Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: "Creative" and "Flexible"

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  • Tom Ackroyd,

    In paying my isp provider i'm sort of paying for what i want to listen to

    But none of what you pay your ISP goes toward paying for what you listen to, in the same way that paying Duracell for batteries for your radio doesn't.

    APRA charging ISPs needle time (which I don't think is gonna happen) is the only way artists will get any kickback from internet radio, other than encouraging people to actually buy their music.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 159 posts Report

  • Robbie Siataga,

    But none of what you pay your ISP goes toward paying for what you listen to,

    Arrrrgh...yeah you got me there me hearty :) although theres no way one can generate a royalty from a DJ mixset anyway.

    re Media 7 : That young turk asking for a bigger public handout for RNZ is dreaming, especially when the other business driven fella said he could spit out a shitload of programmes of equal quality for what RNZ gets now.

    short answer and quick fix = cut staff

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report

  • Christopher Nimmo,

    short answer and quick fix = cut staff

    That's definitely short and quick, but not an answer, nor a fix.

    Wellington • Since May 2009 • 97 posts Report

  • Keir Leslie,

    re Media 7 : That young turk asking for a bigger public handout for RNZ is dreaming, especially when the other business driven fella said he could spit out a shitload of programmes of equal quality for what RNZ gets now.

    Well yeah, 'cause talk is fucking cheap isn't it? If he isn't willing to take the damn contract on the spot he's full of the proverbial.

    I dare say I can say I can spit out fifty golden sovereigns an hour, but that doesn't mean I actually can. And given the empirical evidence against that notion, you'd be a damn fool to take me up on that, no matter what I said. Likewise the business driven fella; odds-on he's talking bullshit.

    (by the way Kyle I honestly can't remember Te Papa charging entrance to the national collection, which is what Russell was talking about. A bit of a reading fail there, given Russell made no assertions about touring blockbusters.)

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report

  • Christopher Nimmo,

    I dare say I can say I can spit out fifty golden sovereigns an hour, but that doesn't mean I actually can. And given the empirical evidence against that notion, you'd be a damn fool to take me up on that, no matter what I said. Likewise the business driven fella; odds-on he's talking bullshit.

    This might not be particularly related, but it just struck me that the financial crisis might have been averted if everybody had payed more attention to Rumpelstiltskin as children. It's all so simple! Little men who can turn worthless stuff into gold are out to steal our children!

    Wellington • Since May 2009 • 97 posts Report

  • andin,

    I find radio jocks to be like preachers, having to be all that all the time in saying the same shit to keep the faithful tuned in. The whole fakeness of being controversial or jovial all the time is just tiresome.

    Now thats another problem altogether, and TV doesnt suffer from this Presenter fakeness?

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report

  • Phil Brownlee,

    especially when the other business driven fella said he could spit out a shitload of programmes of equal quality for what RNZ gets now.

    Apart from the fact that he just made that up, and seemed to have no understanding of what Radio New Zealand actually does.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2008 • 25 posts Report

  • Robbie Siataga,

    staff cuts : That's definitely short and quick, but not an answer, nor a fix.

    The implicaton was, savings could be made by automating broadcasts if they're only playing pre-recorded stuff anyway. Minimum 80k a year in salary to introduce a programme and push a button is a bit rich ?

    Apart from the fact that he just made that up, and seemed to have no understanding of what Radio New Zealand actually does.

    According to him, it makes relatively expensive programmes that could be made for less, while maintaining the quality, by outsourcing...true or false ?

    Now thats another problem altogether, and TV doesnt suffer from this Presenter fakeness?

    True, mainstream TV journos with their deadpan delivery attempting to display impartiality, while the pieces are usually spun in the wording to reflect their left/right leanings reeks of disingenuity and does the public a dis service.

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report

  • Phil Brownlee,

    Minimum 80k a year in salary to introduce a programme and push a button is a bit rich ?

    But the voices you hear on air are a small proportion of the total staff. RNZ's not, on the whole, a 'push-the-button' operation.

    According to him, it makes relatively expensive programmes that could be made for less, while maintaining the quality, by outsourcing...true or false ?

    False. I don't believe the quality would be maintained. And any savings would be spent elsewhere in maintaining technical consistency. I'm not convinced the pool of technical and creative expertise within RNZ could be sourced from outside. And I doubt that employing those people as contractors rather than staff would be cheaper.

    Basically, if you tried to run RNZ on Radio Live's budget, it would end up sounding like Radio Live. Theyre different kind of operations, and Mitch Harris's attempt to apply the thinking of one to the other doesn't hold up.

    (Disclosure: I'm a studio operator at RNZ. I hope that doesn't invalidate the attempt to provide a perspective based in actual experience.)

    Wellington • Since Sep 2008 • 25 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Basically, if you tried to run RNZ on Radio Live's budget, it would end up sounding like Radio Live. Theyre different kind of operations, and Mitch Harris's attempt to apply the thinking of one to the other doesn't hold up.

    And that's the key thing, they're different kinds of operations.

    I know people who work there, and they're every bit as good and professional as at RNZ, but when you look at the way the staff costs are structured (the KPMG report is handy for that), RNZ's are two-thirds production. I'd wager that Radio Live spends a higher proportion on presentation.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Robbie Siataga,

    I'm not convinced the pool of technical and creative expertise within RNZ could be sourced from outside.

    Why's that ? Is there an entrenched culture of, this is how its always been done and its worked fine so if it aint fixed then dont break it even more and we'll get around to sorting it later ? So are you still using antiquated gear that requires turning a dial and pushing a button :) ?

    And I doubt that employing those people as contractors rather than staff would be cheaper.

    but you could specify the outcomes you wish to procure and set a deadline for delivery then haggle about the price if it isn't up to standard. Wouldn't that guarantee some sort of impartiality and savings ?

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report

  • Alien Lizard (anag),

    So are you still using antiquated gear that requires turning a dial and pushing a button :) ?

    I guess they could spend a fortune and update to something technologically current, cutting edge and reliable, like, er the Telecom XT network...

    The Arrrgh Complex • Since Jan 2010 • 158 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    http://www.nzonair.govt.nz/media/37891/ar%2008-09.pdf

    I think that might be a maths fail Russell.

    I presume you've taken 2% of the total broadcasting budget (including TV), and then compared it to the % of radio listeners.

    A fairer comparison would be concert gets X% of the government funding that goes towards radio, and gets Y% of listeners.

    Do I have to do everything?

    Righto ... lets start with the $35.3m allocated by NZ On Air (RNZ, Concert, Community and Access, commercial radio programmes).

    Plus the roughly (I don't have the exact figure) $4.5m for the Pacific Radio Trust, and about $6m for iwi radio and MCH's $1.9m for RNZI.

    So let's say $47 million all up, and Concert with 10% of the radio funding and 5% of the audience (which probably compares favourably with Pacific Radio and iwi radio), and the values it adds to the NZSO etc. It's not outrageous.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    when you look at the way the staff costs are structured (the KPMG report is handy for that), RNZ's are two-thirds production. I'd wager that Radio Live spends a higher proportion on presentation.

    One argument I haven't seen so far in favour of RNZ Concert's bias towards old Euro classical music is the cost of running its production components (likewise, allied culture spends like NZSO).

    Orchestras are expensive music machines compared with electro, folk or hip-hop ensembles, and there doesn't seem to be a substitute. Perhaps the private sector could step in to run a radio station, but would they fund performances and recordings?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Do I have to do everything?

    Hey I did dig those annual report stats out earlier.. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Alien Lizard (anag),

    now this is a really cosmic radio receiver...

    Visionary who designed world's biggest radio telescope, dies aged 92.
    An engineer who designed the telescope that discovered the first planets beyond our solar system has died aged 92.
    William Gordon was a visionary whose atmospheric work laid the foundation for current studies of satellite communication, space weather, and GPS.
    He is probably best known for his role in getting the Arecibo Observatory up and running in the late 1950s.

    The Arrrgh Complex • Since Jan 2010 • 158 posts Report

  • Robbie Siataga,

    spend a fortune and update to something technologically current, cutting edge and reliable, like, er the Telecom XT network...

    hah...While installing the network, we virtually had no idea what we were doing, didn't follow protocols/procedures, weren't held accountable but were rushed into getting the job done anyway to the point where we fudged a few tests to get some sites to pass to quickly move on to the next.

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Jesus. Fact-checking Drinnan-style ...

    Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, who has expressed her support for RNZ, is an unlikely champion for public radio.

    Under Labour, there was a sense that RNZ drifted into a liberal ghetto that viewed its audience largely as policy analysts based in Kelburn.

    Labour's sense of ownership never translated into additional funding and it was a party to the underfunding specified in a report from KPMG.

    Drinnan actually has the KPMG report. Perhaps he should go to page 30 and consult Figure 14, the one that shows a sharp uptick in CPI-adjusted revenue from 2003 to 2005, which followed a smaller rise shortly after Labour took office,

    It's just ridiculous that this sort of thing is allowed to go through and be presented as information.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Christopher Nimmo,

    Perhaps the private sector could step in to run a radio station, but would they fund performances and recordings?

    Well, possibly, I suppose. It's actually pretty easy for a business to get their name onto the Concert Programme as it stands - they just have to do something productive in the process. Most CD releases by New Zealand composers are sponsored by a variety of trusts as well as CNZ - I reckon I'd go with the bank who ran this in NZ. NZSO concerts are business-sponsored. So probably the 'big things' would get done, but of course Concert does a whole lot more. Why would a commercially run radio station record, say, the NZSM Composition Competition? Or the NZ Harp Festival?

    Wellington • Since May 2009 • 97 posts Report

  • Paul Litterick,

    Orchestras are expensive music machines compared with electro, folk or hip-hop ensembles, and there doesn't seem to be a substitute

    I think you are forgetting something.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Phil Brownlee,

    @Robbie:

    but you could specify the outcomes you wish to procure and set a deadline for delivery then haggle about the price if it isn't up to standard. Wouldn't that guarantee some sort of impartiality and savings ?

    I think we're talking about two quite different cultures: one a profit-driven business, and the other the provision of a public service. And yes, I think dispersing the body of knowledge and experience shared among Radio NZ's staff would be detrimental to the provision of that public service. Not to mention the shared physical resources of studios, microphones, etc.

    @Sacha:

    Perhaps the private sector could step in to run a radio station, but would they fund performances and recordings?

    That's a very good point, and one I haven't seen raised yet. Although RNZ don't fund performances. RNZ Concert are part of a wider framework of cultural infrastructure, through recording and broadcasting concerts, and interviews and feature programming.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2008 • 25 posts Report

  • Sam F,

    [ETA: Beaten by Russell, but here we go anyway. I'd put money that next Friday's column will lead with blog mogul and KNOWN LABOUR SYMPATHISER Russell Brown wading into the radio debate... ]

    So Drinnan leads with the astonishing news that ... the leader of the Save RNZ Facebook campaign is a media studies tutor who worked for Labour for a bit? My faith in the spotless credentials of Facebook group admins has been rocked to the core. To the core, I say.

    Meanwhile,

    In opposition, National MPs sometimes branded RNZ Radio Labour, claiming it had a liberal bias - an accusation the right wing makes about many journalists...

    Apart from a natural support for the private sector, the Cabinet includes people with a background in private radio - Murray McCully and Coleman's offsider Communications Minister Steven Joyce. As an entrepreneur who made his millions in private radio, Joyce had his own views on the role of the state sector in radio and on the status of RNZ.

    So, I ask you, who would you listen to, Middle New Zealand - the media studies pointy-head and his coterie with their troubling ties to Labour (boo! hiss!), or entrepreneurs who made millions on the airwaves and have their own probably very sensible and responsible views regarding public broadcasting (yay! freedom is choice!)?

    After all:

    Under Labour, there was a sense that RNZ drifted into a liberal ghetto that viewed its audience largely as policy analysts based in Kelburn.

    So they were right all along about Radio Labour? Well that's alright then, John, thanks for letting us know. There is some useful info hidden in the column but the unsupported snark about RNZ's audience isn't particularly helpful.

    [ETA: Thanks Paul - altered.]

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Paul Litterick,

    the leader of the Save RNZ Facebook campaign is a media studies lecturer who worked for Labour for a bit

    Jake Quinn is an MA student and tutor; he was Judith Tizard's press secretary.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    the astonishing news that ... the leader of the Save RNZ Facebook campaign is a media studies lecturer who worked for Labour for a bit?

    Jake Quinn has even had a blog for some time. Hardly a secret agent.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    [ETA: Beaten by Russell, but here we go anyway. I'd put money that next Friday's column will lead with blog mogul and KNOWN LABOUR SYMPATHISER Russell Brown wading into the radio debate... ]

    Yes, probably. I'm just appalled at the fecklessness of that writing. He's a full-time journalist. He has the funding information at hand. And yet he doesn't bother to do his readers the simple, vital service of telling them something that's correct.

    I'm guessing he had a government source and just wrote what he was told.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

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