Jesse Mulligan says Three 'could close down entire station'

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#2340119 18-Oct-2019 11:49

wellygary:

So much for TVNZ being a "not for profit"

July 27 2019 article:

The state-owned broadcaster has quietly announced it sees no prospect of paying a dividend in the ‘foreseeable future’

TVNZ has told its government owner that it will in effect become a not-for-profit, with the goal of returning a dividend jettisoned in favour of a focus on “the future sustainability of the business”.

In the annual “statement of performance expectations” for the year ending June 2020, the broadcaster notes that given “the forecast financial performance… the Board does not anticipate paying a dividend in the foreseeable future.” When asked by the Spinoff whether he was comfortable with the indefinite end of dividends from TVNZ, Kris Faafoi, the minister of broadcasting replied that he was.

PolicyGuy

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#2340122 18-Oct-2019 11:55

JaseNZ:
Good luck with finding a buyer unless they put it out there as a fire sale.

The Spinoff article hints that an overseas broadcasting network might be interested in picking it up at the right (i.e. low, Low, LOW) price, like CBC did with the TEN network in Australia. This would be a low-cost method for them to distribute more of the product they already own without having to pay someone else as an intermediary. But I'd guess the buy price would have to be really cheap for them to be interested.

For myself, I'm trying to think when I last watched a THREE-originated programme ... nope not in at least the last year or so

From my point of view there's a couple of dinosaurs I'll be delighted to be off TV. On the other hand, it'd be sad for Paddy Gower not to be seen anymore. Over the years, he's been one of the better political reporters

Edit: typo

SJB

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#2340128 18-Oct-2019 12:11

IMO TVNZ programming is, for the most part, pretty average but TV3 is on a whole different, poorer quality, level. As for Bravo words fail me.

TVNZ on demand is actually not bad and I've watched a few series on there. Some of the series they buy in, mostly from the UK, are very good.

The thing to remember is that NZ is a tiny market for broadcasters so there is not much money to go round. You can't expect BBC quality and volume with a population of 5 million.

Journeyman

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#2340135 18-Oct-2019 12:29

Fred99:

wellygary:

So much for TVNZ being a "not for profit"

July 27 2019 article:

The state-owned broadcaster has quietly announced it sees no prospect of paying a dividend in the ‘foreseeable future’

TVNZ has told its government owner that it will in effect become a not-for-profit, with the goal of returning a dividend jettisoned in favour of a focus on “the future sustainability of the business”.

In the annual “statement of performance expectations” for the year ending June 2020, the broadcaster notes that given “the forecast financial performance… the Board does not anticipate paying a dividend in the foreseeable future.” When asked by the Spinoff whether he was comfortable with the indefinite end of dividends from TVNZ, Kris Faafoi, the minister of broadcasting replied that he was.

This 'not-for-profit' business is something the Spinoff has said, not something TVNZ has said. TVNZ still has to make a profit. It won't be paying a dividend (like Sky, NZME, Netflix, Amazon etc) but that's not the same thing as making a profit.

Honestly, is it any wonder that the news media in NZ has become such a turd sandwich when the peanut gallery commentators make up the news but the reporters of facts get ignored?

Rikkitic

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#2340136 18-Oct-2019 12:29

I agree with comments about NZ broadcast FTA still being the only TV some can and do watch. For those I think it should be preserved for as long as possible. I remember a beach bach I used to spend time at where only one radio station, RNZ National Radio (AM), could be received. I was told this was due to a legal requirement that it had to be receivable everywhere. Maybe something like this will eventually happen to TV NZ.

I don't celebrate the end of broadcast TV here but I do think it is inevitable. All the young people I know don't even bother with it. If they watch anything it is by streaming and YouTube. As the aging broadcast audience shrinks and dies, revenue will also collapse and I don't think broadcasters welded to the current model adequately appreciate that. Sky will limp on for awhile, especially with their rugby rights, but both are sunset industries.

I don't care about entertainment because there are plenty of other sources for that. What matters to me would be good news and current affairs content that deals with New Zealand concerns. We used to have some of that on TV 3 before everything was turned into dumbed-down 'infotainment' and painful 'comedy'. I would welcome a return to serious news coverage but I don't see it happening.

I do know there is some good stuff on-line, but that is not broadcast TV, which is the subject here. What possibly could survive into the future would be a non-commercial public service channel providing unique quality New Zealand content, both news and entertainment (not fluff or overseas imports!) that celebrate and contribute to New Zealand's cultural identity. Commercial FTA is a dinosaur solution for a problem that will soon no longer exist.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

wellygary

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#2340137 18-Oct-2019 12:31

Fred99:

wellygary:

So much for TVNZ being a "not for profit"

July 27 2019 article:

Yeah I am aware of that,

The angle of my comment was one of

"TV3 has been loosing money hand over fist for a long time, so its a bit rich to call TVNZ "not for profit" when TV3 probably hasn't seen a profit in 10 years either..

Fred99

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#2340145 18-Oct-2019 13:27

Journeyman:

This 'not-for-profit' business is something the Spinoff has said, not something TVNZ has said.

From their 2019 annual report

The TVNZ Board has agreed with the shareholder to cease dividend payments due to increased investment in local content and digital capabilities. TVNZ has sufficient cash on hand to fund the planned transformation over the next three years.

Calling that a "not for profit" might be stretching things a bit, but in the context of it being government owned and thus *probably not for sale and not allowed to go broke when facing year on year decline in revenue with no likely end in sight to that trend gives them a hell of an advantage over a competitor owned by an offshore investor.

*Unless David Seymour becomes PM

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jonathan18

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#2340146 18-Oct-2019 13:40

SJB:

IMO TVNZ programming is, for the most part, pretty average but TV3 is on a whole different, poorer quality, level. As for Bravo words fail me.

Grand Designs NZ.

Of the top of my head that's the only programme I currently watch on TV3. I'd be gutted if that got binned, and I imagine there's a large amount of footage already in the bag for future series - it's also probably a strong enough programme for another network to pick it up.

PolicyGuy

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#2340151 18-Oct-2019 14:16

jonathan18:

Grand Designs NZ.

Of the top of my head that's the only programme I currently watch on TV3. I'd be gutted if that got binned, and I imagine there's a large amount of footage already in the bag for future series - it's also probably a strong enough programme for another network to pick it up.

They're filming Grand Designs NZ today on the Kapiti Coast, so there's plenty of material still to go to air.

I reckon TVNZ (for TV1) and Sky (for Prime) would both be very interested in picking that up: it seems to fit their market demographics better than THREE's anyway

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#2340166 18-Oct-2019 14:50

TV3/Bravo/ThreeLife now officially up for Sale, TV Business to be split off from Radio and Advertising

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/116684153/live-mediaworks-tv-business-up-for-sale

dafman

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#2340338 18-Oct-2019 18:59

While I understand that FTA is still relevant for a portion of NZ, will most affected be narcissist millennials deprived from putting themselves forward for public humiliation in the likes of Married at First Sight and the Bachelor?

If FTA requires Govt support to survive, and all indications are that it does, then I'd suggest a single non-commercial public service, think Radio NZ with pictures.

tdgeek

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#2340341 18-Oct-2019 19:11

Why is FTA given a bad rap? Is it 24/7 MAFS and The Block? If I looked through EVERY service, FTA and SVOD, I will see stuff I don't like, stuff I do like, stuff I can see is very good but not of interest to me. News, etc.

It seems to be trendy to bag FTA.

tdgeek

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#2340342 18-Oct-2019 19:14

dafman:

While I understand that FTA is still relevant for a portion of NZ, will most affected be narcissist millennials deprived from putting themselves forward for public humiliation in the likes of Married at First Sight and the Bachelor?

If FTA requires Govt support to survive, and all indications are that it does, then I'd suggest a single non-commercial public service, think Radio NZ with pictures.

If FTA ends, then maybe TVNZ also folds? We can read Stuff for news, and Netflix for all NZ produced docos and dramas.... :-) Actually we should spread out NZ produced content on SVOD, over say 5 providers.

richms

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#2340343 18-Oct-2019 19:15

tdgeek:

Why is FTA given a bad rap? Is it 24/7 MAFS and The Block? If I looked through EVERY service, FTA and SVOD, I will see stuff I don't like, stuff I do like, stuff I can see is very good but not of interest to me. News, etc.

It seems to be trendy to bag FTA.

Because they are still stuck in the linear world, their streaming platforms are dire both in UI and quality. I only have one tv with an antenna connection to it, its the kitchen one and I have almost no reason to turn it onto it. Some people will just have it on showing stuff because that is what they have always done. Those people are dropping in number.

Richard rich.ms

dafman

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#2340344 18-Oct-2019 19:23

richms:

tdgeek:

Why is FTA given a bad rap? Is it 24/7 MAFS and The Block? If I looked through EVERY service, FTA and SVOD, I will see stuff I don't like, stuff I do like, stuff I can see is very good but not of interest to me. News, etc.

It seems to be trendy to bag FTA.

Because they are still stuck in the linear world, their streaming platforms are dire both in UI and quality. I only have one tv with an antenna connection to it, its the kitchen one and I have almost no reason to turn it onto it. Some people will just have it on showing stuff because that is what they have always done. Those people are dropping in number.

And don't forget the adverts - every 7 mins of program punctuated by 3 mins of adverts. Why would you subject yourself to this torture when paid SVOD has shown us a world where you can watch content advert free?

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