Shadow Footprints

Once again the New Zealand media shows either ignorance of the global village phenomena, or contempt for the New Zealand public.

The Herald has published an article about the forth-coming Doctor Who series. The article was published in The Independent on 07 December 2005. A complete version of the article is available via what appears to be a fan site.

The series will have completed in The United Kingdom before it is seen here. The initial episode, I hope, is the one shown at Christmas in the UK.

I say ignorance of the global village because The Herald has taken a six-month old article and reprinted it, assuming that people could not have already read it.

I also say ignorance because I expect Prime will be promoting it as new.

I say contempt for the New Zealand public because The Herald did not write the article. There is a valid question, of why should The Herald write an article about a UK actor?, and the answer is for the same reason it printed the one it did. If instead, the reason is that it is a space filler, then that blatently shows the contempt for the readers.

I also say contempt because of the delay in scheduling it. I normally slam TV2 for their delayed scheduling of series, but this time it’s Prime who is at fault.

I know that scheduling is the argument used for not showing things in a timely manner, but we do see these same schedules changed without warning in the name of ratings.

We also hear the argument about seasonal broadcasting, that winter is the time to show the great shows to an audience likely to stay at home. Outside holiday time I doubt many households are out late most week-nights. Monday to Thursday nights should catch much of the same audience for most of the year, especially after sunset. Soap operas manage to keep their audience for most of the year, and many people know how to operate their VCR and record programmes.

A series which has a known audience, and a second series has that, is one the TV stations can plan for. The seasonal argument does not apply for them, they’ll watch or record it regardless.

I believe that Prime is targeting it for their Sci-fi slot on Thursday nights at 7:30, just to retain the viewers of Stargate Atlantis.

The Amazing Race is a program I am really into, and local television knows it can rely on an audience. I would have more tolerance for scheduling if TV2 hadn’t managed to show one serried half-a-week after it showed in the US. The series just starting here completed broadcasting in the US weeks ago.

Prison Break is a new show, and it’s fair enough that it didn’t show here until after the series completed in the US; it’s an unknown factor. The second series of Lost and of Desperate Housewives could have shown closer to the time of the US broadcast; they were expected to be popular locally.

The third series of Lost has been scheduled for the US broadcast. I hope, but doubt, it has been scheduled for broadcast here. Reality shows, and shows like Lost, are easily spoiled for anyone who has an interest in such things, or reads magazines, or watches E! and other entertainment programmes