "no television during meals" house rule. I'll fairly regularly watch the first five minutes or so on Three+1, but if it looks like there's nothing of interest on I won't hang around out just out of principle. Sorry, but the "human interest" fluff really doesn't interest me much.

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

  • Paul Campbell, in reply to philipmatthews,

    I’ve also been surprised at the number of entirely reasonable people who have said today that would stop watching 3 News if Campbell Live was axed. From the days of Ralston and Nightline on, 3 News always felt like the underdog and I think a lot of loyal people are feeling betrayed.

    I'm probably one of them, I only ever watch the TV3 news because CL is on after it

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Jeanette King, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    We regularly watch Campbell - pretty much every night live, the whole programme. We find that they usually have important and interesting stories. My daughter also reports regularly watching it. I was genuinely appalled to discover that the ratings were much lower than those of Seven Sharp which we have never watched. Ever. Well, two seconds, once. The whole thing is quite gutting really on a whole lot of levels.

    Ōtautahi • Since Oct 2010 • 43 posts Report Reply

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