Mike Hosking: Fun and games - forget the critics, TV is alive and kicking

One of the great myths about TV is people don't watch it.

And part of the myth is perpetrated by those who write media columns, mainly in the country's newspapers. Newspapers write a ridiculous amount about TV, which is an irony given on one hand they seem obsessed, yet on the other, part of that obsession busily tells us that no one is watching - thus leading to the question if no one is watching why do you spend so much time writing about it?

And most of these columns are written by trendy liberal types who live in places like Grey Lynn in Auckland, and they all hang out together believing that what they say must be true, given all their mates say the same thing.

It's a broadcasting 101 trap. Think outside yourself, be aware of life outside your bubble.

But given they don't, people like me (who have actually been in the media at least as long as they have been alive, and have done all media, not just sitting at a keyboard tapping away thinking what they say is true or accurate, and that being a columnist is all you ever need to do to be seen as some kind of media guru) see this crap for what it is.

And here's your proof: Outrage. Outrage at TVNZ's coverage of the Commonwealth Games, specifically the squash.

What did they do wrong with the squash? They had it online. So what? Online is the future. The trendies tell us it is, the trendies only ever watch "content" - it's not telly, it's content on their screens. Not TV or telly, but a screen.

No one watches telly. No one sits on a sofa and watches the TV, so what possibly can be the upset? TVNZ is merely being the modern Grey Lynner's broadcaster. And while the trendies were out at their corner bar having a Grey Goose cocktail, they could enjoy the squash content on their screens.

And yet it appears the trendies are wrong. There is outrage, and rightly so because TVNZ has three channels: TVNZ1 and Duke and online, and they didn't put the squash on the telly.

What they had on the telly was stuff that didn't involve New Zealand. So we know in the real world, people do watch TV - and this whole online lark is years away for most punters.

And that is why, presumably, TVNZ, MediaWorks and Sky have banded together to form a group called ThinkTV. It's years late, but at least it's here. And it's the industry's attempt to try and rectify the damage the trendies have done with their dumb columns that don't remotely portray reality.

Linear TV is alive - and pulling big numbers. Yes, it's diminishing. Yes, there are threats from your Googles and Netflix. But it's still the place most of us go to watch something good.

How do we know this? Well the numbers tell the story. But if the trendies were right, putting squash online would have been seen as normal - not a reason to revolt.