FTA TV shouldnt get taxpayer dollars and other rants.

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › FTA TV shouldnt get taxpayer dollars and other rants.

Lias

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#71363 9-Nov-2010 13:19

Following on from here so we didnt derail that thread.

I have no problem with free to air TV. I just have a very large problem with any taxpayer money going towards it. If its not commercially viable without my tax dollars, it shouldnt exist. My views on this are not restricted to just FTA TV, but right across the board, RadioNZ, NZ on Air, NZ Film Comission, starving artist grants, etc. Tax dollars should pay for health, education, roading, defense etc. Not Shortland St & a dole bludging aritst setting up an "exhibit" advocating people not work.

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#402095 9-Nov-2010 13:49

Take this quiz
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz

Then ask yourself why you voted for National, Labour or The Bill and Bill party instead of these guys:
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2008/partystatus.html
http://www.libertarianz.org.nz/principles/

National is just Labour lite, still running a budget deficit spending up on various junkets.

I just can't see anything changing in NZ anytime soon, too many people care about where there government handout is coming from and don't understand or believe in liberty and personal responsibility.

35% difference in wages in NZ and AU now :(

bazzer

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#402150 9-Nov-2010 15:27

Lias: Following on from here so we didnt derail that thread.

I have no problem with free to air TV. I just have a very large problem with any taxpayer money going towards it. If its not commercially viable without my tax dollars, it shouldnt exist. My views on this are not restricted to just FTA TV, but right across the board, RadioNZ, NZ on Air, NZ Film Comission, starving artist grants, etc. Tax dollars should pay for health, education, roading, defense etc. Not Shortland St & a dole bludging aritst setting up an "exhibit" advocating people not work.

Why should I pay for your kid's education? If I have kids, I'm happy to pay for theirs. Yours, not so much. Ditto for health.

Personally I think the arts are important. I'd rather give my tax payer dollars to an up and coming NZ band than pay for free doctor's visits for kids.

Jaxson

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#402160 9-Nov-2010 15:42

Lias: Tax dollars should pay for defense etc.

I don't think so, at least not if you're going down this road of stripping payments for everything other than just 'bare essentials'. At some stage you have to realise you contribute to a society and you are not just paying for the little bit you use in your location and life choices.

vinnieg

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#402164 9-Nov-2010 15:45

Jaxson:
Lias: Tax dollars should pay for defense etc.
I don't think so.

Agreed!!! Defence in this country is a waste of our dollars. Peacekeepers on the other side of the planet, for messes other countries make. We should be peace keeping closer to home. East Timor, PNG etc...not Afghanistan. We also don't need new planes, boats or tanks.

And as for education for kids, the parents should pay. Make them take out the equivilent of a student loan!

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

SepticSceptic

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#402221 9-Nov-2010 16:32

Ragnor:
35% difference in wages in NZ and AU now :(

Seems to be in line with:

"Fair Work Australia announced the change to the $544 minimum wage in Melbourne today, bringing it up to $570 a week, or $15 per hour. (June 2010)"

NZ really doesn't have a hope until at least this part is done, irrespective of the blood curdling cries from the business sector .... everything else will eventually even up, more $$ in hand, more GST, more spending ....

And MP's shopuld be paid the same as senior teachers, like they used to do ...

martyyn

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#402264 9-Nov-2010 17:47

Jaxson: At some stage you have to realise you contribute to a society and you are not just paying for the little bit you use in your location and life choices.

This is pure gold. I hope you dont mind me using it myself because I dont think Ive ever read such an brilliant statement.

vinnieg:
And as for education for kids, the parents should pay. Make them take out the equivilent of a student loan!

Hmmmm, I wonder who paid for your secondary education ?

The reality is schooling is already far from free. Im already paying hundreds of dollars every year for each of my two children at school just to keep it afloat because the government subsidies dont cover half of the teaching staff costs. Then there is the extra money I have to pay if they go on a trip, activity costs for sports days, the stationery we have to supply each term which goes into a 'bucket' for whoever needs it, the lack of sports teams in general because they cant afford them, the lack of computers because they cant afford them, the fundraising parents are expected to do etc. It all adds up.

Id be more than happy to have my tax dollars paying for all kids education to the end of secondary school as well as paying for all doctors visits for under 5's. If we cant look after our kids health and education what does that say about the country ?

As for the original topic, the trouble is TVNZ doesnt know whether its a public service or a commercial entity. If its public get rid of the ads and support it properly. If its commercial, stop putting the tax dollars towards it. Its hardly rocket science is it ?

bfginger

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#402271 9-Nov-2010 17:57

It's the economics of programming. Extremely high rating local content is usually less profitable than low rating American content because our domestic advertising market is 1/80th of the size. Without taxpay funding there would be little local content except the news and bearded guys on Triangle.

Many ACT supporters and teenagers are happy to see New Zealand become a branch of the USA but that isn't what most taxpayers want.

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DataCraft

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#402282 9-Nov-2010 18:39

Seems to be in line with:

"Fair Work Australia announced the change to the $544 minimum wage in Melbourne today, bringing it up to $570 a week, or $15 per hour. (June 2010)"

NZ really doesn't have a hope until at least this part is done, irrespective of the blood curdling cries from the business sector .... everything else will eventually even up, more $$ in hand, more GST, more spending ....

And MP's shopuld be paid the same as senior teachers, like they used to do ...

Why stop at $15 per hour why not legislate that we all get $1000 dollars per hour - then we will overtake Australia.

The short of it is - the bigger a government gets the poorer the people get - every person that works for the government is one less person that pays tax and one less person that's contributing to the economy.

-- (Yes I did say if you work for the government - you don't pay tax - please think about it before you inundate me with abuse)

alasta

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#402303 9-Nov-2010 19:26

The National government should shut down or at least privatise state television in order to disable one of Labour's primary propaganda outlets before Labour gets back into power. The problem is that John Key hasn't got the balls to do it - he would probably burst into tears if a trendy lefty so much as gave him an evil stare.

With their commercial imperatives, drain on taxpayer resources, and atrocious gutter journalism there is simply no argument that state television is providing a public service.

Mooseboy

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#402368 9-Nov-2010 21:26

I was going to be all like "No way!"

But then I realised I get all my TV from the internet now anyway.
As long as NZ on Air keeps funding locally made content, and Shortland St (sue me, I watch it!) stays around I couldn't care less.

Linuxluver

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#402481 10-Nov-2010 08:42

Lias: Following on from here so we didnt derail that thread.

I have no problem with free to air TV. I just have a very large problem with any taxpayer money going towards it. If its not commercially viable without my tax dollars, it shouldnt exist. My views on this are not restricted to just FTA TV, but right across the board, RadioNZ, NZ on Air, NZ Film Comission, starving artist grants, etc. Tax dollars should pay for health, education, roading, defense etc. Not Shortland St & a dole bludging aritst setting up an "exhibit" advocating people not work.

I don't agree at all.

Public broadcasting - done properly - at least provides some content worth watching. The BBC is a shining example of what can be done and done well.......and highlights how vacuus, empty and possibly socially destructive the commercial channels are.

No thanks. Give me public broadcasting - funded by tax or a license fee - or take my TV to the tip because thing is useless otherwise due to lack of any content worth watching.

I should say I don't watch sports on TV. It feels too much like those drunks in "sports" bars smoking two packs a day......a waste of time in almost every possible sense I can think of.

Here's one for you: State funding for sports is diabolical in my view. If sports isn't commercially viable....let it wither and die. That my tax money is going to the Rugby World Cup is an outrage.

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Linuxluver

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#402483 10-Nov-2010 08:45

Mooseboy: I was going to be all like "No way!"

But then I realised I get all my TV from the internet now anyway.
As long as NZ on Air keeps funding locally made content, and Shortland St (sue me, I watch it!) stays around I couldn't care less.

I like Shortland St, Outrageous Fortune and many other Kiwi TV shows. They all get funding from government or they wouldn't have been made at all.

We are only 4.5m people. Foreign TV content will *always* be "cheaper" to buy and show than local stuff. But money isn't what this is all about. People who think it is are missing a big part of the equation.

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hdinsider

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#403621 11-Nov-2010 21:54

Lias: Following on from here so we didnt derail that thread.

I have no problem with free to air TV. I just have a very large problem with any taxpayer money going towards it. If its not commercially viable without my tax dollars, it shouldnt exist. My views on this are not restricted to just FTA TV, but right across the board, RadioNZ, NZ on Air, NZ Film Comission, starving artist grants, etc. Tax dollars should pay for health, education, roading, defense etc. Not Shortland St & a dole bludging aritst setting up an "exhibit" advocating people not work.

I think the govt will end up getting all the money back that they spent on freeview when they sell the VHF bandwidth to the telcos.

VHF TV was inefficient in transmission. only one channel per 7MHz slot and at very high power to overcome the noise from the fact that the pictures are AM (amplitude modulation).

don't mess with me.... i'm the hd insider....

sbiddle

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#403627 11-Nov-2010 22:05

hdinsider:
Lias: Following on from here so we didnt derail that thread.

I have no problem with free to air TV. I just have a very large problem with any taxpayer money going towards it. If its not commercially viable without my tax dollars, it shouldnt exist. My views on this are not restricted to just FTA TV, but right across the board, RadioNZ, NZ on Air, NZ Film Comission, starving artist grants, etc. Tax dollars should pay for health, education, roading, defense etc. Not Shortland St & a dole bludging aritst setting up an "exhibit" advocating people not work.

I think the govt will end up getting all the money back that they spent on freeview when they sell the VHF bandwidth to the telcos.

VHF TV was inefficient in transmission. only one channel per 7MHz slot and at very high power to overcome the noise from the fact that the pictures are AM (amplitude modulation).

No VHF spectrum is being sold to telcos. It's 700Mhz UHF spectrum that is being sold for LTE.

The only possible use for VHF spectrum is a DAB+ rollout which probably has a 50/50 chance of occuring within the next couple of years.

tristanb

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#404270 13-Nov-2010 17:01

I don't like my taxes paying for NZ bands so they can make millions overseas. They're mostly just rich kids who don't feel like working after uni.

I'd be very happy to compromise if everything made with NZ on Air funding was released under a license enabling all NZers to copy that music/show for free.

It's a win-win situation:
1. Band gets funding from our hard-earned taxes to top up daddy's allowance to release album.
2. Music is released.
3. Spreading the music is easier around NZ - just download it for free, or buy the CD.
4. If popular overseas: band makes mint. If not, then it's not very exportable and the band doesn't deserve any more funding.
5. When band moves back to NZ after being unsuccessful in Melbourne, our government will get some income tax when band members start working for dad's law firm.

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