MEDIA WATCH: Important move by Stuff/Fairfax to hide ratings to gain more NZ on Air echo chamber funding

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A very important development over at foreign owned Stuff/Fairfax. They have set up their own video service rather than relying on Youtube.

This is important because when it was on Youtube, you could see how many people had actually watched the NZ on Air funded content, and those numbers were always woeful.

By creating their own platform, Stuff/Fairfax can hide the number of people watching NZ on Air content so that the NZ on Air clique echo chamber of RNZ, Spinoff and Newsroom can continue to gain public money with no threat of exposing how few people are watching it.

This is important because the utter failure of Spin Off TV to rate was a major embarrassment, by hiding the number of people watching this programming the NZ on Air clique echo chamber of Stuff, RNZ, Spinoff and Newsroom can keep the gravy train rolling.

Meanwhile, TDB will be livetreaming ‘Pub Politics’ on September 2nd with NO funding from NZ on Air. It will see Paula Bennett, David Seymour, Chloe Swarbrick and Chris Fowlie fronting the cannabis referendum debate and it will be the first time Paula Bennett and Chloe Swarbrick have faced each other on the debate.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t approve of the canoodling of RNZ in ‘partnering ‘ with these Corporate media lackeys. Very poor in principle and practice. RNZ is heading the same way as TVNZ, into the bin. Very sad

  2. Great post!

    Scary stuff, the TV ratings systems are so bizarre they pretty much allowed the TV and advertising industry to self destruct with such terrible content being put on prime time that nobody watches it anymore while pretending they did. Also being popular is a different experience from quality programming which is something that does not seem widely understood in programming because it has become about viewers not about the message. Hence news is now about cats or paid content not actually news, which eventually stops people believing in the concept of news.

    Now NZ on Air funding is another way to raid public money to companies that can afford to fund their own programs but now don’t because they are so used to the corporate teat while non mainsteam messages don’t get the funding.

    The end point is that we now don’t have much NZ TV anymore that is not shit and not much of an industry either and kiwis are getting more and more clueless and less educated and less politically aware and voting less and have less to live for.

    Lets laugh out loud at 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown… before doing a drive off at the local gas station cos bit short this week.

    I mean we seem to be driving ourselves to the low wage economy in every area not really self improvement or critical thought.

  3. Was a shame Spinoff TV never worked, could have been a progressive alternative to the TV slot. What are we left with in the current events, politics and general media space? TV shows that seem to be catering to as many viewers as possible for cost, which often means replacing journalistic field work with approved second hand releases collated at desk, and often reducing critical analysis to autocue readers opining on trivial headlines. The breakfast segments have cornered this market, from the TV1 hosts dancing in their seats to TV3’s Garner professing his love for co-host Richardson every day. The six o’clock news productions are no better, the full contempt for viewer apparent in lack of report objectivity, balance and relevance. This and Mike McRoberts crying over Hillary Barry leaving town. The 7 pm slot resembles either a variant of Coronation Street (Hillary Barry as the returning character, this time the tired publican giving marital advice) or an unwatchable flickering sound and light show complete with the days round up of the eighth most important story, initiated audience clapping, host high fives, more fucking tears (Jesse Mulligan, Patrick Gower, among others), and pseudo celebrity worship (The Project). Alternatively Jack Tame seems to be holding it together on Q+A and holding our elected representatives to account. Simon Shepherd is also a strong speaker but I’m not entirely convinced of The Nation’s total objectivity, I could be wrong. Mihinarangi Forbes also impresses in interview (The Hui), while Marae on TV1 features discussions not likely on mainstream. I should watch more Maori TV (eg. Native Affairs, R&R; haven’t seen Te Ao with Moana yet); their documentaries are often first class. I also enjoy Colin Peacock’s Media Watch and the occasional article on RNZ. But really that’s it for me. Sunday, 20/20, only if a story is relevant, and then only if I have the time. Bring back 60 Minutes, but maybe without journalists asking Jacinda about fertilization timelines. The other Aussie ripoff (like The Project clone), Have You Been Paying Attention, just seems shite yes (maybe a question for the Epstein prison guards)? The independent news producers and commentators on the web and YouTube (such as the self-confessed jag-off comedian Jimmy Dore working out of his garage, or Chris Hedges’ On Contact interviews) provide a much more valuable service to the world news scene now than mainstream media. Forgoing all of these offerings, a much darker news alternative awaits those with the courage to venture into the murky waters of…TalkBack radio.

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