Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Mediaworks: The only horizon they see

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  • sandra, in reply to Tom Semmens,

    Agree totally re Simon Mercep. I was looking forward to his start at RNZ but hardly ever listen to his slot now. He seems to struggle to know what he's going to say next.

    tauranga • Since Dec 2011 • 72 posts Report Reply

  • wendyf,

    I quite like having Mercep on in the afternoons. Means I can turn my little radio off and do some reading.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 88 posts Report Reply

  • sandra, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Hillary made me cry. She seems like a real sweetie and isn't afraid to pull a face at some of the "news" she has to read.

    tauranga • Since Dec 2011 • 72 posts Report Reply

  • sandra, in reply to Russell Brown,

    I wondered why Phil was sounding so tired, not his usual buoyant self. Thanks for that background.

    tauranga • Since Dec 2011 • 72 posts Report Reply

  • Gregor Ronald, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    I'm 66 and still actively working in educational IT. Every day I get weak excuses from 50-somethings who say "I'm not as good as the youngsters". FFS, you can LEARN this stuff...!!!

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 103 posts Report Reply

  • sandra,

    My 2c worth on company "reviews", having been involved in a couple. It is quite clear to anyone sitting in the room when a "review" is announced that a decision has already been made. The "consultation" that then takes place is utterly dishonest and a waste of employee time but it allows senior management to then say they engaged in the process. Amazing that the outcome was what they wanted all along!

    tauranga • Since Dec 2011 • 72 posts Report Reply

  • Gregor Ronald, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    What Tom Wolfe called The Masters Of The Universe, in his novel The Bonfire Of The Vanities. http://bit.ly/1K7p4dT

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 103 posts Report Reply

  • Kiwiiano,

    We were watching TV1 News, not because it's any less depressing than TV3's, but because their Weather forecasts are more informative. I guess there's no need to switch over to TV3 any more. Might as well go direct to YouTube & TED et al.

    ChCh • Since Nov 2006 • 46 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to sandra,

    Agree totally re Simon Mercep. I was looking forward to his start at RNZ but hardly ever listen to his slot now. He seems to struggle to know what he’s going to say next.

    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.

    As for John Campbell ending up at RNZ that seems less likely to me. I know it is the only non-commercial game in town but Campbell has proven adept at getting stories that come with images. While he is a good interviewer I think he (and the team he has attracted) have talent with images that would be lost on the radio.

    Perhaps, he could be the nucleus of a video arm of RNZ, radio with pictures but with more meaning and content than Henry.

    To lose his expressive face from the media would be sad.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Alfie, 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.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Bennett,

    A simple interview show can't be prohibitively expensive to produce. It's about time the likes of Netflix NZ dipped their toes into the current affairs waters. After all, it's the future of TV consumption.

    Completely anecdotal I know, but I strongly suspect the fact that the 18-39, 18-49 and 25-54 numbers are well down this year, has a lot to do with the new streaming options. TV 1 and shows that depend on 5+ are still doing well, but when you break the demos down, these are overwhelmingly made up of people over 54 - i.e. people more likely to be late adopters of new technology.

    The end of the Free to Air broadcast model seems to be accelerating.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 174 posts Report Reply

  • izogi, in reply to Kiwiiano,

    I’ve tended to watch TV1 news more than TV3 news, but in honesty that’s probably because I have a better stomach for digesting the final minutes of Millionaire Hot Seat than things like Home & Away, Survivor and Biggest Loser that TV3 serves up as a lead-in.

    I guess I rate TV3’s news more highly than TV1, but both channels seem to serve up productions masquerading as news which focus more on empty entertainment value, using clues about often quite serious news to incentivise viewers instead of actually imparting it in a useful way, and joking around.

    I really appreciate JC’s style, even if he’s sometimes over the top for my liking, but I went off watching him for a while because I often didn’t find much interesting on TV (either main channel) between about 6.10pm and 7pm. He and his team manage to produce some great stuff, but I can appreciate how he no longer fits into the general crap-fest which modern prime-time television media is working to turn itself into. I wish him well for the future. Hopefully he has an opportunity to recharge with some time off, and I hope we don’t lose him and his skills for long.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Simon Bennett,

    A simple interview show can't be prohibitively expensive to produce.

    Very true. The interview is going ahead anyway, why not shoot it? live to air, raw.
    How much extra is a video feed to the Freeview satellite?

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Bennett, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    I meant compared to other formats/genres. If Netflix were to get involved in local production, as they have in other territories, this might be a good place to start.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 174 posts Report Reply

  • Cecelia, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Yes, it would be sad to lose his face. He's at the top of his game and has grown handsomer over the years IMHO. In spite of his occasional gushing he has a great sense of humour. I'd love to see him in something like The Daily Show: satirical but compassionate - online?

    Hibiscus Coast • Since Apr 2008 • 559 posts Report Reply

  • Don Robertson,

    Yeah, my heart bleeds for Hillary Barrie. But remember, she is part of the problem. She has had no problem taking the money while Three News degenerated into the promotional arm of the reality rubbish Three puts out. She has no difficulty using Three news to plug Paul Henry, or being on that train wreck. Three news used to be easily better than the Richard and Judy show on one, and she has been fine whith riding it into the gutter - so long as the pay cheques keep coming.

    I'm pretty sure she'll get over it.

    Christchurch • Since Mar 2011 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Trevor Nicholls, in reply to Geoff Lealand,

    Mike Hosking as broadcaster of the year

    Quantity not quality

    Wellington, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 325 posts Report Reply

  • william blake, in reply to Alfie,

    Brass band music! Who listens to that anymore?

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GszavR0CImE

    Since Mar 2010 • 380 posts Report Reply

  • steve black, in reply to Alfie,

    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.

    Only 600 households in NZ do have peoplemeters. When the general population was exhorted to tune in so the ratings would rise I kept wondering if anybody would point this out. Not that ratings actually inform decisions to close things down as we know with the bogus evidence spouted over the "need" to close TV7.

    The NZ ratings game is pretty much a closed box and not really open to public scrutiny or competition. Sure anybody could come along and try, but best of luck asking to audit the system as an outsider.

    The last time I paid attention to media measurement, the panel was originally set up by Peter Danaher, then Peter Danaher had the contract to oversee the maintenance of the panel (replace like families with like when they drop out for example) and Peter Danaher was the independent auditor of the panel. (For your amusement each of those links goes to a different instantiation of Peter Danaher. Maybe that's how he could both set up the panel and also be the independent auditor). Things may have changed since then. I worked for McNair Surveys as head of computing (bought out by Nielsen), and left just before the peoplemeters were being brought in.

    I've been wondering about whether John Campbell might move into the web based videos/crowd funded domain if there isn't a public broadcasting (non commercial) niche left in TV. Or is there room on Maori TV? I've always felt they are the closest thing left to a public broadcaster for Aotearoa.

    sunny mt albert • Since Jan 2007 • 116 posts Report Reply

  • tony j ricketts, in reply to Sacha,

    With Kathryn Ryan getting better and better at helping us forget how good Kim Hill was an Nine to Noon it seems really cruel to make the sad story of Campbell Live into an excuse to set the good people against each other.

    wellington • Since Aug 2012 • 41 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Mike O'Connell,

    Martin van Beynen in the Press chimes in with this: John Campbell TV3 departure: He’s no different to a can of soup. Van Beynen admires the man Campbell but is no great fan of Campbell Live. The article headline is made without any sense of irony – at least in terms of a nod to history.

    Van Beynen's also taken to referring to himself as a public intellectual, again without a hint of irony.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Dan Horne,

    I've now no reason to watch TV3 at all - Campbell was the last terrestrial show I had an interest in. My 8 yr old watches zero TV and seems only interested in Youtube content generated by age group peers and teenagers. Not one of his friends that I've spoken to watches TV at all either. I know that this is simply anecdotal, but I can't help but feel that there's a generation (of boys anyway) whose parents will be imploring them to spend more time with broadcast TV in the same way mine told be to head outside for fresh air - "C'mon ... Watch Spongebob with me ... You'll love it."

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Dan Horne,

    I've now no reason to watch TV3 at all - Campbell was the last terrestrial show I had an interest in. My 8 yr old watches zero TV and seems only interested in Youtube content generated by age group peers and teenagers. Not one of his friends that I've spoken to watches TV at all either. I know that this is simply anecdotal, but I can't help but feel that there's a generation (of boys anyway) whose parents will be imploring them to spend more time with broadcast TV in the same way mine told be to head outside for fresh air - "C'mon ... Watch Spongebob with me ... You'll love it."

    I've been a cord-cutter for some years now. It may take a fair bit longer for those with narrower attention spans than us to make the shift from TV to on-demand though.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    It would appear JC cared too much as suspected by many of us who believed he upset the Government and its lackeys in the top jobs.Let's face it.Everything is in place now for John Key, who is influencing everything. Freedom of expression as long as he approves.

    The show's ongoing coverage of Pike River, where 29 men died in a 2010 explosion at a West Coast coal mine, was specifically singled out by management as having led to viewer "fatigue".

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    Loved the last clause of this part:

    A replacement show, with two yet-to-be-cast co-hosts, is understood to be shaped by these criticisms and will have more of an entertainment focus and more oversight by MediaWorks executives.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

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