Tag: TV3

What if Newshub’s owners had been walking our streets?

When Newshub met its end last Friday night I was left with a niggling question: If Newshub been owned by local interests rather than an American corporation, would it have been summarily executed?

You see, I have a theory that local ownership exposes proprietors to pressures that are not felt by directors and executives sitting thousands of kilometres away.

If owners walk the same streets as the people they serve, they are confronted and held to account. Even the most isolated find themselves being questioned by the members of the social sets in which they move. They are forced to consider the impacts and consequences of their decisions.

Anonymous overseas executives and directors do not see the results of their abstract decision-making, apart (perhaps) from a small blip on the next set of financials.

TV3 has been losing about $35 million a year and, although no owner wants to see continued deficits, the amount ($21.5 million in US dollars) is not much more than a rounding number for WBD, which last year earned revenue of $US41.3 billion from its worldwide operations. That was roughly what this entire country earned from its goods exports.

There is little doubt that Newshub was costing TV3 too much money and something had to change, but was total closure of the news division the only option? At the time of its announcement, WBD said “there was nothing anyone in our New Zealand network business could have done better”. Maybe not, but could they have done things differently? Continue reading “What if Newshub’s owners had been walking our streets?” →

EU framework for AI laws: First steps to taming a beast

The European Union has agreed to pass the world’s first laws governing the use of artificial intelligence. It is one step on a long and winding road.

It is unsurprising that this initiative came out of the EU. It has been the only governing body to consistently put its people ahead of the wishes of the companies that control the search and social media platforms that intrude into virtually every nation on the planet.

The historic agreement came after 36 hours of solid negotiation among the EU member states and it sets out the parameters on which the laws will be based.

The move is hugely significant, but it should not be seen as a full solution to curbing negative impacts while allowing the positive aspects of AI to flourish.

It aims to ensure that AI systems used inside the EU are safe and respect fundamental rights. In other words, it is based on a harm principle. That means it will target high impact AI systems that pose potential risks and strictly limit the use of potential AI tools for state surveillance. Continue reading “EU framework for AI laws: First steps to taming a beast” →

Time to rethink the nightly news and current affairs offering

 

It may be time for television broadcasters to see the writing on the wall and cut their early evening news offering to a total of an hour – 30 minutes of news and the rest devoted to current affairs.

They have ample reason to think that the days have gone when they could hold large audiences until 7.30 pm with material that was even loosely news-based.

Warner Bros-Discovery NZ is already partway to that conclusion, announcing last week that The Project will not be renewed next year. TV3’s owner did say it would be replaced by “a redefined news show in the 7 pm slot”. The as yet undefined nature of that programme has led to speculation that Patrick Gower may be the beneficiary of the vacated timeslot.

However, both Discovery and TVNZ had a very hard 2022-3 financial year. In spite of both networks cracking hearty about prospects for the current year, the fact is that broadcast television is looking into the same sunset that newspapers have long contemplated.

Added to that is a drift away from news bulletins. When NZ on Air started its Where Are The Audiences? surveys in 2014, the total television audience peaked at about 70 per cent in the 6 pm to 8.30 pm timeslot. This year, the peak in that time slot was 37 per cent of the potential audience. Given the rate of decline, next year the news slot is likely to attract less than half the audience it boasted a decade earlier. Continue reading “Time to rethink the nightly news and current affairs offering” →

It was graphic election night coverage and a touch of déjà vu

It would be far too boastful to use the phrase ‘great minds think alike’ but the Herald’s Simon Wilson and I had the same thought on the general election result: There is a parallel with what happened in Britain in 1945. British voters turned their back on the man who had led them through the Second World War, and New Zealanders wanted to turn their backs on storm and pestilence.

Wilson commented that Churchill’s rival, Labour leader Clement Atlee, promised a welfare state, and that looked like the kind of peace voters believed they deserved. In 2023 “it has meant that one thing trumped everything in this election. We want to forget. Move on and forget. Don’t tell me about the pandemic, I have to find the money to feed my family.”

I think he’s right.

Winston Churchill put on a stoic public face after his defeat by Atlee (despite his private anguish), and on television on Saturday night Chris Hipkins did the same in acknowledging National leader Christopher Luxon’s victory. Continue reading “It was graphic election night coverage and a touch of déjà vu” →