Gen Z’s regrets could be our salvation

A week ago, I read a number of reports that gladdened my heart.

 Mt Albert Grammar School headmaster Patrick Drumm told news media that things have changed for the better since a ban on cell phones was introduced last year – lots of talking, movement, and sports games. Now all schools have a legal mandate to follow suit if they wish.

The same day Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans to introduce legislation by the end of the year to create a minimum age to access social media, joining South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria in deciding to impose restrictions as evidence mounts of detrimental effects on the young.

Then a couple of days ago a friend drew my attention to a piece in the New York Times commenting on a Harris poll of Gen Z users that indicated many of them wish certain types of social media…and even smartphones…had never been invented. Continue reading “Gen Z’s regrets could be our salvation” →

TikTok…TikTok…it’s only a matter of time

Like death and taxes, the digital world has its certainties. One of them – alongside the inevitability of Apple launching yet another higher specification (and more expensive) iPhone – is the prospect that audience trends in other countries will wash up on our shores.

That is why the latest report from Britain’s telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has excited the interest of more than a few media people in New Zealand.

It shows that, for the first time, online has overtaken television as the biggest source of news in the United Kingdom. Broadcast TV had been the leading source of news there since the 1960s, when it overtook newspapers and radio.

The Ofcom survey shows that online – social media, podcasts, messaging and other digital apps – is now narrowly ahead with 71 per cent of adults getting their news from those sources. Television, which a year ago sat at 75 per cent, is now down to 70 per cent. A little over half the adult population get their news from social media alone. Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) now outperforms ITV, while Google is barking at the broadcaster’s heels. Continue reading “TikTok…TikTok…it’s only a matter of time” →

Readership: Numbers that didn’t make the news

Audience research is a wondrous thing. It makes me feel like a young child in a carnival. My head spins at the sight of all the swings and roundabouts.

The past fortnight has seen the release of two separate sets of readership research. Last week we received the quarterly survey by Nielsen, and a week earlier there was an annual snapshot from Roy Morgan.

The two cannot be directly compared because they relate to different measurement cycles and, doubtless, different methodology. The Roy Morgan survey also embraces online readership that is not captured by topline results of the other survey.

However, the consequence of wading through both surveys was a feeling that I spent too much time on the swings and had too many rides on the roundabout. I felt giddy.

The Roy Morgan survey of the year to June suggests that, although the New Zealand Herald and Waikato Times lost readers of their print editions (the former down 31,000 and the latter 12,000), The Post, The Press, and the Otago Daily Times gained readers. In the case of The Post it was an impressive 16,000 readers.

The Nielsen survey, however, paints a different picture. It suggests that all five metropolitans have suffered declining print readership over the past year.

In order to regain some sense of equilibrium, I temporarily put aside the Roy Morgan survey to concentrate on the Nielsen results. This was solely because I have a longer record of that research company’s audience figures. Continue reading “Readership: Numbers that didn’t make the news” →

An audience in the hand versus one in Neverland

I have some friendly advice for Radio New Zealand: Stick to the radio audience you know you can get, rather than the one you think you would like to have.

That advice is based on the belief that RNZ National’s cumulative audience decline from more than 700,000 in 2020 to less than 500,000 today is due in no small measure to its strategy of seeking new listeners at the expense of its old ones.

‘Old’ in this sense has two meanings. First it denotes those who has since switched elsewhere or off. Secondly it means, yes, listeners aged over 60 who are as valuable as those below it.

In both its music and talk programming, RNZ National has sought to meet social and cultural targets that are both worthy and in line with movements within New Zealand society. It plays music that supports local musicians and music production. It has interspersed te reo into its dialogue and promoted culturally diverse programming. Its subject matter, and sometimes its approach, have shifted to reflect these new emphases.

In the process it has alienated older listeners used to certain formats that reflected their interests and tastes. Continue reading “An audience in the hand versus one in Neverland” →