Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Radio being made

Alfie

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 17:25:38 +1300

If Radio NZ is going to take advantage of its visual output in future then subtitles, or at least some form of text news ticker or annotation, would be nice.

Adding subtitles to a live stream is problematic. No matter how good the typist, the subtitles would always be out…

izogi

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 16:01:01 +1300

I've found it introspectively interesting that I've tended to go back to just listening to the audio of Checkpoint from 5pm. I normally stream it. Occasionally they make a reference to something visual, and I'll switch on the video stream which usually has just enough lag for me to hear…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 14:43:28 +1300

"Radio With Pictures" looks like it's off to a good start so far. If RNZ was properly resourced and branched out to a full-on TV channel, would it be called something like RNZ Visual or RNZ-TV? In any case it might just recapture the spirit of TVNZ7 or NZBC.

chris

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 07:02:07 +1300

Nowadays there’s this ($199.99)

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_1896_20-great-inventions-that-never-caught-on/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/print-the-news-right-in-your-home-68822637/?no-ist

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 06:21:29 +1300

They just need to add a ‘print’ component for a ‘full house’ on media delivery…
;- )

Hebe

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 01:21:36 +1300

Night 1: Family huddled around the PC big screen and watched every word. Campbell is back!!

Night 2: Sat the laptop on top of the granny oven and cooked dinner while watching some parts and listening quietly to others.

Night 3: Listened in the car while waiting for beloved doing…

izogi

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 17:53:37 +1300

Personally I don’t mind it, providing there is time for the hard data when data is needed.

This seems to be one of the things that really irritates many of the Campbell haters out there.

His chatty bits, and tendency to go on crusades from time to time, can distract…

Bart Janssen

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 16:49:53 +1300

it is all an evolving process

It does seem that way. It doesn't feel like Campbell's chatty bits are there to compete with anything, rather they are his natural mode coming out.

Personally I don't mind it, providing there is time for the hard data when data is needed.

Marc C

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 16:29:12 +1300

Having waited for months, as it was planned to be started already late last year, I finally managed to listen to, and watch, the launch of Checkpoint with John Campbell on Monday this week. I agree that it is ok, but it still needs some improvements, like ideally more live…

izogi

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 16:50:02 +1300

Seeing great professional broadcasters with bad hair awkwardly make their way on screen was a bit like reality TV radio, and entertaining in its own right.

I also found it great with the casual nature of those on camera, though seeing Katrina Batten duck out of the studio behind John…

Euan Mason

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 15:23:44 +1300

I enjoyed watching it, and I agree that the news content is vastly better than TV news, as usual, but the images are not as good. Seeing great professional broadcasters with bad hair awkwardly make their way on screen was a bit like reality TV radio, and entertaining in its…

izogi

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 13:24:55 +1300

One peripheral benefit of the Youtube broadcast, at least, is that it makes it easy to ChromeCast it to the TV if you wanted a picture there. (Chromecast thingamajig, HDMI port in TV, home wireless network and compatible broadcasting device required, though.)

Gabor Toth

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 11:56:21 +1300

i've done a few retunes of both my freeview (satellite) decoders and can only pick up the radio (without pictures)

Yes; RNZ's PR machine doesn't appear to realise that their Checkpoint radio-with-pictures TV simulcast is only on Freeview UHF / terrestrial.
Freeview Satellite users miss-out (partly because Sky TV has…

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 11:22:16 +1300

not on a game in progress,

Hah! kinda like the cricket commentary. (I'm not an avid fan...but domestic harmony dictates we listen) Those guys take in- fill chatter to a whole new level. Partner listens to every single ball....every single ball. Me ? Very much a peripheral listener, but after…

Gareth

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 11:11:04 +1300

Indeed. I well recall seeing cars pulled in to the side of the M25, their drivers incapable of proceeding, whilst listening to Brian Johnstone and Jonathon Agnew fail to sum up the day's play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsVTpX7LdZQ

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 10:04:39 +1300

Or the genius that is the BBCs Test Match Special – I fondly remember a 2 hour drive out of London listening to the commentary, not on a game in progress, but on the efforts of the Bajan ground staff to dry out the Kensington Oval: __"and they're bringing up…

Richard Hulse

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 09:09:25 +1300

Doesn't seem to have the Livestream capability to start playback from the beginning before the end of the show.

It should do, and we had it during testing. I'll look into it.

The Checkpoint logo is a better cutaway than cycled web pages, but best would be a faux "second…

Bart Janssen

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 09:05:46 +1300

Hooked the laptop up to the screen and had the radio with pictures playing while the BBQ heated up and we had a cider on the deck (tough life I know).

The big advantage over the TV news is that RNZ assumes you don't have a picture to look at,…

Hamish.MacEwan

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 08:59:54 +1300

Nice to see this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrFixaCQeo and hopefully replay is available immediately and forever. Unlike the one hour you have to hear the last hours audio news. What's the point of that I wonder.

Doesn't seem to have the Livestream capability to start playback from the beginning before the end of…

Rae Sott

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 01:27:07 +1300

I am getting fonder of radio by the day, I can keep up with stuff and do other stuff at the same time. TV beginning to become a thing of the past for me.

linger

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 00:22:02 +1300

it often sounded weird and didn’t workand let's face it, "all muscle and pump" is decidedly in that category.

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 23:45:26 +1300

you what? more details please

Okay, not his clipboard, but the piece of paper with his pre-prepared note of what he was going to say when Lomu scored a try:

Of course many New Zealander now associate the TV commentary on that game with an 'infamous' verbal stumble I made.…

Sacha

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 23:31:42 +1300

The presenter or journo says "police officer" or "rain" or "DHB" and we see footage of cops, rain and hospitals: usually generic

just wait until personalised media uses your very own sensory associations.

Sacha

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 23:29:56 +1300

because Keith Quinn's clipboard fell off his knee at the crucial moment.

you what? more details please

Gareth

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:33:26 +1300

I missed it all, because everyone watching the radio broke the RNZ web site, so I couldn't stream the audio to the kitchen radio (as I have to, to get decent sound quality, because we live the wrong side of a hill). But tonight was good.

Richard Hulse

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 21:10:31 +1300

The YouTube live stream has the ability to rewind. If you got home at 6 you can move the scroll bar back one hours and start watching from the beginning. We will also post the whole show on YT afterwards. And video/audio on the Checkpoint page of rnz.co.nz

izogi

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 21:05:26 +1300

TV news always feels so enslaved to the image, though.

Sometimes I also have an impression that modern TV news is also semi-prioritised by the criteria of "stuff we have pictures of", or (these days) "stuff we can get a person to stand outside".

Hopefully Checkpoint, even if it does…

Biobbs

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 20:41:28 +1300

A picture may be worth a thousand words

Sometimes the words are more valuable, and the pictures, as James Littlewood says, are

generic, often irrelevant, more often distracting than enlightening

— as sent up mercilessly in this clip from ABC’s The Hamster Wheel (Season 2, Episode 4, 17 October 2012)…

nzlemming

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 18:45:54 +1300

But remembering watching eg Kim Hill interviewing, I don't know if that's a good idea either. KH is amazing to watch – her face races with ideas and emotions, her body-language fast and twitchy.

It's fascinating being interviewed by her. You really have to focus on what it is you…

BlairMacca

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 18:21:03 +1300

i've done a few retunes of both my freeview (satellite) decoders and can only pick up the radio (without pictures)
Howver can cast Youtube to roku on the TV, which is quite nice

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 18:10:27 +1300

And that Lomu…Oh! Lomu! try?

To be fair, that was a TV commentary. It came out that way because Keith Quinn's clipboard fell off his knee at the crucial moment.

Rosemary McDonald

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 17:27:35 +1300

sent up mercilessly in this clip

Thank you...and I'm comforted to know that anything remotely decent that surfaces on telly will eventually pop up here on PA.

For a good example of the ability of a good radio broadcaster's ability to verbally paint can be found by listening to a…

StepD'oh

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 16:35:42 +1300

I liked it overall, but they need to fix some snags.

Fully agree with the Tie mics, they don’t add enough ‘body’ to the voices, I couldn’t hear it a lot of the time when I was cycling home, the previous pure radio bulletins I’m usually okay with. A desk…

linger

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 15:11:55 +1300

A picture may be worth a thousand wordsSometimes the words are more valuable, and the pictures, as James Littlewood says, aregeneric, often irrelevant, more often distracting than enlightening — as sent up mercilessly in this clip from ABC’s The Hamster Wheel (Season 2, Episode 4, 17 October 2012):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9eB-JuaXI

Alec Morgan

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 13:51:04 +1300

Campbell back live on air–like the sun coming out–

will usually just listen to “Checkpoint” but on launch watched it via ipad and airplay to appleTV and big screen, channel 50 did not work either for me yet, a few clunks but it looks like a winner, certain media tops…

Rosemary McDonald

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 13:04:40 +1300

Reporters will want to get good at sending pictures,

and not have to worry about constructing a verbal description.

A picture may be worth a thousand words...but that is what radio is (was?) about...words that make pictures.

Rob Stowell

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 12:56:41 +1300

Reporters will want to get good at sending pictures
I know reporters who don’t want to get good at photography and video :)
And broadcasting schools better at teaching this stuff.
At Canterbury university, the TV component of the journalism diploma has been a bit old-school. But 2015 it was…

Rich of Observationz

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 12:32:54 +1300

I would watch this, if I was around at the time – 5pm I'm normally leaving work and walking home. Some sort of delayed start function would be good – does this exist?

I'd think this sort of mixed media is a way forward and will be another nail in…

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 12:23:43 +1300

Campbell on Checkpoint, on radio, has an opportunity to only cut to pictures if there are any worth showing. And – as every other RNZ presenter always does – let the audience know when there are good pictures there to be looked at.

There's a middle-ground medium there, and they…

James Littlewood*

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 12:19:06 +1300

TV news always feels so enslaved to the image, though. The presenter or journo says "police officer" or "rain" or "DHB" and we see footage of cops, rain and hospitals: usually generic, often irrelevant, more often distracting than enlightening.

Campbell on Checkpoint, on radio, has an opportunity to only cut…

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:11:20 +1300

KH is amazing to watch – her face races with ideas and emotions, her body-language fast and twitchy. But it also distracts from the joy of the talk – which is surely the real treasure.

I think she and the viewers found her TV appearances difficult for that reason.

Damian Christie

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:08:56 +1300

Adding value is another thing entirely.

SO MUCH *THIS*. For the most part, watching TV news isn't about watching the presenters or the reporters or the newsreaders, it's about the pictures captured out in the field. The rest could all be done with radio only. The TV news channels have…

Rob Stowell

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:00:09 +1300

Still good radio, and great to have JC back on air. But I didn't get much from the pics – in fact I felt they detracted at times. Watching good professional journalists look awkward to be on camera was distracting.
Technically, livestreaming from multiple cameras and multiple sources is 'cheap…

James Littlewood*

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:52:49 +1300

ditching tv bulletins

Ancient history. My daughter came home from intermediate school the other day with a quizzical look on her face. "Dad, can I watch" – thoughtful pause – "TV?" Clearly, there'd been some playground water fountain chat. Poor thing. She's grown up without any knowledge of appointment ad…

James Littlewood*

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:48:16 +1300

Mike King's "Nutter's Club" is a good reference for a radio-on-TV presentation style. I felt Checkpoint's set felt like a bit of a scrub up, without going full blown TV studio set. Would rather one or the other.

Totally agree: I love seeing the moving parts. More of that please.…

Damian Christie

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:35:17 +1300

You are right about the Nadene Lomu interview. It was the first thing I heard when I tuned in at 5.20 or thereabouts, and my reaction was 'woah... this isn't the Checkpoint I'm used to'. No hustle and bustle. I'm not sure if it was considered a good 'get' for…

Hilary Stace

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:34:53 +1300

I listened to a crackly radio in heavy rain in a rental car. John's voice was very hard to hear at times as he is quite softly spoken which doesn't matter when you are watching TV and can turn it up (incidentally also a problem with Andrew Little). RNZ has…

johnno

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:20:52 +1300

I won't be ditching tv bulletins. They are two completely different things. I might listen to Checkpoint for news and analysis, but I'll keep watching the TVs bulletins because I want to see the news as well.

Nasty lapel mics need to go.

Sacha

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:10:14 +1300

It was marvellous. I can see many more people ditching tv bulletins altogether.

Public Address

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:10:14 +1300

Discussion from blog post.