tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257493550531569180.post6363452814751959502..comments2024-03-26T16:16:22.535+13:00Comments on AGAINST THE CURRENT: WILLE JACKSON TALKS NONSENSEUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257493550531569180.post-9250802589750171942009-07-13T10:06:22.803+12:002009-07-13T10:06:22.803+12:00Anon: if TVNZ is already funding 2 non-commercial ...Anon: if TVNZ is already funding 2 non-commercial channels why is it not losing millions of dollars by doing so? As you've suggested would be the case if TV1 was non-commercial.Green Teahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455108847379022597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257493550531569180.post-88695227653685100472009-07-12T20:50:46.585+12:002009-07-12T20:50:46.585+12:00The idea that a non-commercial TV1 is not affordab...The idea that a non-commercial TV1 is not affordable is a myth promoted by those who wish to see the market model prevail.<br /><br />This is what Peter Thaompson has to say on this issue. Thompson is a lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland.<br /><br />He writes:<br /><br />Of course, with a population of only 4 million people, New Zealand cannot afford to set up a Kiwi version of the BBC and fund it to the tune of $8 billion per year. However, while $15m was never enough to transform a commercial TV schedule into a public service schedule, the amount required to make a substantial and positive difference is not huge. Consider the following figures: If you look at Sky’s annual reports, last year, Sky made around $144m profit ($98m after tax) on $659m operating income. That’s 22% profit (before tax) going to shareholders like Rupert Murdoch, not into programmes (which one reason why public-value-per-dollar is lower when taxpayer funds are distributed to private broadcasters). Sky’s total operating expenses were $470m with $210m of that going into programming. Meanwhile, 88% of Sky’s overall income came from subscriptions which represent roughly 46% of the 1.585 million households in New Zealand. The average subscription is about $66 per month, which over a year is $792 per household. But suppose for a moment that the operating costs of $470m were spread across all those households: That would work out at $297 per year, or roughly $25 per month- just over $6 per week per household. And that’s for a commercial-free service comparable with a full range of Sky’s channels. In fact it works out cheaper than the BBC licence fee in the UK which costs around $350 per household.<br /><br />Of course, this is not to suggest for a moment that a fully-funded public service broadcaster ought to have all the same channels and content as Sky. In particular, the cost of local production and high quality news and current affairs would be higher than many imported services. But to put that in context, with $470m of revenue per year, one could easily cover TVNZ’s operating costs of around $365m (for 2008), get rid of all the commercials and give it an additional $100m to put into Charter content. This is all for around $6 a week per household, remember. Too much? Okay, if you retain the $339m in annual commercial revenue from TV One and TV2, that leaves around $131m to raise to help fund public service Charter- type programming (whether on TVNZ 6 & 7 or an additional commercial-free public service channel). That works out at $83 per household per year; just $7 per month or less than $2 per week. One can go through other possible models, but the point would be the same: New Zealand could afford public service television.Steven Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352539377513132294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257493550531569180.post-86843987270783927282009-07-12T00:01:01.399+12:002009-07-12T00:01:01.399+12:00Who do you propose would pay to make TVOne an non-...Who do you propose would pay to make TVOne an non-commercial public service channel ?<br />Do you have any idea how many millions TVNZ would loose by doing so- do you want to fund it to increased taxes ?<br />NZ has no licence fee to pay for this kind of venture.<br />New Zealand already has two non-commercial public service channels, TVNZ6 and TVNZ7. Support these instead of arguing for completely unrealistic changes to TVOne.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com