Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Soap Opera

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  • Russell Brown,

    Deborah Hill Cone is having login problems and can't post right now, but she wanted to say this:

    Would it be possible to set TVNZ up to be owned by an independent trust, in a similar way to the Guardian and Observer? I haven't heard that idea debated but it would seem to me to remove the political interference and give TVNZ the autonomy Ralston talks about. (Of course choosing the trustees would be a fraught process...)

    I was going to mention that, but I'd blathered on long enough already. I think the idea has merit: the BBC Trust began its work in January. Under Royal Charter it is tasked thus:

    "In summary, the main roles of the Trust are in setting the overall strategic direction of the BBC, including its priorities, and in exercising a general oversight of the work of the Executive Board. The Trust will perform these roles in the public interest, particularly the interest of licence fee payers."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Trust

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    I would have thought the trust idea would be quite realistic in NZ, given that TVNZ doesn't have to do the License Fee beg like the BBC does.

    Anyone able to tell me what the freeview picture quality is like in NZ? The picture in the UK reminds me of TelstraClear cable rather than say Sky Digital, and it seems to suffers from frequent pixelation/image freeze.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Totally agree it's a soap. Will this be your last post on it?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    Holmes + ads = the reasons I stopped watching TV.

    TVNZ can't have the Ministry of Culture and Heritage sitting on its shoulder forever.

    No shit, these are the guys that think they should be able to shift SH1's route through Wellington's centre without asking for resource consent. I don't think I would want them on my shoulder either.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Calvert,

    Related to trends towards watching video downloads from TVNZ, and in the context of phishing, I was sufficiently concerned about being asked by TVNZOnDemand to supply all details of my credit card, I canceled the viewing even though they claimed to not want my money.
    Why do they need my credit card details?

    Hamilton • Since Mar 2007 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Michael Fitzgerald,

    Being a private company didn't help Air NZ with Ozzy Troop movements/contracts from Political power plays.
    Strangley it did help with out sourcing to China & mass redundancies?

    Since May 2007 • 631 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    At the Great Blend in Auckland I asked for a show of hands on who watched broadcast TV news more than three times a week. From a crowd of 300, not many hands went up

    i was going to be pendantic about the audience that vox pop was conducted in not being representative...

    but then thought, waitaminute, tech people are the leaders in this field - what they do will set trends for what happens out in the burbclaves.

    someone tell tvnz to just close the doors. immediately.

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

  • Tom Semmens,

    First of all, anything half decent on free to air is now so riddled with ads that it is unwatchable, or on at a ludicrous time when I am far better employed doing something else like sleeping or carousing.

    Now I have to choice of buying the DVD or downloading the torrent I watch what I want when I want to and ad free.

    Under Ralston's watch TVNZ threw away their priceless advantage of "mini-BBC" gravitas and authority and deliberately decided their news was just another vehicle for delivering viewers to advertisers and to market their "reality" shows.

    Once they threw away their decades of authority as the "station of record" it became a level playing field with TV3 as both slugged it out to deliver Woman's Day at 6pm.

    I've been horrified by news coverage of APEC. Guyon Espiner's school boy trick of trying to trap Winston peters into contradicting Phil Goff was cheap and insulting to the audience, and it was even cheaper to show it, and it was my last straw in relying on TVNZ for any sensible coverage of that major event. The most interesting news story in the past week was the part of TV3's RWC coverage where they visited that slum suburb.

    Since the news & current affairs divisions of both channels have now so completely lost their credibility I've shifted a lot of my news gathering to my (expensive) subscription to Atlantic Monthly (its my new Listener, can't someone launch a syndicated "Pacific Monthly??), radio & the internet. I listen to more radio whilst browsing the web than I do watching TV. Its a pity the free to air stations have gone so down market, because the boom in independent documentary making for cinema seems to show they public still has a thirst for good news & current affairs.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Under Ralston's watch TVNZ threw away their priceless advantage of "mini-BBC" gravitas and authority and deliberately decided their news was just another vehicle for delivering viewers to advertisers and to market their "reality" shows.

    Well, I guess Ralston's as good a scapegoat as anyone... what a shame it just isn't true. While a TVNZ Trust is interesting, I don't think it really addresses the central reality that folks who wax nostalgic about the BBC forget to mention that their news service and high end drama (and the latter doesn't seem to happen without a co-production deal in place first, nowadays) costs a SHITLOAD OF MONEY, and it's got to come from somwhere.

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

  • merc,

    but then thought, waitaminute, tech people are the leaders in this field - what they do will set trends for what happens out in the burbclaves.

    Che, come, come, come to the burbclaves, Satan's there...(thanks Black Sabbath).

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Charles Mabbett,

    Indeed. Advertising and condescending news delivery are my pivotal reasons for turning off television news in general. the fault also lies in the decision making of what constitutes news and what priority to give it. The conviction of Anthonie Dixon is quashed - that becomes the lead story for the day - but wait, there's to be a retrial and he will certainly be reconvicted. So what? Target reveals that laboratory tests of Chinese made clothing show formaldehyde levels of up to 900 above recommended international standards. Huge story in the context of the current spate of Chinese product safety failures. But it transpires Target diddled the viewers by measuring total formaldehyde instead of free formaldehyde and that story didn't get equal prominence to the original except on Morning Report.

    Since Nov 2006 • 236 posts Report Reply

  • Danyl Mclauchlan,

    Recently it seems to me that TVNZ doesn't really have a nightly news show any more, just a slot at 6 PM that might cover the odd current event in between saturation level America's Cup/Rugby World Cup coverage.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Che, come, come, come to the burbclaves, Satan's there...(thanks Black Sabbath).

    Didn't a NZ band do that song too? I seem to remember it on a Loxene Golden Disc, or some such thing.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    I dunno, but it never left my head and pops into memory when anyone has a demonstrable fear of something, sorry Che, but did you read that comment?
    The Burbclaves harbour deep, deep passions and I would argue that that's where the real innovators are, look around you that accountant is building her own media server, at home...so she can do her own performance art and broadcast it to the others in the street.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • J Wilkinson,

    When you've been working in a business for a long stretch and have enjoyed times of mass prosperity, it's hard to see there are any alternatives that will ever generate the profits you've seen generated from doing things same-old-same-old.

    This is true for all parties involved in this.

    The ones who bring great change are generally the ones who have nothing to lose.

    To change a business model and find a new paradigm takes enormous courage and long-term focus, one that most large corporates and old industry dogs find impossible to do.

    Grafton • Since Feb 2007 • 24 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    @ Danielle,

    Yes. Timberjack, 1971 Loxene Golden Disc.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    @ Danielle,

    Yes. Timberjack, 1971 Loxene Golden Disc.

    Indeed. But the original version of 'Come to the Sabbat' was not by Black Sabbath, but their compatriots Black Widow.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • James,

    I've been horrified by news coverage of APEC

    Can't agree more. It seems at least marginally interesting that the US and Australia failed in their attempt to pull APEC countries out of working within the UN/Kyoto system. Where is that in any New Zealand commentary? Morning Report chose instead to give John Key a chance to create a new mini (sterial) scandal. Wouldn't his opinion on the slow collapse of Australia's attempt to ignore global warming be of at least passing political interest?

    New Zealand • Since Feb 2007 • 34 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    When you've been working in a business for a long stretch and have enjoyed times of mass prosperity, it's hard to see there are any alternatives that will ever generate the profits you've seen generated from doing things same-old-same-old.

    This is true for all parties involved in this.

    That's it. It's a bit like Telecom: an entrenched position generates entrenched thinking

    The ones who bring great change are generally the ones who have nothing to lose.

    Which is essentially the situation with the emerging businesses at TVNZ. They know hardly anyone's going to see the Freeview channels for a while, which has rather liberated the thinking.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    __I've been horrified by news coverage of APEC__

    Can't agree more. It seems at least marginally interesting that the US and Australia failed in their attempt to pull APEC countries out of working within the UN/Kyoto system. Where is that in any New Zealand commentary?

    I think they're all still working on that story about New Zealand having a disastrous falling-out with Australia and the US over nuclear power. Y'know: the one that no one else in the world thought was a story at all ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall,

    Regarding Holmes trundling off to Prime, it's obvious that Prime saw Holmes as a rock band, but the public saw him as a footballer. (No wait, let me explain...)...

    E.g, when a band changes record labels, the fans still follow them and buy the albums on the new label. But when a footballer leaves a club, that club's supporters' don't transfer their allegiance to the new club either, do they? No, they don't.

    So the public stayed loyal to their "club" while Holmes schlepped off to the rivals.

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    i was going to be pendantic about the audience that vox pop was conducted in not being representative...

    but then thought, waitaminute, tech people are the leaders in this field - what they do will set trends for what happens out in the burbclaves.

    Possibly, but I still think that it's possible for us to get carried away with the idea that our own little bubble of tech-savvy early adopters is representative. I consider myself to be a fairly heavy internet user, but I felt a bit out of the loop at the Wellington Great Blend due to the general atmosphere of "well, hasn't everyone already downloaded the next series of Lost/Sopranos/whatever?". That's because:

    a) I don't have much time for watching TV, downloaded or otherwise
    b) most of those shows don't appeal to me that much
    c) I have a little too much respect for other people's IP to pirate things quite so casually
    d) I'm on, erm, Woosh, so anything longer than a 2-minute YouTube clip is a pain to download.

    I couldn't quite see it on the fuzzy projector, but it seemed to me that in the survey of internet heavy-users' viewing habits, the answers available to the question "if you're watching less TV now, what are you doing with your time?" only included options such as using the internet, reading and gaming. Nothing that involves, you know, getting out of the house. Isn't there anyone who'd rather spend their time saved by not watching TV on things like going for a walk, meeting friends for a drink, going to the theatre, eating out, going dancing etc etc? Or perhaps the respondents are already stuck in the bubrclaves.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    But the original version of 'Come to the Sabbat' was not by Black Sabbath, but their compatriots Black Widow.

    Yeah, I thought that didn't sound quite right. Anyhow, for me it will always be "Come, come, come to the Sabbat, come to the Sabbat, Sicoff's there".

    So the public stayed loyal to their "club" while Holmes schlepped off to the rivals.

    And who (apart from Prime, obviously) didn't see that coming a mile off?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    Tom Beard:

    You said it all re: other options.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    Regarding a trust: You would have to have a fair chunk of money up front to set up something like that. Well into the tens of billions, I would have thought.

    It does look as though any sell-off of all or part is unlikely. My own preference would be for privatisation, but Labour isn't going to do it, and Key made it pretty clear, even when he was finance spokesman, he doesn't see the payoff, in economic terms, when balanced against the political cost of the move.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

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