Hard News by Russell Brown

if Stuff goes behind a paywall, I'm gonna make my site a news-site. However I can't guarantee the veracity of the news. So it will be just like Stuff.

Perhaps Mediaworks upper management should watch Media 3 to learn how a full-powered radio station with a myriad of broadcasters and a diverse schedule of programming can comfortably run with four full-time staff.

Perhaps Mediaworks upper management should watch Media 3 to learn how a full-powered radio station with a myriad of broadcasters and a diverse schedule of programming ...

... and a free frequency licence, the ability to charge for access to airtime and no requirement to deliver a profit. It's not really the same thing.

You will admire the 'control room' at media3.

You will admire the 'control room' at media3.

OnFilm's running a story on how it wuz done, with commentary from Dylan Reeve and dodgy photos by me.

Sounds excellent. I intend to travel up for next week's show.

Gaming......yawn. Ah well - I'm sure someone will find the show interesting.

In case that sounds rude - I will happily wait for the next weeks show!

and a free frequency licence, the ability to charge for access to airtime and no requirement to deliver a profit

I'm confused. Do you mean Mediaworks or PlanetFM? Cos the former seems to have found a way to opt out of tax, and already got a sweet deal on a deferred payment of $43mln in license fees (will these ever be paid?)

marvellous

(channelling a certain other presenter)

Alternatively, some people held that they both fell flat.

I didn't even need to look at the link to know that would be the Indie-lovers saying that. Interesting idea, though, that Android could open a world of hurt for the gaming console giants. But so long as there is a market for the high budget games, I'm pretty sure the high budget hardware developers will have their market.

How would an Android console world work? As I understand it, the reason Microsoft/Sony are able to deliver a fast system at a sub-$500 price-point is that they are running a razorblade model and make the deficit up by charging a royalty to game vendors. I'm not sure an open console maker would be able to do that?

I’m confused. Do you mean Mediaworks or PlanetFM? Cos the former seems to have found a way to opt out of tax, and already got a sweet deal on a deferred payment of $43mln in license fees (will these ever be paid?)

Yes, the payment was completed last year, ahead of schedule. I didn’t have a particular problem with what the government permitted there – the outstanding payment was carrying a fair whack of interest, and it was a better option than risking the loss of a major media company which provides solid public-interest fare alongside the circuses. The company’s problem was the debt loaded in by the clowns at Ironbridge and not the fault of the management trying to keep it in business.

The $22 million in tax on the “old” Mediaworks was disputed and IRD would likely have settled for less, out of court. Indeed, I gather there’s still a reasonable prospect of that happening.

How would an Android console world work?

Pretty much like the Android device world works generally, just with consoles. A device as grunty as you want it, in a state of continual upgrade. The 1% will buy the latest one, always, because it's the best. 95% of people will wait a couple of years for it to be worth $100. 99% of the games will be low budget. 1% will be made by big houses, who will make 99% of the actual money. Hardware vendors will compete viciously with each other over every feature. On release day, the console will already have several hundred thousand compatible apps, 30% of which will be games, 95% of which are free with ads. Every kid who likes playing games will have more games than they could ever play in a lifetime, for a few hundred dollars. The hardware will be compatible with every device, including the controllers from the big hardware manufacturers, every type of disk format, wire connection, playback CODEC, etc.

It's a scary vision!

There is an android console on the cusp of release - June 25:

http://www.ouya.tv/

As Ben mentions, hardware upgrades would be iterative rather than fixed-spec as with the big consoles:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/OUYA-Julie-Uhrman-Tegra-3-yearly-refresh-Jelly-Bean,20980.html

The ecosystem for application compatibility is not as open as perhaps it could be (no android store for eg) but its early days yet.

Yes, I'm aware of that. I was being facetious.

...well, facetious in terms of running a major network station with four staff. Perhaps Kiwi FM would be a better comparison then?