A quarter of a century ago TVNZ knew that “digital”, or rather the Internet, was the way of the future. I know, I was there.
It created nzoom.com for those that remember it.
A decade ago, it was still a “broadcaster” with an adjunct “digital” presence with TVNZ Ondemand.
Only on the last few years has it started to truly operate “digital” (internet) first, I’m afraid that it might be too late and we see another newshub-scale catastrophe in the next few years.
I think the truth is that very few media companies are actually making money outside of having a subscriber base and even those there’s some big questions about whether they’re really profitable and how sustainable that will be long term.
If you think about how it’s worked traditionally, it’s been relatively lucrative advertising, with companies trying to reach a large middle class with money to spend. As neo-liberal capitalism increasingly hollows out the middle class, reducing leisure time, spare cash and concentrating wealth in the hands of a few who’s going to pay for the things advertisers are trying to sell?
A simpler explanation, in my view, is that watching broadcast TV is a bit like having a landline, in that almost none of the younger generation is doing it. Combine that with a loss of viewers of all ages to streaming platforms, and a shaky economy overall, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
People are willing to pay for either top notch entertainment content, or quality investigative journalism, but do they offer either?
Isn’t TVNZ available online though? You don’t need to watch it via your television.