RNZ has surged in ratings, which shouldn’t be a surprise after their hiring of John Campbell.
RNZ is as stuffy as an ashtray in an oven on a hot day and desperately needed an antidote to the dreary coming of age radio plays set either in Wellington in the 1960s or colonial NZ.
It’s still the voice of bureaucratic, conservative NZ and their hardline questioning against the Government is driven more by having their egalitarian pretences pricked at dinner parties in Khandallah than left wing radicalism.
But anything is better than bloody Mike Hosking in the morning.
The website is still a bit dreary (although a thousand times better than the Scoop-like awfulness it was before) and the Wireless writers will find employment on The Spinoff later in life so a ratings spurt on top of some programming changes will releave Management.
But it shouldn’t be too much of a relief. Corporate radio is wall to wall with right wing arseholes, and this has been expanded to TV. Anyone with any progressive sentiment will have fled to RNZ. Their win is because the market is all right wing. When faced with Mike Hosking, Paul Henry, the Edge Morning Madhouse and Polly and Grant in the morning, it’s difficult not to rate.
The ratings surge driven by Campbell Live is a tad funny when you consider the stroppy and uptight EPMU threw their toys at the way Campbell was brought on board…
Hirschfeld confirmed there had been some issues last week and that the EPMU had been involved but they had been resolved.
She said union involvement was not unusual at RNZ.
One well placed source confirmed there had tension over RNZ handling of the change and the status and future deployment of Wellington staff and that RNZ was intent Checkpoint with John Campbell would not include Campbell’s brand of advocacy journalism.
…precious Wellington ‘journalists’ wanting none of that populist advocacy journalism.
Ugh.
Mediaworks have helped RNZ most. Paul robs Hosking of radio audience and anyone with an education rushes off to RNZ . Matt Nippert reports that MediaWorks is close to finding a CEO, which is a bit like becoming the Mayor of Chernobyl at the moment.
MediaWorks continues to make money from its Radio arm for two reasons.
The first is that it’s bloody cheap to produce radio adverts and the second reason is that Radio still has the ratings luxury Newspapers lost. Once upon a time Newspapers could pretend 100 000 people saw their advert and that was reflected in the cost. With the internet however, advertisers can see exactly how many people see their advert and this has caused the cost to crash. Radio still uses a diary system for crying out loud so the numbers are about as reliable as a drunk in a casino.
If and when the ratings system becomes digitalised, Radio will lose it’s illusionary audience numbers and find itself in the same place as newspapers. That’s the day MediaWorks crashes and burns and will probably take RNZ down a peg or too as well.
Welcome to Noah’s Ark for sensible broadcasting, being RNZ.
Radio NZ keeps me sane, in a vast ocean of moronic media, filled with clickbait, irrelevancies, fluffy animal stories, superficiality, celebrity stories, etc, etc, etc.
If anyone is in doubt of the superiority of Radio NZ, do a little test. Watch TV1 and TV3 “news”. Note the content. Consider that “this is what happened in New Zealand today” (mostly crime/court reporting).
Then watch/listen to Radio NZ’s Checkpoint.
The different is as clear as subterranean artesian water compared to a muddy lake that Sian Elias and Hugh Fletcher’s cows have been wading/shitting in.
I know which one I would drink from.
Perversely, the greater Radio NZ’s success – the more I fear for it’s future at the hands of this inept, corrupt, and dogma-driven “government”.
“Perversely, the greater Radio NZ’s success – the more I fear for it’s future at the hands of this inept, corrupt, and dogma-driven “government”.”
Key and Joyce are watching and listening, they are not happy with RNZ’s success. People may get the idea they can think “independently” again.
Agree, MIA.
I’d stress care and wariness to the good frontpersons at RNZ.
Don’t forget the RNZ Chairman is Nat-man Dick Griffin and the board has more than its share of the neo-liberal ilk.
Last time there was a sense of political equilibrium and fairness at RNZ, the Nats arranged a ‘restructuring’, including a sell-off of the commercial arm. (Not coincidentally it was when Griffin was PM Bolger’s PR man). They brought in Oz bovver-boy Nigel Milan who brought on board Nat-Lady Sharon Crosbie who then brought on board Mike Hosking (Morning Report) and Paul Henry (Programme Director – he lasted about a week).
Don’t ever believe that those in power in the Beehive don’t pull the political strings if they think things are not going their way on public media.
History is there to be learned from – if we don’t we’re destined to repeat it. So, to the few good people at RNZ, be wary, be very wary.
Me to frank as if you get on before the buffoon SS Joyce gets up and hammers down the edited version news and programming of the RNZ show and instruct what must only be used, you actually hear some riveting news items that actually show this evil Government in a bad light.
But as sure as eggs at 9am after Joyce/Goebbels/HawHaw gets at the editing desk of RNZ news, it takes a giant leap backwards to the boring monolithic hum drum of knitting and how to make the cat toilet not smell and what book is best to read!!!
Sadly the good riveting investigative journalism is lost again for the rest of the day it seems, so I say again for the 25th time get the opposition Parties together urgently at your 5th estate program and hatch a plan to recover half the NZTV/RNZ away for a free speech channel 7 type show again that will run all day as we wake kiwis upo to evict this evil government mate please.
Very happy to see the über right-wing ZB taking a hit. The sound and thought of Hosking performing virtual fellatio on Key at any opportunity is just too much to bear. How that cock ever appeals is beyond me. Actually the entire lineup of roaches, Smith, Williams and Veitchs’ rich men’s views on the world make me wretch.
Well done RNZ, it’s deserved. They are the leading news agency in our media, not perfect but not bad either. Pity the dumb arses in the corporate media can’t see there are plenty of us who don’t want to hear the tired hateful intolerant right of centre shit ZB and its mimic Radio Live spews forth!
Very happy to see the über right-wing ZB taking a hit. The sound and thought of Hosking performing virtual fellatio on Key at any opportunity is just too much to bear. How that cock ever appeals is beyond me. Actually the entire lineup of roaches, Smith, Williams and Veitchs’ rich men’s views on the world make me wretch.
Well done RNZ, it’s deserved. They are the leading news agency in our media, not perfect but not bad either. Pity the dumb arses in the corporate media can’t see there are plenty of us who don’t want to hear the tired hateful intolerant right of centre shit ZB and its mimic Radio Live spews forth!
1000% XRAY bang on there.
I miss Mary Wilson on Checkpoint. Short and to the point whereas Campbell tends to waffle and emote. Sadly I just don’t listen to Checkpoint any more. I also disliked the fact that they got rid of the Maori news.
I don’t miss contrary Mary. She was the only interviewer who could criticise a hero for not having done more. As for Katherine Ryan, she doesn’t need some one to interview, she would rather interview herself. Apart from that RNZ is fantastic.
Spot on ! John. Can’t stand the Wellington witterer Ryan. Do miss Mary Wilson tho” At least she had a spine.
Kiwis are beginning to evolve as an intelligent species after all 🙂
Well done RNZ.
Radio New Zealand is a gem amongst the dross of commercial media. Long may it continue.
As for John Campbell, his success is a slap in the face to Mark Weldon and Julie Christie. Those two morons have succeeded in destroying what little respect many people had left for TV3.
If I were the US owners, I would be filing lawsuits against both Weldon and Christie for mismanaging their assets.
There is obviously a niche in NZ’s dumbed down market for a little intelligent thought.
It’s the morning show ratings that have improved.
I listen to RNZ in the morning because it has no ads. This is because it’s propped up by the taxpayer. As a result it’s hardly a fair comparison.
As for the afternoon show, I turn it off as soon as the news is over: I cannot stand Campbell’s whining pathos and ‘advocacy journalism’.
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