Posts by Geoff Lealand
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Hard News: Campbell interviewed, in reply to Joe Wylie,
They are inroducing paid parking for both staff and students at the University of Waikato next year. Doesn't affect me as I usually bus or bike but there does seem to be a bit of a class system, in that if you fork out $750 annually, you get a numbered carpark (effectively a pay cut?). Management are denying it is a revenue-generationg scheme.
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Hard News: Campbell Live: A Disturbance…, in reply to Roger Lacey,
Peoplemeter technology was introduced in the mid-80s when I was working in TV audience research, to replace the weekly diary system (which had their flaws but had the big advantage that it was a different set of viewers reporting on their viewing each week). PM are now the international norm, operated by Nielsen New Zealand at a cost of around $5m annually. According to Nielsen, they report on (through self-reportage) 'presence in a room where a TV set is on (which MAY have some relationship to what we understand what 'watching television' might be). PM households (600 in NZ) agree to have such devices in their home, and agree to press buttons on a handset, to indicate when they begin and end viewing (but presumably not when they are asleep, go out of the room, are ignoring the screen etc). They cannot register the use of the mute button nor report what programmes have been time-shifted (0nly hours/minutes). There are numerous other problems eg the assumption that everyone has autonomy in viewing choices, statistical invalidity in respect of age groupings, under-representation of non-home owning viewers and ethnic groups. But the greatest flaw is that they equate quantitative measurement with qualitative assessment ie the assumption that because we are watching a particular programme, we must be enjoying it--and presumably responding positively to associated TVCs (there is research evidence which suggests that if people hate what they are watching, they will also hate the ads).
Bettina Hollings, who was one of the smartest programmers TV3 ever employed, once famously declared, 'Ratings are a myth we all believe in'. In this respect, I translate 'myth' as 'false belief'.
So, we should all watch Campbell Live tonight but, in the end, nothing will register unless those bloody PM household watch it too,
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Hard News: The epitome of reason, in reply to Mick Rose,
Yes, I sometimes think that accelerated immigration is making New Zealand a less liberal country than a more enlightened one.
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Hard News: The epitome of reason, in reply to Sacha,
And a bloody jet-ski?
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Hard News: The epitome of reason, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
Why not add a few more mythical creatures: Remuera Reactionaries, Parnell Posers, , Freeman Bay Fraudsters?
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Insult piled upon insult. Mike Hosking as Broadcaster of the Year! What the hell has happened to this country?
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Apparently Disney has banned selfie sticks from its U.S. theme parks
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Hard News: Mediaworks: The only horizon…, in reply to Tom Semmens,
Yes, demonstrated by the way he was floundering around, not knowing what to say whilst Phil was ripping into TV3 this afternoon.
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A really interesting episode of Media Take. I know of a couple of teachers who will be using it.
I know that it places me at odds with the greater mass of population but I do hate selfie-sticks. When we were travelling about in Europe over summer, there were times I wished I was carrying a pair of bolt-cutters. Their pervasive use ('look at me and some old building behind me') reminds me of the moronic hordes who gather before the Mona Lisa in The Louvre, and take very bad photos of a surprisingly small painting. -
Up Front: Stand for... Something, in reply to Joe Wylie,
I remember this disgraceful shambles. We were living within spitting distance of the Wellington Show buildings, in Mt Cook.