Posts by Alfie
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The pick-a-flag meetings are really picking up support. After only ten people turned up in Christchurch, the Dunedin meeting attracted 25 members of the public. The Invercargill one drew 50 people.
There are 21 of these public meetings being held around the country which, at the current rate will attract in total maybe 500 to 1,000 people out of a population of 4.5m.
Our little country is obviously enthralled with Key's $27m flag distraction exercise. Not!
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Hard News: 2015: The Budget of what?, in reply to Sacha,
My first house in Brighton (south of Dunedin) cost a grand total of $5,000 in the mid-seventies. A 30% deposit? No problem. ;-)
So I was understandably shocked at Auckland prices when I headed north for work. My old villa on 1/4 acre in Mount Albert set me back a stunning $50k -- loadsamoney. Gee... I wish I'd held onto that one.
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Hard News: 2015: The Budget of what?, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
"Mortgage rates peaked at 20.5% in June 1987...."
I was luckily living in London at the time and paying (from memory) around 3% interest on my mortgage. We couldn't understand how people back home could afford to pay 20% and more.
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Friday night's Campbell Live was TV3's highest-rating show of the night with 330,830 viewers. And what do you do with your top-rating show? Why dump it, of course. Christie and Wheldon aren't paid the big bucks for nothing, eh!
The Herald mentions those ratings today as well as a disturbing rumour.
Sources say the changes mean Campbell Live's cast will be cut from 22 to 16. Rachel Smalley and Paul Henry are among the names rumoured to be in the running for co-hosting duties.
Honestly, TV3 may as well just rebrand as CrapTV and get it over with.
There's no byline on the story so it could well be more Glucina nonsense.
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Hard News: 2015: The Budget of what?, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
(for historic reference...what were the mortgage interest rates back then? 17, 18%?)
A handy graphic from The Reserve Bank.
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Sorry if ponytails are becoming boring, but here's an odd little story that's more interesting for the timing than the content. It was released by TVNZ at 2:14pm Thursday May 21 -- during the budget reading.
TVNZ has confirmed that the Prime Minister played with a presenter's hair in a "joke" two years ago.
The broadcaster said the presenter suggested John Key pretend to style her hair.
Mr Key did so.
TVNZ said it would not name the presenter.
So... another case of our PM doing the hair thing, but according to TVNZ there were no creepy motives this time. It was just a "mutual joke between friends."
Wasn't that the same excuse Key used for harrassing the waitress?
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Dave Armstrong wants a new flag but not when it's part of a "costly corporate rebranding exercise."
Were our prime minister pushing for a republic or a more independent foreign policy, I could understand the desire for a new flag. Yet by supporting a new flag but nothing else progressive, Key reminds me of the suited teachers I had at secondary school who magnanimously announced a school mufti day then, once the cheering had subsided, sternly warned us that jeans were forbidden as they were too scruffy.
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Hard News: Mediaworks: The only horizon…, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
A replacement show... will have more of an entertainment focus and more oversight by MediaWorks executives.
Hmmm... "entertaining" Current Affairs, as decided by Julie Christie with the stamp of approval from Key & Co. Probably more The Block than Panorama.
Russell's 3 Sharp comment is right on the button.
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Hard News: Mediaworks: The only horizon…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
What I can't understand is why does Mercep repeat the dreary format that Mora created. There doesn't seem to be anything in that show that is his except the voice.
Ditto for me. While RadioNZ tends to be the default station around here, the moment Mercep's voice appears I hit the off switch. I accidentally caught some of the show in the car the other day and they were featuring brass band music. Brass band music! Who listens to that anymore? Seriously. Are RNZ really that far out of touch with their audience?
RNZ produces many great programmes, but this soft and fluffy afternoon fare seems way out of place.
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Our tiny television market suffers from a dearth of intelligent local programming, and the demise of Campbell Live has hastened our main broadcasters' insane race to occupy the bottom of the programming barrel.
I've recorded and watched the show five nights a week for years -- I'm a "regular viewer". But I don't have a peoplemeter, so I don't figure in Julie Christie's world.
Thanks to the team for treating us to a damn good nightly fix of current affairs reporting -- it's one we're not likely to get anywhere else, anytime soon. John Oliver once a week is good, but it doesn't fill the same gap.
Fuck you, Julie Christie.
