Since we were last together, the collapse of television news and current affairs has continued.
And with it, we have been subjected to a lot of highfalutin thinking about the metaphysical and cultural reasons why linear TV is dying.
You know - go woke go broke. Or- this is because nobody trusts you, because you're all raving lefties.
Meanwhile, Melissa Lee has been asked what she is going to do about it, when it's obvious that there's very little she can do.
These are commercial entities that are suffering at the hands of market forces that have been long predicted to hit.
Commercial broadcasting and journalism is an easy business model. Inventory control and labour costs. In other words, you can't employ any more people than the money you make from the advertising.
Hearing that more than 300 were employed by Newshub was pretty revealing. That's a lot of salaries.
For some perspective, NZME employs just over 200 for it's papers and radio and digital content. And the lid has been sinking steadily for a years now.
That's because digital players are siphoning off $100 million a year in advertising content
Despite the 6 o'clock news having the highest spot rates, they were unable to make the budget balance
Faced with this environment I was confused after Warner took over 3 that they added to the news output with full-service late-night shows and more. They increased their costs at a time when revenue was going down.
It seemed to me that no matter how woke or unwoke or how biased or unbiased, Newshub was increasingly modelled to lose money without a huge recalibration.
Meanwhile, despite warning bells sounding about the theft of revenue by digital companies, our TV operators seemed timid to adapt.
Facebook and Google sell clicks. They gain news content and then clicks when punters repost links. Yet the links from so many news operators continue to be free.
There's a reason the Herald is now behind a paywall, so at least we can clip the ticket. When we did it the industry thought we were audacious. It's beginning to look very smart.
Furthermore, TVNZ in particular has made a foray into the digital world with TVNZ+. But it's free to air and the ad inventory is so low it's better to watch it online with time shifting, thereby missing out on the ads that pay for the whole shebang.
The model is broken not because of politics or bias but because of fear.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Andrew Dickens: New Zealand needs smart leadership- but no one's offering
Andrew Dickens: Misguided, naïve, or just plain timid
Andrew Dickens: This country won't survive drastic cuts to the public workforce
Andrew Dickens: Will they have any mandate at all come October?
Andrew Dickens: There's one piece of infrastructure working well- Eden Park
Andrew Dickens: We're not nearly as bad as so many make us out to be
Andrew Dickens: Hipkins is a lame turkey waiting for Christmas
Andrew Dickens: Matariki is not going away
Andrew Dickens: Cancel culture continues to grow
Andrew Dickens: The treatment of the Police is regrettable
Andrew Dickens: This policy should've been placed in the "not now, not ever" pile
Andrew Dickens: Green's tax policy is barely worth the paper it's written on
Andrew Dickens: A bit of a culture shock
Andrew Dickens: Why did so many mainstream outlets miss the point of the coronation?
Andrew Dickens: King Charles makes a useful sideshow from the drudgery of everyday life
Andrew Dickens: We need to pay people more
Andrew Dickens: Infrastructure planning is a lesson we fail to learn
Andrew Dickens: It's time for politicians to back away from the bluster
Andrew Dickens: Posie Parker's visit and the fallout played out exactly as predicted
Andrew Dickens: We ignore what's possible when we talk about crime and policing
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Jim & Bill (It‘s Another Day)
HauntingLive
Dr. Paul’s Worldviews
The Ben Shapiro Show
The Tucker Carlson Show