Posts by Andre
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@Craig_Ranapia The bigger question of whether TVNZ's offering is worse than it was twenty years ago is a much bigger kettle of fish. TVNZ7 seems to offer a better quality programming than TVNZ on many counts. TV in NZ is going user-pays. It's that simple. We've spent a lot of tax money over many years to build the infrastructure and now we are going to be charged to view it. The free Freeview box idea is a good one but I think that it should be rolled out nationally to every home. I love the way that MySky HDI dropped from $599 to $49 to sign up as soon as freeview HDI became available. What is the real cost of the box on that basis?
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@ George Darroch - many of the towns missing out are also rugby-playing towns.
If the All Whites get through to the World Cup I think that it should be of enough national importance to screen that live free-to-air as well.
My argument is about children missing out. Going to school and having their wealthier friends ask whether or not they are watching it etc. We are encouraging a split between the haves and have-nots that seems at odds with our stated beliefs as a nation. We spend lot on encoraging kids to play sport but these events will inspire children in a way that a Push Play campaign never will.
We spent $50 million on the yachting. At least rugby is a game that most kiwi kids can participate in. The priorities are wrong. -
I've always thought that All Black games should be free and live-to-air anyway but have accepted the status quo. We are a nation built on the premise that we are all equal and that being wealthy isn't a pre-requisite to belonging.
The RWC final will be our biggest sporting event since 1987. I'm disgusted that the government is actively discriminating against those who can't afford to pay to view it. It's wrong. What do we stand for? -
How about the kids of the many low-paid hospo workers. Who cleans those hotels in Queenstown?
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I'm afraid that the other 4 million of us are being dictated to so that Sharples can win a political point and one of the side effects will be thousands of kids missing out on seeing any of the coverage.
We won the rights to host the event after years of toil creating and winning a bid. Then we are going to spend millions on building and upgrading stadiums. Then we are spending millions more building an events centre on the wharf. And then we are payng millions more to buy coverage rights for TV and radio. Then there is the cost of actually running the event to take into consideration. If it isn't billions it looks like at least a billion.
On that basis it is wrong to leave hundreds of thousands of Kiwis who want to see it without paying being unable to. It's their money that the event is chewing through as well. -
@ Mikaere thanks for the wikipedia heads up on the numbers - I was quoting Erima Henare, chairman of the Maori Language Commission from the NZ Herald. That seems a fairly trust-worthy source.
If a French language channel had won the rights I'd be more worried - and so would you.
TVNZ set up MTV to get rid of the much better and privately operated Max TV.
I don't agree with this decision because it would have affected me personally as a child with no voice in the decision making process. Why should thousands of rugby-mad kids not be able to see our national game's biggest event that we are plowing billions into hosting because Sharples wanted to get one up on his coalition partners? -
The fact is we can all watch the coverage and listen to the radio commentary. Or just listen to the radio coverage if we live in the many places outside the main cities (the rugby-playing heartland BTW) unless we pay hundreds of dollars to get Sky or Freeview. Why should we go through this crap? Becase Maori TV have an agenda to push...
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Thanks for your thoughts Ross. Since you are so enlightened I'm sure you can repeat that in Maori for me without using translation software.
It isn't bigotry to point out facts and the salient one is that 0.004% of us speak Maori yet our biggest sporting event is going to be broadcast using the language.
I know that there are many reasons for wanting us all to speak Maori and multiple taxpayer-funded opportunities for those who want to do so but using this event to push the agenda may attract a backlash. Calling me a bigot won't change that. -
The fact is that the Maori TV bid for the RWC will disenfranchise many kiwis. Thousands of kids won't be able to watch it because their parents can't afford sky or freeview and they live somewhere "...such as Russell, Paihia, Kaikohe, Wellsford, Warkworth, Coromandel, Whitianga and Queenstown..."
I wouldn't have caught the rugby as a kid on that basis. Love of our national sporting team is something that binds us together as a nation. Not everyone agrees (Paul etc) but the majority do and that is why the Maori TV bid is cynical. I know that they think that it'll be great capturing viewers and making them listen to a language that (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10588555) only 18,000 kiwis actually speak for "5 to 10% of the coverage", but I think they may under-estimate the backlash generated by firstly wasting our money and secondly trying to stick their beliefs down our throats. We all use a lot of Maori in our everyday language but the fact that only 18,000 people speak Maori after decades of spending billions on special schools etc really does make it look like a language that is never going to be used much outside the select clique who curently use it.
I think it is quite funny that Sharples has upset Key's applecart but also know that it's us paying the 3 million bucks funding their spat. Why doesn't Key just let TVNZ bid for the rights so that we can end up paying more than $3 million? That would be fun!
And BTW I found the Maori TV Sunday movie quite interesting at times. Shy people being diagnosed with phobic disorders and fed drugs etc. I switched off fairly quickly though - it was a fairly repetitive rant - and was a bit stunned to hear it was a scientology film. Maori TV should have pointed that out but maybe they had no clue either? -
I love the Whip-it chant "we're number Two, we're Number Two".. And the coach saying "Yay, we came second out of two teams!" It could be adapted perfectly by the PC bunch ruining our school sport...