Muse by Craig Ranapia

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Muse: Freakanomics (TVNZ Edition)

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  • Joshua Drummond,

    Well, I for one will not miss quality media and news analysis, fascinating and fun home-grown content, and great nature documentaries. I'd much rather watch an inexplicably expensive, overproduced talent quest. What a great addition to our already sterling state TV lineup of Shows About Cooking and Shows About People's Bodies!

    Caution: reading this comment may have exposed you to inappropriate levels of sarcasm and/or bitterness.

    Since Nov 2006 • 119 posts Report

  • Melmac,

    Yes, feed the masses with drudge in order that they are no longer challenged to think. This is part of what seems of a concerted campaign to bring NZ public TV down to the lowest common denominator .

    When even NZ on Air is part of the jaw-dropping drive to stupidity, you have to ask yourself..... Is this real life in NZ or have we somehow entered an alternate universe which is a parody?

    Luckily for those of us with a semblance of cogitation and able to read, there is the internet... increasingly the forum of choice.

    Christchurch • Since Jun 2011 • 7 posts Report

  • Jeremy Eade,

    As an economic gesture I guess the $$$$$ thinking is it will rate highly, which it almost certainly will ( = $$$$ from big tv ads) , however it has a slim chance of bombing. The government intervenes here to underwrite the costs of failure. It's very interventionist.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report

  • Chris Waugh,

    Bread and circuses.....

    ...'cept that hanging around here the last few days I have my doubts about the bread side of that equation. Hey, at least they're providing the circuses.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Jeremy Eade,

    As an economic gesture I guess the $$$$$ thinking is it will rate highly

    Almost certainly will, which demands someone ask why it can't be paid for on an entirely commercial basis.

    however it has a slim chance of bombing.

    Sure - it wasn't exactly a huge hit for Prime back in 2008, But, again, I don't think New Zealand on Air was ever intended to create a slush fund for risk underwriting. Certainly not the definition of "public arts funding" I'd go balls out to defend.

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

  • Kumara Republic,

    "Fine, but the argument would be a little stronger if this charming essay in fiscal discipline hadn’t appeared under Yvonne Tahana’s by-line in the Weekend Herald on Saturday."

    You’ve hit the bullseye, Craig. Somehow Got Talent is no New Faces or Showcase. If there’s no money to keep us informed, but there’s still money to keep us deaf, dumb, happy and fat… then, well, I’m going underground.

    And Fair Go’s purpose looks in danger of being defeated.

    We need Justices Leveson and Finkelstein on these shores. Yesterday.

    Melmac:

    "Luckily for those of us with a semblance of cogitation and able to read, there is the internet… increasingly the forum of choice."

    Too right. But there’s a shorter learning curve with a TV than a computer with Internet.

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

  • Adrian Wills,

    F**k this is disappointing.

    But hey, at least it's a great way of launching a successful career for some new and undiscovered New Zealand talent AMIRITE!?

    Just like NZ Idol did with Ben... what was his name?

    Parnell, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 45 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to Adrian Wills,

    This always amuses me, somewhat. That our television higher-ups think these things will fly, and then, because of the lack of really valuable prize money, or whatever, throw a hissy when they don't. NZ is a very small place and what singer/songwriter of any value whatsoever is ever going to enter one of these popularity contests? Especially when the rewards are incredibly lacklustre? I watch American Idol avidly, because they really do have the most incredible singers on there. I don't always agree with the winners but winning is irrelevant on that particular show. Because talent does out, in the end. Not in NZ, sadly.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Stewart,

    A heart-sinkingly awful display of 'the cost of everything and the value of nothing'.

    I fucking despair of this lack of cultural understanding - and I'm a bit of a philistine compared to most on PAS.

    Te Ika A Maui - Whakatane… • Since Oct 2008 • 577 posts Report

  • Phil fryer,

    Has anyone watched the similar type of show's on Maori TV ?
    the atitude of "judges" is far more positive & compalling watching,
    than the negative comments,of USA type of shows !
    I see this type of show as merely expouseure, perhaps that is a better motive !

    Laingholm • Since Mar 2011 • 34 posts Report

  • merc,

    Maori TV's vibe is aroha, TVNZ, TV#'s is hatin'. The whole USA competition scene is totally destructive and designed to suit an exploitative money model.
    See why the Academy Awards were created. Also how great is a model that uses unpaid actors to attract tax payer funding?
    So silly. It's like fundraising NZ fans to pay the USA distributors to release Boy in USA, oh wait...http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10789190

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Graham Dunster,

    At least NZOA is transparent about its funding - try getting that same information out of the NZ Film Commission at the time of funding and/or making of a feature film!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2009 • 184 posts Report

  • StepDoh,

    Thought the whole point of these things was that they were funded by the $1 phonecalls to vote. Guess that funding model only works with an XX or XXX million population, rather than getting the equivalent of half the population to vote. :)

    Surely they could just dredge an old kiwiana-retro talent quest format from the 70s, rather than sending money to Mr Cowell for a fairly bland format.

    And although someone pretty talented tends to win, our own SuBo for instance, or the dance group that won a while ago. It's really just a freakshow in the main, it's like the 'bad audition' bits of xfactor/idol stretched to a whole show.

    Guess Dancing with the stars and masterchef are in a similar. But that money's going to the BBC, and that has to be a good thing, eh?

    #lovethetron • Since Jan 2008 • 26 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    AAARRRGGGH.

    I know she means well, and her interview with Colin Hogg in today’s Herald is good, but Rebecca Barry Hill has ONCE AGAIN trotted out the wholly bogus “207,000 weekly viewers” number in discussing TVNZ 7.

    I’m really not sure how much more I can possibly to do demonstrate that this is a completely invalid statistic that understates the actual weekly viewer number by about two thirds. Using it repeatedly does not make it true.

    SERIOUSLY, WTF ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HERE? GRAR!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Russell Brown,

    SERIOUSLY, WTF ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HERE? GRAR!

    To the Save TVNZ7 campaign: any idea if these figures are worth taking to the Press Council & BSA?

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

  • 3410,

    SERIOUSLY, WTF ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HERE? GRAR!

    Press Council complaint?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to 3410,

    Press Council complaint?

    Here’s a direct link to get started. Some guidelines here. The way things are going, maybe it could become a permanent fixture?

    It’s well past time to stop getting mad, and time to start getting even. We can't just wait for Leveson & Finkelstein to set up shop here.

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

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Russell Brown,

    SERIOUSLY, WTF ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HERE? GRAR!

    You could (politely) e-mail Herald arts editor Linda Herrick at linda.herrick@nzherald.co.nz and suggest she lift the quality of media arts coverage by keeping this false fact out of her corner of the Herald.

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

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And why is the on-line version of that story gibberish?

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

  • Geoff Lealand,

    There are two New Zealanders (Joe Atkinson, Mark Stewart) and myself currently at the University of Oregon (Portland) conference on "What is Television?". Very interesting presentations (producer/writers from Portlandia and The Simpsons on tomorrow) but our energy might be better spent by getting back home and fighting this battle,

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report

  • Allan Lee,

    There's no real appetite among our broadcasters for anything that isn't reality TV or imported - presumably because those genres are cheap and cheerful. Our production company took a punt and produced a documentary, which eventually played on Sky Sport 1 (triathlon was the background of the doco). The programme travelled from Cape Reinga to Bluff and featured many NZ communities rarely seen on national TV. There was no interest shown by NZ on Air or any of the free-to-air broadcasters. We've subsequently sold the programme to Scandinavia, Europe and even sub Saharan Africa (what they'll make of Eketahuna in Botswana, I can't imagine....). Is it just me, but does it seem odd that a programme featuring New Zealanders in New Zealand is apparently of more interest in Zambia than it is in New Zealand? At the rate we are going, we will have covered our costs by about 2020 - which isn't much of an incentive to make any more documentaries in and about New Zealand. The death of TVNZ7 in favour of NZ's Got Talent is sadly a symptom of a general malaise.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2012 • 1 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Phil fryer,

    is far more positive & compalling watching,than the negative comments,of USA type of shows !

    I was thinking about that when I saw an ad for a show about child chefs, I could imagine Gordon Ramsay reducing them to blubbering wrecks.
    Damn, I may have given TVNZ an idea.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Allan Lee,

    There's no real appetite among our broadcasters for anything that isn't reality TV or imported - presumably because those genres are cheap and cheerful.

    Not to sound like Google, but did you mean "cheap and nasty"?

    At the rate we are going, we will have covered our costs by about 2020 - which isn't much of an incentive to make any more documentaries in and about New Zealand.

    While Govt propaganda gets six-figure NZ On Air subsidies courtesy of con- NEC-tions.

    I'd say we're not too far off gladiatorial snuff TV...

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

  • nzlemming, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    Because talent does out, in the end. Not in NZ, sadly.

    Well, it does, but you can only have so much of it in such a small population pool. While the overseas shows may rate well here for 16-26 weeks a season (that's an assumption BTW; I have no idea what the ratings or seasons are), finding enough performers who can actually deliver something worth watching will be challenging. Anyone remember the infamous Lisa Lewis audition? Expect much more of that calibre than Ben Wotzizname.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to nzlemming,

    Anyone remember the infamous Lisa Lewis audition?

    No. Did it involve a greased pole?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

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