Is no news good news?
Submitted by debritz on August 3, 2008 - 13:50.
I had a look at the Week 31 ratings for South East Queensland, and I was going to make some comment about how Nine needs to pull its socks up when it comes to news. Then it occurred to me that maybe the Channel 9 honchos no longer care that their news is being outgunned by Channel 7. Maybe they've moved on and decided that, since people can get news on demand from the internet, they are going to concentrate on something else and do the bare minimum in the news arena. This certainly explains the axing of Sunday and Nightline. With all the speculation in Brisbane being about whether Bruce Paige will continue as Nine's lead anchorman next year, maybe the real question should be whether the 6pm news will even survive in its current form. Maybe Nine could think outside the box and put, say, Gordon Ramsay, on at 6 o'clock instead, and punt the news bulletin backwards or forwards in the schedule.
Brett, Nine's news may be in
Brett, Nine's news may be in the doldrums right now because of one thing and strangely it is the one thing which could save it. The problem is simply word of mouth. But I have three additional questions to pose to you.
1. Did Seven make a big noise in the Brisbane press about shifting Queensland jobs to Melbourne when they shifted Brisbane's playout to Docklands in Melbourne?
2. Did Seven make any longwinded promises to Brisbane viewers about the long term program security of Brisbane's local Today Tonight when Michelle Reiken went on maternity leave?
and finally 3. If Nine's news & current affairs chief John Westacott decides to axe Extra and Gold Coast News as part of the supposed $40million in budget cuts, what would be the reaction by Brisbane viewers and most importantly what would Seven's reaction be?
1. Of course not; they're
1. Of course not; they're not stupid.
2. Can't remember, but I expect so.
3. Jump with joy.
Brett, Question 1 was a
Brett, Question 1 was a trick question. (Seven would definently not want to make the same mistake twice, after the fallout from moving Melbourne's playout to Sydney 21 years ago back when Seven was owned by Fairfax.)
Question 2 was a real question with many answers, all leading to the fact that promises to viewers like TV contracts are made to be broken. (Nice answer by the way.)
And finally Question 3 which was actually a two part question. You got part of the answer right. Seven would jump for joy, to the point that a ad would be probably placed in a Brisbane newspaper claiming "We killed Extra!"
But here is the other half of the question. What would be Brisbane TV viewers reaction to Seven's "victory statement"? What would they expect Seven to do to fill the void (most importantly on the Gold Coast) that Nine's programs had left?
You know, I really don't
You know, I really don't think viewers would react very strongly, because there's a huge "don't care" factor now that has contributed to (or smoothed the acceptance of) the demise of local programming. I think part of the problem for all the networks, especially the free-to-air carriers, is that there is no brand loyalty any more. Increasingly, people are seeking out what they want wherever it is - on TV, online, on cable. There was a time when certain people would never watch the ABC - but programs like Kath & Kim, Summer Heights High, The Chaser and The Gruen Factor have changed that. It's more about the message than the medium.
Well Brett, the Olympics
Well Brett, the Olympics (and incidently the Ekka) should be the key for Nine to try some fresh ideas (e.g moving Paigey to a Wednesday to Sunday schedule during that time, trialling dual weekend anchoring again) to ensure the strongest team is exposed to people who are disallusioned by Seven's "stupid" decision to sideline the Sunday Flashback's during the Olympics. Extra is unopposed by Deal during this period as well, which could see Nine News win a few nights during Beijing thanks to some upset Deal viewers, who could become Extra viewers...
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