Posts by Allan Lee

  • Muse: Freakanomics (TVNZ Edition),

    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 Reply